Other results have gone against them, meaning the Warriors are reliant on other teams to realistically make the playoffs.
They have not been able to sustain the gains they've made. Those improvements under new coach Andrew McFadden were never going to be maintained.
Players openly admitted to a massive increase in intensity at training under the new regime to a level employed at powerhouses like the Storm, Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs - training environments where dropped balls aren't tolerated, poor attitudes are scorned and giving 100 per cent is expected.
This is led not by the coaches, but by the players.
The Warriors are now exposed to a work ethic not seen at the club since Kevin Campion. The first to introduce it was Dean Bell in 1995.
Very few players have this level of work ethic, where they not only drive themselves but also drive others to try to match them. Campion lived by it, but Bell breathed it and is still the best I have witnessed over many years of playing, coaching, training and now directing.
It was Bell who drove Wigan to supremacy in the late 1980s, early 1990s. He set a platform for the players to drive the culture.
Such a work ethic is difficult to maintain. If it's not naturally inbuilt, then players must learn to work it into themselves.
What I envisage now is that these new levels are too hard for the Warriors to keep up and the 'mind' is tired. Learning to maintain it is something each player needs to do to the point where it's instinctive and not driven by someone else.
Until then, it's the responsibility of the coach.
This will pass on to one of his staff and, in time, the players will drive it.
Craig Bellamy arrived at the Storm in 2003 and it took a couple of years to mould them before another premiership was secured.
