Cup semi in a nutshell

[catman]

Before last night if you thought about it you could probably have predicted what wigan would have to do in order to win. Hull are a decent side and their go forward and offloads would probably mean they would score two or three tries against us and Sneyd being a good goal kicker he would probably kick most if not all their goals.

So if Wigan wanted to win they needed to
1. Match Hull physically
2. Defend well
3. Score about 24 to 28 points.

As the match transpired Wigan much to their credit achieved points 1 and 2, but unfortunately came nowhere near achieving point 3, for the umpteenth time this year (saints home, hull home,wire away) our attack was a shambles no organisation no set plays no pattern nothing.

However the most galling aspect was that with 10 minutes to go Hull were knackered some of their big men especially were blowing and they coughed up possession to us on a number of occasions. Any half decent superleague side would have found a way by hook or by crook to get over that try line and win the game.

Unfortunately the unpalatable truth for Wigan fans is we couldn't win the game as our attack is awful don't know if coach, players or both are to blame but it's awful. This is the reason we have not won the cup this year and it's the reason we'll win very little in the foreseeable future without major changes.

[Kittwazzer]

Before last night if you thought about it you could probably have predicted what wigan would have to do in order to win. Hull are a decent side and their go forward and offloads would probably mean they would score two or three tries against us and Sneyd being a good goal kicker he would probably kick most if not all their goals.

So if Wigan wanted to win they needed to
1. Match Hull physically
2. Defend well
3. Score about 24 to 28 points.

As the match transpired Wigan much to their credit achieved points 1 and 2, but unfortunately came nowhere near achieving point 3, for the umpteenth time this year (saints home, hull home,wire away) our attack was a shambles no organisation no set plays no pattern nothing.

However the most galling aspect was that with 10 minutes to go Hull were knackered some of their big men especially were blowing and they coughed up possession to us on a number of occasions. Any half decent superleague side would have found a way by hook or by crook to get over that try line and win the game.

Unfortunately the unpalatable truth for Wigan fans is we couldn't win the game as our attack is awful don't know if coach, players or both are to blame but it's awful. This is the reason we have not won the cup this year and it's the reason we'll win very little in the foreseeable future without major changes.

I 100% agree with this. It was even more apparent last week. Against Saints we dominated in both territory and possession but didn't look like we would score by next Good Friday!

[moto748]

Yes, I agree too. It was like deja vu all over again!

[Wandering Warrior]

Before last night if you thought about it you could probably have predicted what wigan would have to do in order to win. Hull are a decent side and their go forward and offloads would probably mean they would score two or three tries against us and Sneyd being a good goal kicker he would probably kick most if not all their goals.

So if Wigan wanted to win they needed to
1. Match Hull physically
2. Defend well
3. Score about 24 to 28 points.

As the match transpired Wigan much to their credit achieved points 1 and 2, but unfortunately came nowhere near achieving point 3, for the umpteenth time this year (saints home, hull home,wire away) our attack was a shambles no organisation no set plays no pattern nothing.

However the most galling aspect was that with 10 minutes to go Hull were knackered some of their big men especially were blowing and they coughed up possession to us on a number of occasions. Any half decent superleague side would have found a way by hook or by crook to get over that try line and win the game.

Unfortunately the unpalatable truth for Wigan fans is we couldn't win the game as our attack is awful don't know if coach, players or both are to blame but it's awful. This is the reason we have not won the cup this year and it's the reason we'll win very little in the foreseeable future without major changes.

Bob on with that!
I'd be mithered if I was SW if another current SL player goes public about the team's tactics on national telly!?
It's like being outed in everyday life!!

[DaveO]

Before last night if you thought about it you could probably have predicted what wigan would have to do in order to win. Hull are a decent side and their go forward and offloads would probably mean they would score two or three tries against us and Sneyd being a good goal kicker he would probably kick most if not all their goals.

So if Wigan wanted to win they needed to
1. Match Hull physically
2. Defend well
3. Score about 24 to 28 points.

And look what happened in March when we played them at their place.

Hull 25 Wigan 26.

Your case well proved I think on the evidence of both games. The result at home Wigan 16 Hull 30 almost fits as well.

I remember being concerned about that game in March but I had also noticed Hull had conceded quite a few points in some so back then, I was expecting us to score a few and thought we might win against a clearly much improved Hull side from previous seasons.

I was not of the same opinion before the semi-final. Our attack is rubbish averaging 19 and all you need to do to be in with a good chance of beating Wigan is score around 20 points.

I think most coaches know this and plan accordingly. Defend their line which is easy to do given our one dimensional attack, wait for the mistakes/penalties to get them some field position, convert three or four chances into points and it's job done.

[Wintergreen]

Exactly.

The real issue is that if a bunch of armchair pundits like us see this, why on earth can't the professional coaching staff of Wigan RL see it too?

[4 Generations]

Seems after reading and listening to fans.Everything points to a lack of creativity or attack options from what everyone is saying.Not just armchair pundits.Comments from wilkin and co confirmed this,its been said now for weeks by many.
So,if thers a Rugby League Players sale on this afternoon.
We find for Sale the Following players fit and available.Will they be good enough or would we buy them to help,start to solve or even solve our lack of points scored.

FOR SALE
J,Charnley
A,Gelling
M,Macalorum
Farrell
T,Clubb
J,Tompkins
I think that puts the Cat amungst the Pigeons.

4G

[moto748]

Seems after reading and listening to fans.Everything points to a lack of creativity or attack options from what everyone is saying.Not just armchair pundits.Comments from wilkin and co confirmed this,its been said now for weeks by many.
So,if thers a Rugby League Players sale on this afternoon.
We find for Sale the Following players fit and available.Will they be good enough or would we buy them to help,start to solve or even solve our lack of points scored.

FOR SALE
J,Charnley
A,Gelling
M,Macalorum
Farrell
T,Clubb
J,Tompkins
I think that puts the Cat amungst the Pigeons.

4G

Well, considering none of those played on Friday, it's hard to see how getting rid of them will improve our squad.

And it's TOMKINS, FFS!

[DaveO]

Seems after reading and listening to fans.Everything points to a lack of creativity or attack options from what everyone is saying.Not just armchair pundits.Comments from wilkin and co confirmed this,its been said now for weeks by many.
So,if thers a Rugby League Players sale on this afternoon.
We find for Sale the Following players fit and available.Will they be good enough or would we buy them to help,start to solve or even solve our lack of points scored.

FOR SALE
J,Charnley
A,Gelling
M,Macalorum
Farrell
T,Clubb
J,Tompkins
I think that puts the Cat amungst the Pigeons.

4G

Only in your head. if you can't see the reason we score so few points is down to the tactics you don't know anything about the game.

This was the Wigan team that lost 12-18 to Widnes:

Wigan Warriors: 4. Dan Sarginson; 5. Dom Manfredi, 3. Anthony Gelling, 20. Oliver Gildart, 2. Josh Charnley; 13. Sean O’Loughlin, 7. Matty Smith; 15. Tony Clubb, 16. Sam Powell, 10. Ben Flower; 12. Liam Farrell, 14. John Bateman; 19. Taulima Tautai.

Interchange: Lee Mossop, 21. Ryan Sutton, 26. Greg Burke, 27. Nick Gregson.

This is on paper a strong side so how do you explain only being able to score two tries at home against a side currently 5 places behind us in the league who have lost 6 more games?

If you actually watch the games you will also note that whatever side we have out we always get enough field position in the oppositions 20m area such that we should come away with points far more than we are doing. Particularly against poor sides like Widnes, Salford, and HKR.

It's the same throughout the season if you care to look. Rarely have all those you list been missing at the same time, strong Wigan sides take the field and they can't score to save their lives despite getting in prime position to do so time after time. Only Wakefield away and possibly Wire away can you say injuries were the major factor in the result.

If we were spending the game's pinned in our own half getting pasted you might have a point but since we often dominate field position for long periods and come away empty handed the injury excuse is just very lame and misses the fundamental problem, poor tactics from a poor coach.

Likewise injuries don't mean that our wingers should be carting the ball up from our own 20m line, that Smith never takes the line on or every attack should end in a grubber kick!

[Longstanding]

But for the missing players we might have squeezed through to the final but I doubt if we would have beat Warrington. They look like a complete team. We are playing a full back who doesn't look fully fit, we havent got an attacking no.9 and for all his endeavour Smith can't make the half-breaks.So we only have Williams as a threat.I think if we are to get a better brand of rugby it will be after SW leaves.He has had his chance to build a true wigan style squad.