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| Wigan weren't as dominant as Saints were in 2006 and Saints haven't won the title since.
Waaaay too early to talk about Wigan walking it in 2011.
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| Quote NSW="NSW"On Preseason form Lima and Hoffman looked a massive improvement of Feka and Lima. '"
I think Hoffman will better than Feka but I really don't see Lima being any better than Lima (sic).
Wigan were the best side over 27 games last year and will probably be so again this time. Who wins the C Cup and SL will come down to a few moments of magic, however, so it's not easy to be so certain. Pies deffo the team to beat though, Wire, Saints, Leeds next and Giants the dark horses.
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| Quote Asgardian13="Asgardian13"I think Hoffman will better than Feka but I really don't see Lima being any better than Lima (sic).
Wigan were the best side over 27 games last year and will probably be so again this time. Who wins the C Cup and SL will come down to a few moments of magic, however, so it's not easy to be so certain. Pies deffo the team to beat though, Wire, Saints, Leeds next and Giants the dark horses.'"
HA i meant Phil Bailey,,,, was just testing you 
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Player Coach | 2711 | No Team Selected |
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| I can remember last season when everyone wa saying the same sort of things about Leeds. We had added to the squad with Eastwood and Delaney, we had we thought was the deepest squad we have ever had, and look how it turned out. Until at least the first 5 fixtures are out of the way it is very difficult to tell how teams will play. Wigan have the WCC to worry about this year and defending their crown. Is it likely they will defend their crown? Yes I would say it is. But there are alot ofther factors as we found out last season and appearing to be in the strongest position is not always the case.
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| It's open to the 'top 4' again, as far as I can see, and a lot will depend on injuries, as ever.
Wigan's organisation and enthusiasm was fantastic last year. If they can maintain that they'll be difficult to beat, especially as they've strengthened on paper. It'll be interesting to see how new interpretations at the play the ball affect them, though.
Warrington have IMO had the best squad on paper for the last couple of years - if they gel then they're in with every chance.
I don't much fancy Leeds at the moment, but they've still got too much class to write off, and a change of coaching setup might provide the fillip they need.
Saints have their best and most balanced squad since 2006. We'll have more front row options this year, and if Wheeler, Eastmond and Shenton stay fit, we've at last got some pace again. Wigan are favourites, but it's wide open.
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Player Coach | 3486 | No Team Selected |
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| Quote Bilko="Bilko"They do, however Wigan have no also lost the pressure on themselves of not having won a trophy for a long time. That was huge on us last year especially after losing at Leeds in the cup and at home to Saints, Warrington, Huddersfield and Leeds (play offs) during the second half of last year. Many people said we'd bottle it come the crunch but we actually went to Leeds and won comfortably and beat Saints pretty well in the final. How did we do that? By grinding it out when it mattered.
Not sure what that has to do with anything. Noble massively under-achieved here at Wigan. 6th place in 2009 (especially in hindsight after 2010) was a disgraceful return. The difference between his era and us now is vast. Our standards won't slip back.=#FF0000 I think we proved that last at Warrington. We wern't that good in attack but in defence we were all over Warrington and 24-18 was a bit flattering in the end for Wire.
As for whether we'll win this year - I think our massive squad depth will see us retain first place. The Grand Final is all down to the performance of the day itself.
On this weeks results I can't see it. They'll have to improve a hell of a lot defensively from their two pre season displays so far. But we'll see.'"
Give over it was a pre season friendly...The mistakes we made were off the chart..
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| We're favourites, I think we'll finish 1st. Then the Grand Final/Play-Offs is hard to predict.
Saints, Wire, Wigan and Huddersfield will all be there or there abouts.
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| Quote NickyKiss="NickyKiss"Some people always think last years champions will walk the current seasons title and it rarely pans out as easy as that. I remember watching Saints 4 or 5 years back and thinking they had the title sewn up for years to come and then watching Leeds play over the years you wondered who could give them a run for their money but it's never easy and alot just comes down to who turns up on the night at Old Trafford.
I'm confident the Wigan squad has enough quality and depth to take a top 2 spot but then after that anything could happen in the play offs as the top 4 or 5 are all pretty similar in terms of ability.
It should be a cracking season.'"
Good post.
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| I think it will be Wigan and Warrington as the teams to beat this season. I can't see Leeds and Saints being as strong as in recent years, no-one can stay at the top indefinately, they will be there or there abouts, but the big prizes will be coming to us or the Wire.
Dark horses........Bradford......now they have a coach.
Can't wait for it to start.
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| i dont want wigan to win it,but they were good last season and have strengthened their squad.think warrington will run em close though.cant see saints or leeds being quiet good enough though & reckon theyll be scrapping for 3/4 along with huddersfield (and maybe hull and rovers if they have the luck to suffer few injuries in key positions)
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| Quote Bilko="Bilko" Noble massively under-achieved here at Wigan. 6th place in 2009 (especially in hindsight after 2010) was a disgraceful return.'"
My theory last year was that Wigan bough their play-off form into the super league regular rounds. Under Brian Nobel, Wigan faired pretty well in the play offs and it was only the regular rounds where you had low standards. It’s no fluke that Wigan won the grand final last year or the league where Wigan took everyone by surprise.
This year your defending champions and I don’t think you’ll have it as easy or be able to retain top spot.
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| As a rhinos fan i think Wigan will defend it again yes!
Personally i think the league will finish with Wigan top and Warrington second. I think there will be a fight between Rhinos, Saints and Bulls for the next 3 places, with bulls finishing just out of the top four!!
Hate to say it coz i cant stand bulls but they look good this year, if their team gels!
I think Wigan have a good chance to defend it and i think if warrington are anything like last year they will do well! Saints i think will slump, and i think us rhinos havent made enough changes to be in the top 2 of the final 4.
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| Now last season Wigan and Hudds were known for holding down to the very limit of what is acceptable, me personally, i didn't care that they did this, end of the day no rules were actually broken but i'm told the refs are clamping down this year.
So the Pies may have to change their tactics slightly which might make them slightly less effective than last year.
Saying that have other teams improved ?
Wigan have improved their pack, which i personally thought they were a little weak last year.
Saints have a new coach, a questionable pre season, lost a couple of key players and don't seem to have gelled yet. Not got a great record for keeping players fit
Leeds have new coaching staff which personally if i was a Leeds fan i would be massively underwhelmed with, ageing players and having a key player unfit for quite some time (see rugby gods).
Leeds for me will compete this season, drop off slightly next and slightly more the year after.
Wire well they have Mathers out Hodgson in (a kicker, hoorah) and Monaghan for Hicks (hopefully that's an improvement although Hicks has been fantastic for Wire) we'll see.
Hudds pushing top 3 for me, looked strong last season then wobbled when Brown looked to be leaving to then comeback and finish strong again.
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| Quote Yed="Yed"Now last season Wigan and Hudds were known for holding down to the very limit of what is exceptable, me personally, i didn't care that they did this, end of the day no rules were actually broken but i'm told the refs are clamping down this year.
So the Pies may have to change their tactics slightly which might make them slightly less effective than last year.
Saying that have other teams improved ?'"
I think you meant 'acceptable' but never mind. Hudds started this tactic and then the Pies perfected it last year. I don't like it, as it slows the game down, but it was within the rules ( or within the 2010 interpretation of the rules ), so congrats to Wigan on mastering it. If refs are going to clamp down on it, then I just hope that (a) they are consistent and (b) they do so throughout the season. We don't want another debacle like a couple of years ago when the season started with a clampdown on 'obstruction' but within half-a-dozen games they'd backtracked.
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