It'll be no soft soap as Wigan's Noble gets real

Noble's brief is to revive the most famous club in the northern hemisphere and the former policeman, who gave a lifetime to Bradford as player, captain and coach, admits it will be no easy task.

'It's been like a soap opera here and any drama is magnified ten-fold because it's Wigan.

'When I came here nearly two years ago and they were bottom of Super League, the gates actually went up.

'People wanted to see the next episode of the "Will they stay up or go down?" saga.

'Because of Wigan's phenomenal history everyone you meet has an expert opinion because either they are a fan, have been, or know somebody connected with the club.

'Whether their opinions are realistic is debatable because we're now in an era when there is parity in the squads and there are 11 other clubs who have strengthened.

'My job is to give the fans realistic messages, not promise them the world.'

It is a new era for Wigan, bought by millionaire entrepreneur and long-time fan Ian Lenagan following the retirement of chairman Maurice Lindsay.

Lenagan, who bought out Dave Whelan's majority shareholding, is the former chairman and benefactor of Harlequins RL, Wigan's first opponents in Super League XIII at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

He has assured fans there will be no repeat of the salary-cap indiscretions which led to them being docked league points in each of Noble's two seasons at the JJB.

But, despite those deductions, Noble dragged Wigan off the bottom and almost into the play-offs in his first season.

Last year, despite a four-point penalty, they scraped into the top six and got to within one win of the Grand Final.

Noble said: 'We've still got Trent Barrett, who should have won the Man Of Steel award by a mile last season, and Stuart Fielden has had a good break and should be back to his old self.

'I came to Wigan because I needed a change and I'm as proud of what I've achieved so far as of anything I did at Bradford.

'The place is a lot healthier than when I got here. If we stay healthy as a squad, we'll be okay.'

Now that is being realistic.