Maguire keen to kick on

Wigan coach Michael Maguire is hoping Saturday's Super League Grand Final triumph can herald the start of a new dynasty for the club.

Wigan were the dominant force in rugby league before the advent of Super League, with eight consecutive victories at Wembley, but their 22-10 victory over St Helens at Old Trafford was their first Grand Final success since 1998.

"If we keep going and working as hard as we have been this year, hopefully other opportunities will come," said former Melbourne assistant boss Maguire, who has guided the Warriors to their first major trophy since their 2002 Challenge Cup success in his first season.

"The boys are a hungry bunch and there is no reason why the club can't continually move forward. I couldn't ask for any more commitment than they've shown this year and what they showed tonight (Saturday) really tells the story of that team. This is definitely up there with the biggest moment of my career."

The victory was achieved despite the absence for most of the match of newly-crowned Man of Steel Pat Richards, who sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon which threatens to force him to miss the start of next season.

"The victory definitely numbs the pain," said the goalkicking winger. "I couldn't be happier. To be part of this win is something special."

Wigan missed three kicks at goal in Richards' absence and also had two tries disallowed as they dominated the match from start to finish.

St Helens never recovered from the shock of conceding two tries to their former player Martin Gleeson inside the first 15 minutes.

Darrell Goulding also touched down as Wigan led 16-0 and, although substitute Andrew Dixon pulled a try back before half-time, it left Saints with too big a hurdle to overcome.

"We did some things we didn't practise for, though there was certainly no lack of effort," said Saints coach Mick Potter. "We started off on the back foot. We burned a lot of energy in the first 20 minutes. I wouldn't say it was won or lost then but it certainly contributed. It's hard to pull back a hefty score and against a quality team it makes it double hard."