I couldn't help but watch the final stages of this year’s football season and think two things.

Firstly imagine Wello’s giddy little face and his new found love of Man City bearing fruit for the first time since his support gathered pace, which coincided with a massive investment making them competitive at last.

My second thought was watching the Man City players after the game, sharing a moment with the fans of the club.

That moment of joy and celebration is the reason my job can be so rewarding but watching the Man City celebrations crushed me and reminded me that for every team that wins there are teams that are at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.

We all know how good that moment of victory feels and I watched knowing in terms of the Challenge Cup, following our defeat to Wigan, one opportunity to feel like that this year had faded away.

The most frustrating thing is knowing how good the Challenge Cup week is, the build up, the tension, arriving at the stadium, sell out crowds and most importantly for the less financially generous members of our squad, it means lots of freebies, boots, suits and a few gifts as reward.

Having to stand back and watch other teams go through that is not pleasant and I am massively jealous of all teams left in the competition.

I found the game at the weekend to be a very strange atmosphere. It wasn't the usual intensity of a derby game which was reflected in the quality of rugby on the hallowed football surface that is DW. In all honesty having watched the game back it wasn't a stunner to watch. Both teams really stuttered with the ball and didn't produce a visually fluent game which has to be attributed to the quality of both side’s defences.

Defending in the modern game is all about slowing the speed of the game down, making it controlled and manageable so that all of your players can form a consistent defensive shape devoid of flaws.

The best teams do that consistently well and whether you like it or not, whether you think it makes the game less entertaining it is a formula that wins games, especially the highly pressurised ones.

The Australians have been subscribing to that theory for a long time and having spoken to James Graham one thing he noticed in Australia is the increased amount of time and resource spent on perfecting the art of controlling a game via your defence.

He noticed that and the increased amount of time and resource spent applying sunblock to his considerable and pasty frame every morning prior to training.

James and sun never got on and I often sit back and chuckle imagining him sat on a beach under a brolly - fully clothed, wearing socks and sandles on fuming as bronzed beach loving Aussies comfortably relax in their natural habitat.

The reason we lost at the weekend was due to our inability to break down Wigan’s controlled defence. Many times we did manage to create numbers and space but were unable to get the ball where it needed to go at the right time and in big games that kills.

I think against the top sides you will possibly get between five and ten chances to score within the game, you have to take at least three or four of those to realistically stand a chance of winning the game and we took one and blew the rest.

This week sees the first of the Monday night project. I will be interested to see how the game works out for fans, TV and the teams.

In principle I think it is a good idea for the game to have a presence at the start of the week.

It gives us the best chance to get a large TV audience and in the absence of Monday night football, Super League fills the void for many transient sports fans.

The Friday and Saturday night formula has been consistent for some time now and has been producing results as rugby league is the second most watched domestic team sport on Sky after Football with a cumulative TV audience of 17 million.

But the way the game is packaged has been very similar for sometime now.

I am keen to explore any ways we can that re-package the coverage of the game and I am hoping the idea of games on TV on less popular nights for socialising will work out.

I wonder how it will work out for fans? I don't know if Monday nights on the M62 are going to be a fun place knowing an early start at work the next day awaits ? I really hope to see lots of you there and await audience figures with fingers crossed. If we do have the ‘Greatest Game’ then isn't it time we started letting more people see it?

This month sees the start of my testimonial year with the Haydock Race Day on May 24 in association with Hatton’s Solicitors Membership Gold.

Then a Legends of Super league Night, featuring Jamie Peacock MBE, Sky Pundits and sidekicks Terry O'Connor and Barrie McDermott and Saints Legend and my former landlord Chris Joynt.

It is going to be an awesome night, funny stories and a chance to ask that question you have always wanted. That is on June 27, 7.30-10 at Langtree Park.

For more details/tickets/prices email: info@jonwilkin.co.uk and the committee will help you out.