Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Tue Dec 31, 2024 4:16 pm  

Stu M wrote:

Didn't want to start a new thread for this so thought I would put it on here..

I've mentioned before on here that I am a Utd fan and coming out of the ground last night, what struck me was how normal fans were. No- one was sulking or moody, it was just people chatting normally, laughing, talking about plans for New Year. The result was expected (or at least not a shock)

This is the situation Utd are now in and whilst I don't for one minute think we will be relegated, we are in the mix and Amorim was right to discuss it. This got me thinking about Wigan...

In the 2006 season ( I think it was) when you were down at the bottom, how did it change you as fans? Obviously Wigan like Utd are a huge club and it seems unthinkable but I know some Wigan fans that said they enjoyed that season more than most because the fans really got behind the team and every game felt like a Final. Clearly you wouldn't swap that season for anything before or after but do you think that the shock had a positive impact on the club?

I would swap it for 1980

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Thu Jan 02, 2025 7:15 am  

Stu M wrote:

Didn't want to start a new thread for this so thought I would put it on here..

I've mentioned before on here that I am a Utd fan and coming out of the ground last night, what struck me was how normal fans were. No- one was sulking or moody, it was just people chatting normally, laughing, talking about plans for New Year. The result was expected (or at least not a shock)

This is the situation Utd are now in and whilst I don't for one minute think we will be relegated, we are in the mix and Amorim was right to discuss it. This got me thinking about Wigan...

In the 2006 season ( I think it was) when you were down at the bottom, how did it change you as fans? Obviously Wigan like Utd are a huge club and it seems unthinkable but I know some Wigan fans that said they enjoyed that season more than most because the fans really got behind the team and every game felt like a Final. Clearly you wouldn't swap that season for anything before or after but do you think that the shock had a positive impact on the club?

For me as a teenager at the time, it was about something which I took for granted (i.e. Wigan always winning things / Wigan being there or thereabouts every season) being in real jeopardy. I already had a season ticket so was already attending games in the early part of that season but that risk of something very bad happening with the threat of relegation just brought out some extra passion and fervour.

I think with how attendances swelled and atmospheres improved it showed that many of our fan base felt the same. Dare I say, a few came out of the woodwork to get behind the team in our hour of need.

Noble, Fielden and Dobson coming in really made a difference to the playing side of things and the team began to play with some confidence. We won 10 of the last 12 Super League games that year and the two we lost were both away fixtures and we lost by 2 points and 1 point respectively if memory serves me correctly.

I know opposition supporters will point to the "spirit of the cap" breach but this was a loophole Wigan exploited at the time to our advantage rather than a blatant and flagrant "we are going to break the cap ceiling" approach and it is a loophole which the RFL subsequently closed.

With you speaking of the unthinkable and the club being huge, something else I also remember was the rumours that Wigan wouldn't be relegated regardless and Dave Whelan appeared on Sky Sports to squash those rumours saying if we finished at the bottom of the ladder, it'd mean we deserved it and we would be relegated. It seems strange that he'd need to go on TV and say that but such were the rumours at the time.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Thu Jan 02, 2025 1:41 pm  

Stu M wrote:

Didn't want to start a new thread for this so thought I would put it on here..

I've mentioned before on here that I am a Utd fan and coming out of the ground last night, what struck me was how normal fans were. No- one was sulking or moody, it was just people chatting normally, laughing, talking about plans for New Year. The result was expected (or at least not a shock)

This is the situation Utd are now in and whilst I don't for one minute think we will be relegated, we are in the mix and Amorim was right to discuss it. This got me thinking about Wigan...

In the 2006 season ( I think it was) when you were down at the bottom, how did it change you as fans? Obviously Wigan like Utd are a huge club and it seems unthinkable but I know some Wigan fans that said they enjoyed that season more than most because the fans really got behind the team and every game felt like a Final. Clearly you wouldn't swap that season for anything before or after but do you think that the shock had a positive impact on the club?

I'm not sure I'm in the minority here but I absolutely hated the 2006 season right through until we were absolutely safe (by beating Hull FC at home IIRC). Obviously we can look back on it fondly and be proud the way our support not only increased but galvanised once the wins started coming, but the rugby played under Millward was the worst I've still seen in forty years (despite the team on paper should be top five minimum). Then you had the salary cap breach which was both disgraceful and embarrassing at the same time which amplified just how far we had fallen.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Thu Jan 02, 2025 4:11 pm  

MattyB wrote:

I'm not sure I'm in the minority here but I absolutely hated the 2006 season right through until we were absolutely safe (by beating Hull FC at home IIRC). Obviously we can look back on it fondly and be proud the way our support not only increased but galvanised once the wins started coming, but the rugby played under Millward was the worst I've still seen in forty years (despite the team on paper should be top five minimum). Then you had the salary cap breach which was both disgraceful and embarrassing at the same time which amplified just how far we had fallen.

You have to fall to get up again which we did and just got better.
Re-Millward,that was the worst thing Wigan could have done take that clown on board (smug little tw*t).

I personally did like the atmosphere, increase of gates, the,fans getting behind the team as the season went on.
Anyway that was then but I do like now so much better

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Jan 03, 2025 10:14 am  

Jason65 wrote:

You have to fall to get up again which we did and just got better.
Re-Millward,that was the worst thing Wigan could have done take that clown on board (smug little tw*t).

I personally did like the atmosphere, increase of gates, the,fans getting behind the team as the season went on.
Anyway that was then but I do like now so much better

I agree the atmosphere and increase in attendances were incredible as each game came and went. Not sure any other team before or since has had such an instance of this. I think the worst I felt personally (more so than the 75-0 / 70-0 fortnight) was Wakefield away where Richards 'scored' in the final seconds which was ruled out. At that point I thought we were gone.
The Wire home win out of nothing gave us the smallest glint of hope, I think we struggled a win v Hudds with a late Danny Orr try under the sticks.

One of the reasons I can only slightly recall certain events is that I won't rewatch anything of that season as it still sends shudders.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Jan 03, 2025 10:20 am  

One good thing about 2006 I suppose it accelerated a change of leadership (Whelan quitting immediately and then Maurice months later). Without this maybe we'd have missed out on the tenure of Ian Lenagan and ultimately where we are now.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Jan 03, 2025 11:21 am  

2006 helped shape the future for sure and it was probably a good reality check for a lot of our fans. Stu likened it to Man U currently and they're getting towards that sort of low point but unlike Wigan, it won't be anywhere near as straightforward to rebuild it. There is too much money in the game, too many good teams and too many rules around spending now to get anywhere quickly.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Jan 03, 2025 11:49 am  

MattyB wrote:

I agree the atmosphere and increase in attendances were incredible as each game came and went. Not sure any other team before or since has had such an instance of this. I think the worst I felt personally (more so than the 75-0 / 70-0 fortnight) was Wakefield away where Richards 'scored' in the final seconds which was ruled out. At that point I thought we were gone.
The Wire home win out of nothing gave us the smallest glint of hope, I think we struggled a win v Hudds with a late Danny Orr try under the sticks.

One of the reasons I can only slightly recall certain events is that I won't rewatch anything of that season as it still sends shudders.

The 75 and 70 point defeats were actually in the 2005 season and we briefly flirted with relegation that year as well. Our recruitment for 2006 was actually very good aside from moving Terry Newton on for Micky Higham. I think we had a lot of injuries but clearly there was a huge breakdown in relations between Millward and the players. Agree completely about the Wakefield game - there felt no way back after that.

The run of games towards the end starting with Fielden's debut and the Warrington is still one of my best memories as a Wigan fan. Leeds away right after the salary cap breach was a huge effort from the players.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Jan 03, 2025 3:55 pm  

Was the away game to Bradford that we made the great comeback in, in the same season, as my memory is shot but it is one of the games that really stands out to me.

We were 30(ish) points down at half time and I remember chatting with family and saying, well they scored 30 points in one half so no reason we couldn't in the second half, then Mark Calderwood scored a brace of tries and we pipped them at the end, the atmosphere that day was electric, the atmosphere in the games when we were on a roll was the best it has ever been at the stadium.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Jan 03, 2025 4:32 pm  

Warrior Winger wrote:

Was the away game to Bradford that we made the great comeback in, in the same season, as my memory is shot but it is one of the games that really stands out to me.

We were 30(ish) points down at half time and I remember chatting with family and saying, well they scored 30 points in one half so no reason we couldn't in the second half, then Mark Calderwood scored a brace of tries and we pipped them at the end, the atmosphere that day was electric, the atmosphere in the games when we were on a roll was the best it has ever been at the stadium.

That was the 2007 playoffs. Amazing game.