96 years and 728 games - our leading 3 players

Discuss all things Wigan Warriors. Comments and opinions on all aspects of the club's performance are welcome.
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morley pie eater
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Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 2:01 pm

96 years and 728 games - our leading 3 players

Post by morley pie eater »

"Yer win nowt wi' young lads!" or thereabouts.

Every champion team has a backbone of experienced players. It's great that we have so many academy players coming through, and the likes of Liam Byrne, KPP, Ethan Havard, and Morgan Smithies as young but established first team players.

But our 30+ year olds give the team that backbone, "been there and done that" experience to steady the ship in a crisis and pass on their knowledge to the younger players.

Willie Isa has played 157 games in 6 years at over 26 a year average. At 34 years old, he still rarely misses a match.

Liam Farrell, 32 and 321 appearances. The ginger pearl - pure class and 100% commitment.

Sam Powell, just 30 with 250 games under his belt. Has probably made around 10,000 tackles in his first team career, and could have 4 more years to crank up those stats.

Whatever you think of these lads, they are the engine and heartbeat of the team. Our chances of adding more trophies in the next year or two lie with them as much as anybody.

(Cue the predictable responses.)
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Exiled Wiganer
Posts: 2677
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:18 pm

Re: 96 years and 728 games - our leading 3 players

Post by Exiled Wiganer »

In May 2022 many Wigan fans watched the team win the Challenge Cup at Tottenham, with a team without Isa and Powell. Whatever you think of these 2 lads, they have already shown how best to contribute to a wining team - from the sidelines.
CheshireWarrior
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Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2019 7:58 pm

Re: 96 years and 728 games - our leading 3 players

Post by CheshireWarrior »

I don't think anyone could disagree with Liam Farrell being considered 'the back bone or heartbeat' of the team! Deservedly made first team captain and should have got it after O'Loughlin.

It took me until the 2020 Grand Final to really, fully appreciate what Isa is capable of and his ability to play a utility role (especially when we've had injuries rife), does him credit. I've seen him as hard working. I'm not sure if its his age, consistency of the fact we have an excellent youth system, but when push comes to shove and it really counts, I think he's one who can be the 18th man.

Sam Powell, everything has been said already and I think we all on here have very precise opinions.
nathan_rugby
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Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:12 pm

Re: 96 years and 728 games - our leading 3 players

Post by nathan_rugby »

I find this post very strange.

Isa is a squad player at best. Peet didn’t pick him for around half a season even though he was fit and we had injuries.

You cannot just make up a post like this and bundle him in because of his age and number of games played.
Bomhead - "Lockers to prop."
medlocke
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Re: 96 years and 728 games - our leading 3 players

Post by medlocke »

nathan_rugby wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:10 pm I find this post very strange.

Isa is a squad player at best. Peet didn’t pick him for around half a season even though he was fit and we had injuries.

You cannot just make up a post like this and bundle him in because of his age and number of games played.
It is a bad attempt at trolling for the attention of us Powell deniers :D
Dreamteam
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Joined: Tue May 17, 2022 8:47 pm

Re: 96 years and 728 games - our leading 3 players

Post by Dreamteam »

medlocke wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:18 pm
nathan_rugby wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:10 pm I find this post very strange.

Isa is a squad player at best. Peet didn’t pick him for around half a season even though he was fit and we had injuries.

You cannot just make up a post like this and bundle him in because of his age and number of games played.
It is a bad attempt at trolling for the attention of us Powell deniers :D
He makes loads of a second man tackles tho ?
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