I think (hope) he can. However, we had a very slow start, which could be blamed on numerous factors such as the eastmond debarcle and royce losing his father and having to return home early on, which means that we are perhaps a couple of months behind where we could have been.

The improvement since the awful loss to Quins has been staggering and we have played some impressive rugby, but we're going to take some fine tuning to catch up with the three heavyweights.

We've comprehensively seen of Leeds twice, so we can't be a bad team, just not quite a top team at the moment.

How so? He comes from a different school of coaching than those two. If Wests are anything to go by then I prefer their style of play, so long as we can ensure better defence. Not Wigan style defence; just better defence.

To be the new Wire we would be alot further down the league. You could say we are the new Wigan. Wigan spent a few years bobbing under the top teams and then making some decent runs in the playoff's to semi's etc.



I don't think we are at the level of Wigan, Wire or Huddersfield for week in week out performances. However I do think that on our day we can match them. Hence the playoff's not being too insummoutable.



(If you read further you will find me to be the slight polar opposite of saddened)



I don't think there is a need to buy in anyone else. For a starter, I don't think there is anyone else left to buy. Most of the decent players are already tied down and we are full on the overseas status. Someone like Manu from Hull would be good, but is such a move realistic?



I think the team maybe in need of a mid season reinvigeration and although not our best player (IMHO) Leon pryce and too some extent Clough maybe the players to do this for us. Clough will give us some bulk and much needed grunt, he is a player who does not tend to stop before the defensive line to see if he can shimmy around them or pass the ball to a2nd rower to get smashed. (Something there was alot of on Friday).



Leon will give a break to one of the half backs probably Gaskell who I reckon is just about 12 months ahead of where he should be. The experience will be good for him, but you can't expect top class every match from a teenager. What he has done so far is give us a long kicking game which we have missed for many a year.



I have fallen in with Saddened on the fullback idea, we do need to try someone else but a new purchase would not be nessasary IMO. Nathan Ashe, Leon Pryce or Lance O'h would all be suitable in that role. And it would give us another quality back rower in Wellens. Result all round.



I don't think Royce comes from the same coaching philosophy as Brown and Maggy at Wigan. To say there is only one way to play in the NRL is a bit narrow. There is more than the one coaching style and if we are all just going to follow the one style the game will not develop. You need to counter your opponents not just copy them.



Given the disruption so far this year if you told me we would be 4th, in the CC draw, and only 4 points off the lead I'd have snapped your hand off. Now we are in this position sure it would be nice to get top, but I think Wigan pretty much have that. I can't see them losing 3 times in the last 10 games whilst we win all our last 9 games. However, I can see us putting a run together from now to the end of the season. Lets not forget even last year the Wire finished below us and still did not make the GF. So league wise, there is still alot of season to go.





But yes a win against Wire is sorely needed, otherwise the stats voodoo dolls will come out saying well you haven't beaten a top side all year so it can't be done, in the playoffs or CC.



For fans this weekend is crucial, for Royce and the team, I'm not so sure.

I think it IS crucial for the team - to go into the cup and play-offs not having beaten a decent side all season is not good for the confidence. We looked a team low on confidence on Friday, we were hesitant and panicky.



Winning big games breeds composure and confidence, losing big games breeds losing more big games.

To be fair, we didn't look a whole lot different against Bradford the week before. I think it was more to do with Roby being shut down and us being unable to switch to a plan B. Because we don't have one. Add to that that our forwards didn't function and we - for the second week running - couldn't catch a cold, and we were generally screwed. All that has to change before Friday or it will be a question of by how many because Wire will be able to give us the runaround in a way Wigan can't.

Well Royce had better come up with something quick then. He has stated that he doesn't want SL to be about quick play-the-balls, but we seem to depend on them more than ever in the big games.

But if we're not as good as those teams is losing most of them not what should be happening?

There is a long list of teams that have beaten Wigan/Wire/Hudds this season that aren't as strong as Saints.



They're not supermen and we are well capable of beating them, but we need to arrive with a heck of a lot more fire in our belly than we had on Friday.

Very little chance of that, I should think. Our halves are rookies, just learning the job. It takes time to coach new approaches into an experienced team, never mind an ever-changing one with rookie halfbacks. We need the off season for that. I'm sure he will address just those kinds of things in the off season. He's seen for himself now what happens when Wigan are on the charge. We can capitulate. Maybe I'm underestimating both Simmons and the team, but I just think it is unlikely with the weekly rounds to consider that he will have the opportunity to do that.

you need to go through a lot more pain before you are the new, 'old wires'...A LOT MORE!

Are you a Warrington supporter by any chance?

Not necessarily.



Wigan under Noble for instance could usually rise to the big games (yourselves excepted sadly) and beat them, but never looked like putting 3 months worth of consistent performances in.



No-one would doubt for a second that Leeds were a much better team than us in those years, yet the head-to-heads didn't reflect that at all. For all the negativity here, Saints are only 3 points off top spot - I'd have taken that at any point in the 5 years prior to Maguire coming in.