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 Thursday, 7 March, 2002, 17:20 GMT
Sculthorpe: No time to speculate
Paul Sculthorpe tells BBC Sport Online that it is too early to make judgements about who will finish where in Super League VII

A lot has been said and written in the aftermath of the opening round of Super League matches.

And the hot topic of conversation has been Wigan following their home defeat by Bradford.

The Bulls were brilliant last Friday - and once they get on a roll they are very hard to stop.


It's just too soon to start making predictions and either building teams up or writing them off
Paul Sculthorpe

They keep the ball alive so well that the opposition find themselves tackling more than they normally would.

The Wigan players found that out and were accused of being unfit.

But anyone who has to defend as much as they did at the JJB Stadium Friday is bound to end up tired.

Make no mistake about it, the Warriors will bounce back and be one of the teams pushing for honours come the end of the season.

Widnes are also being talked about as a potential play-off team after giving us a scare on their Super League debut.

But it is just too soon to start making predictions and either building teams up or writing them off.

I try not to read the newspapers but you usually end up hearing what someone has said or written.

The best thing you can do is ignore it, whether it is good or bad press.

Sean Long lines up another kick
Last year's ball has a bigger sweet spot
The key is listening to what your coach and team-mates have to say. Ignore everyone else.

And you have to remember that you are only as good as your last game.

Whatever happened to me in 2001 is in the past. I'm starting from scratch again and the aim is to keep on improving.

In that respect, I have been working a lot on my goal-kicking, practising four days a week with Sean Long.

The balls are different to last year as most people know.

They've been designed for better grip and possess a smaller sweet spot, which makes kicking a little harder.

But give it a few weeks and everyone will be just as familiar with them as they were with the old ones.

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