Rogues Gallery wrote:
Or maybe it's just that the Saints pack that you think is fantastic just isn't as good as you believe.
I do agree with the young player part though, it was something I warned about after witnessing it with Wigan around 2003/2004 / 2005.
Interesting you bring up the young player aspect as i think Wigans big weakness in this coming year will be a lack of experienced players.Only Hock O'loughlin and Richards have significant experience.
I'm surprised you havent brought that up in relation to Wigans team next season. Especially considering you will be going into the campaign with an untried half back pairing which may take some time to gell.
During the transitional period Saints have ensured they have maintained a significant level of experience, and this has helped us stay as an elite club. Wigan appear to be making the same mistakes as happened at the turn of the century, with regard to squad composition.
With regard to Saints pack it statistically outplayed over the season, every other pack.
Saints problem was not in making yards it was in doing something once we had made the yards.
Due to inexperienced coaches they went with a basic game plan which was still good enough to hand last years trophy winning teams Warrington and Leeds defeats, but ultimately wasnt enough in the really big games.
Saints weakness is a lack of pace and quality in the threequarters which means we are limited to scoring close range trys vombined with a misfiring half back pairing, which i think was more down to coaching than the respective players abilities. A lot in the 2013 season will depend on how our halves work under the brown coaching setup and if Jordan Turner can give us more strike power out wide than the rather powder puff Shenton, who was a flop at Saints.