Let battle begin

In his first exclusive column for BBC Sport Online Wigan's Denis Betts says this season's Super League could be the closest yet.

Well, the season is underway and it's started with a bang.

Bradford's win over Saint Helens was certainly impressive, but we were also happy with our victory over Warrington.

There's been a lot of talk in the press recently about the need to improve the structure of Super League and perhaps introduce more 'top quality' clubs.

It's an old argument. The quality has improved considerably over the past five years and this season any number of clubs will be chasing the title.

No-one will be able to hold onto the top spot the way that Bradford did last season.

And in any case - it's easy to talk about introducing more quality in the league, but first you need to create it and that's what we should all be working on.

Super League has come a long way since its inception. Everyone will have an idea who will take the title this year, but no-one can say with any certainty who it will be.

You only have to look at the Premiership to discover that teams can often dominate, but I can't see anyone running away with it in Super League to such an extent.

And you be sure that a couple of the teams who find themselves lower down the table will suddenly jump out and take a bit out of one the top clubs. What we need is for that to happen more often.

Going for glory

In terms of our own aspirations, we hope to be there or thereabout this season, fighting for the top spot.

It was a good win on the weekend, but it's only the start of a long season.

Although we've strengthened ourselves, it does take time to gel. With 28 games it can only get better so expect to see some great rugby from us.

There's no doubt that losing to St Helens in the Challenge Cup was a disappointment and we lost our momentum, but only temporarily.

Saints are an exceptional side and over recent seasons have created a superb defensive unit - so expect them to bounce back.

Bradford have started well again, but then they always do. It's always a tough task to face them early in the season.

It's going to an exciting time for Super League fans and in Wigan the pressure will be on to succeed - but then it always is.

The club has such a great history and as a result expectations are always high.

There's no doubt that helps the players, but it can also be something of a hindrance.

We can't get caught up in the past because that's not helpful. Instead we need to look to future - because that's where our success now lies.