I know they are in good form at the minute and I actually expect them to beat Widnes this coming game but I just do not view them as champions or a championship-winning team. Despite our (Wigan) current shortcomings and our unprecedented injury crisis I do still believe we are favorites for the Grand Final trophy and so do the vast majority of bookmakers.

I do wonder what others think though.

I'm aware they've signed quite a few new players this year but most of these are just journeymen. The core of the Warrington team that was utterly hapless at the back end of last year (Hi Chris Sandow *waves*) are still there and I envisage that when the going gets tough and they lose a couple of games they will be on a slow slide down.

Dont get me wrong, they are playing well at the minute and Tony Smith is clearly committed to leaving a good legacy behind for Richard Agar however when you sign players like Jordan Cox and Ryan Bailey I fail to see how any team can expect to have a winning or professional culture. Jack Hughes and Matty Russell might be playing OK at present as well but when these players know themselves they are Wigan rejects I wonder how this impacts on their mindset?

At Wigan we have a strong winning culture and this is passed on through our great academy players. We will be successful for many years to come.

I might post this on the Warrington board but, then again, anyone who dare offer a critical opinion of another club is labelled as a TROLL these days. Folks, dont you just love the internet?

Anyway, let me know what you think about Warrington below.

I rate them this year, Gidley and Sandow look really tough to handle, Hill and Simms lay a good platform for them to work off. They'll be buoyed by Leeds struggling as well. Having said that, we're an unknown quantity until we get a few players back, particularly Tomkins. Early doors but I'd go for us winning the CC and them finally winning a GF

They do look good atm but still early days. Are they peaking too early?

They have the best halfback combo by a mile though, certainly on current form.

I can only assume you haven't watched us that much this season so far. Bailey has yet to feature and possibly wouldn't even be in the team if all were fit, and although not exactly thrilled with his signing, Jordan Cox has really impressed when on the field . Matty Russell seems to have learnt how to pass and how to time a pass so he is really doing well and is a nightmare to tackle. Jack Hughes is a real work horse and fits into our back row well.

Not really sure where your journeymen comment stems from, the only one I can think of who you are referring to is Bailey and Gidley, and Gidley is in top shape for his age and is playing extremely well. Sandow is on another level.

Should be a belting game on the 1st April against you lot anyway.

I'd say yes they are off the bit I've seen of them this season.
They look like a real team compared to the shambles of last season.

I rate them. If they keep Sandow and Gidley fit they'll be tough to handle.

Think it'll be between us and them for the trophies. Think we'll come good when Williams and Sam return.

Sandow is a really inconsistant player, he can win games on his own but he can also go missing or get overly frustrated by a slow ptb the next week, if he plays this well all year then Smith has done what Michela Mcguire among others could never do and deserves coach of the year
In that respect they made a smart signing in gidley who for the last few years has been very consistant if unspectacular and has more big game experience (whilst Sandow has virtually none)
Overall they have a really good squad and could actually afford a few injuries in key positions and still challenge with Ratchford and Dwyer as back up
But as Leeds have shown in many a year, it doesnt matter if your unplayable during the early months, to win stuff you need your key players to step up in big games
With Gidley and Ratchford to steady the ship and Sandow and Clarke to produce a moment of magic they may just be able to do that
It may just be their year

Sandow is inconsitant, he's played very good in 4 games, good in 1 game, and untouchable in another. He's only won ONE player of the month too, shocking.

Ok i wrote this before the Cas game.

The only thing that has changed since i wrote that is Jordan Cox, who is getting better and more confident as each game passes.

He put in 2 big hit in his small spell and a run off a kick off reminiscent of the Sam Burgess run against Bulldogs, he's a brave lad, and more than anyone really surprised me

Sandow is the best player in the league. If he can stay fit and carry on his form all season they'll walk it. When he plays well it lifts the rest of the team to (near) his level.

I can see them getting an early cup exit and just going on to win the SL.

On their form so far they absolutely do look the real deal. In recent years it was always Saints or Leeds that I thought we might lose out to but it Wire this year. Our 5 from 5 record before Widnes was papering over the cracks a bit for me. Great that we hung on to take wins against Huddersfield and Salford but those games could have gone either way, as could our game v Catalans. We have played well once against a poor Leeds side struggling for form.
Wire have hit their straps early and if they continue like this they'll walk the the LLS and they'll go well in the CC and play offs. Anything can happen in a final but I'd put them favourites at the mo.

TBF, Salford, Leeds and Catalans could easily have been defeats for us.

Difference we had Leeds at almost full strength before they all dropped like flies

Early days... Thats the beauty of a league, watching what happens over a prolonged period.

As Wigan Peer rightly says, it is very early days. I have watched live 5 of our 6 games & Catalans away on Sky.

Chris Sandow has been really good and against Castleford he was unplayable absolutely unplayable. Gidley gives us structure but Chris is just off the wall.

On the odd occasion our defence has been annoyingly leaky, but 95% of the time its very good. We are a world away from the team we were last year. If we keep Chris and Kurt fit for the majority of the season and definitely for the month of September then we will do real good.

Good as Sandow can be, for me another huge difference for us (Wire) this season is Gidley, finally we have replaced Morley with a leader (by example) both on and off the pitch. I think the OP has been a little unfair referring to most of our new signings as journeymen, and does he think that Bateman, Sarginson and Clubb ever reflect on being Bradford or London rejects?

Our start to the season, first half against Castleford excepted, has been patchy and too often we have relied on a little luck and moments of individual genius to snatch the points and for this reason I wouldn't regard ourselves as favourites for anything. If I had to bet my mortgage on the GF winner right now it probably would be on wigan, however lets see how the next several weeks pan out when we play yourselves twice, Widnes twice and play Saints too. Then I hope to change my mind.

I'm fairly sure Bradford/London would have been happy to keep them so not sure where you get that they are rejects from

I think the standard this year has been so poor they are somewhat in a false position. I fully expect them to put a score on Widnes but to be honest I am not overly impressed with them. A few years ago the current Wire team would be in the mix but not being talked about as Champions.

The main issue with Wire however is I think they have hit the ground running whilst others hopefully have yet to find form. They are comfortably the best side in the comp this year but on the other hand I think there is plenty of improvement in others, including us, but I can't see much improvement in Wire.

If I am wrong and others don't improve Wire could well go on to be Champions in one of the lowest quality SL seasons ever, but that will not matter when they raise the trophy at Old Trafford.

If other teams do improve as I hope and expect they are still serious challengers and I guess injuries and how they deal with the inevitable dips in form will also highlight their credentials as champions.

:ewsq7z7q
Because the OP..
reject whether they are or not, but to suggest that this negatively affects their mindset playing for their new club is plainly ridiculous.

there is plenty of improvement to be made with the Wires team..plenty. The 1st half against Cas was the attacking level we should be playing at consistently....prior to that its been VERY patchy.

Defensively we were very good against Leeds, awful against Salford, average in other games....so again...get up to a consistent level and maintain in.....thats were the improvement will come.

Other teams, from what I have seen, have PLENTY of room for improvement....should make for a good comp with some cracking games over the full season.

You'd have to put them as favourites as things stand but things change and quickly. You can boss a season in the weekly rounds but come totally unstuck in the play offs as both Wigan and Warrington have found out at points.

They've got a good set of players and are playing at their peak IMO. We'll stand a chance of getting over them at the end of the year but we're going to need our big players back and an upturn in form to achieve it.

We're playing nowhere near our peak at the moment, aside from first half against cas, we've been patchy and come from behind to win late against catalans and salford.

We've been getting victories without playing particularly well. plenty of scope for improvement.

From what I've seen I would put Wire as favourites this season. Gidley, Sandow, Currie, Clark, Russell, Hill and Sims would walk into our team at present. I was always sorry that we had to let Jack Hughes go as he's a real team player who does the tough stuff well and is very consistent. However his ball handling isn't as good as Joel, Faz or especially Bateman so I understand why he had to go.

I don't understand the criticism of Sandow at all. He is pure class. Players like that by their very nature tend to be inconsistent. You take the rough with the smooth - because there is plenty of smooth (just like with Sam). He is a match winner and there aren't many around.

There is no prop to touch Hill at the moment and Clark has settled down to the form we know he can produce.

However, it is very early days. I remember a few years back when Saints won all their games up until Easter and everyone was talking about them going through the season unbeaten, until we stuffed them on Good Friday at their place.

I expect Wire and Widnes to be close, and a slump in form is to be expected. It's a long season (cliché alert).

But yes. They are the real thing. Genuine favourites.

What he said

And to add, the decision to let Russell go was short sighted and wrong. Sam was in front of him but Russell is quite versatile. The Russell and Hampshire situations have a lot of similarities. Prop wise, Hill, as ABOP says is the best by a country mile and has been for ages and Dodds was looking good until the bad injury. Not so sure about the rest of the forwards however, Simms is easy to play against, you just need to get under his skin and he loses it. That is where i would pinpoint their weakness (if any) Gidley as already stated is clearly a natural leader in everything he does. Wingers are good going forward, possibly vulnerable defending though. Sandow has been immense. Currie is superb. If i had to choose a second row pairing between him, Bateman and Farrell i would go for Currie and Bateman. That shows how good Currie is because Farrell has been in the top 2 second rowers for a good few years and would take something pretty good to dislodge him in any team of mine. I think the youth that is emerging at Wire is encouraging too. I thought at the beginning of the season that the signings they made would flop and the youth would be thrown in too early but they have got the season down to a tee so far. Well done to them because i thought they were heading on a slippery slope. As much as i would have found it funny i find it much more enjoyable that we have 3 maybe 4 teams with potential of upsetting the top 4 and i said it a few weeks ago that this years Challenge Cup should throw up some fantastic ties. Whoever wins it this year will have done it on merit as opposed to the 'lucky draw' that folk like throwing around.

Heres to an entertaining season, and whilst the rugby may not be as expansive as we would all like at certain clubs, you can't deny that it's enthralling all the same.

It's weird, it would be great in theory if all the teams were poor and we walked it, turning up every week with a gimme and winning the GF at a canter.
but

I would love SL to be so competitive that a team that wins it one year could easily finish bottom the next year even at full strength.

I have always enjoyed the feeling beforehand and taken more pleasure after a win when i went to a game thinking "this is a toughie, could go either way".

The Wire/Wigan games a few seasons ago...i loved them, tit-for-tat results, good, hard fought, even and entertaining contests.

You need quality as well as competitiveness. The way it's going there will be 12 Wakefields taking to the field each week.