Think I counted 12/13 of the lads were from the Wigan setup. Is that correct? If so, massive pat on the back to the Wigan club. Some achievement that

It was only the second game of the season and this team will face some ups and downs over the next 8 months, but to misquote Mark Twain, "Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Hand on heart Leeds and Warrington have better sides then us 'at the moment' but with patience these lads can catch them up.

Lads like Faz, Taylor, Dudson, Hughes, Thornley etc are brilliant talents who are miles away from their full potential.

That is of course assuming Warrington and Leeds stand still and don't progress either!

But both (especially Warrington) will be forced to replace the core of their team very soon, which will mean a MAJOR rebuilding job.

How much longer will Briers/Hodgson/Morley/Westwood continue?

unfortunately people have been saying that for 3 years, but i guess that means they are 3 years closer to being replaced.

Leeds haven't finished above us for 4 years? Cup games can't be used as a barometer imo

Just tweaked you post

It is certainly satisfying to see so many English players in the 17 and in particular the Wigan home grown players. This is particularly so after having so many imports a few years ago, many of them distinctly average as well, and the quite justified criticism that we faced.

They have won the last two titles. That's literally the only barometer you need.

In the next 2-3 years Wire are going to lose Hodgson, Briers, Morley and probably Monaghan x2 so whilst I'm not saying you'll stand still it's obviously going to take great recruitment or patient development to replace them. Looking at the first option how the hell do you replace those guys in this day and age from outside the club? It's probably going to have to be the second route for you and whilst your in a good position having Ratchford, O'Brien, Currie, Laithwaite etc waiting in the wings they'll still need time to build their games to a level required to cover those sorts of losses.

I think Wigan have the advantage that guys like Thornley, Hughes, Burke, Powell, Taylor etc are going to get a headstart over some of those guys due to us not having as deep a squad as Wire at the minute. We've lost a lot of our experience already whereas Wire and Leeds are yet to deal with that.

Whilst those two titles are deserved, the best barometer for any team in any sport is how they fare over a season. If they finish top of their league then that shows that they have performed most consistently over a season.

The titles that Leeds have won have shown that a team can play 3 or 4 games ( a series of cup games really), and be considered champions.

RL needs to sort that issue out. Reward the team that finishes top with more than a silver plate. The team that finishes top should be rewarded with a place in the Grand Final. Let the others fight it out for the other spot. That keeps the fight for top spot alive.