Wigan Squad for Salford

[Charriots Offiah]

Wait till the morning and post isn't such a bad idea.
I might be totally wrong but the fact that all the forwards had an off-night didn't seem due to Salford's opposing pack and I wonder if there is a virus somewhere in the camp. Add to that, Cust looking drained and off the pace and it might be wrong but something looked up.
I actually thought Ellis was pretty good but suspect he was kept on too long and looked knackered by the time he was subbed.
Field had his best game at full-back and saved two if not three certain tries. Salford would have been out of sight but for him.
O'Neill was back to his absolute best and should start from now on. His finest moment was at the scrum when we had a planned move to the right - the ball got stuck under feet in the scrum so he noted that Salford had moved over to cover and took off down the middle, nearly scoring. He needs work on his passing but the PTB was much faster with his longer and quick passing.
Smithies and King aren't going to change so no point in going on about them. The real worry is Wardle who looks like a lost soul and doesn't seem to know where he is defensively,
As for Marshall, what's the point in having one of the best wingers in SL if he never sees the ball?
I didn't think the best team lost - I thought the team with some inspired skills and determination eventually came through. It wasn't great and work needs to be done but we won a game that could so easily have been lost. We were also fitter than Salford and it showed at the end, despite our forwards struggling throughout.
As for Faz and French - we're lucky to have them.

Neither of our wingers are getting good ball and that is all down to what is happening inside of them. Added to that neither are our centres.

[Charriots Offiah]

I am also wondering if any of it relates to a culture and style that Wane embedded when he was coach and it’s still lingering?

The first priority of his Props was defensive ability & effort and after that he favoured quick play if the balls rather than running in pairs, post contact meters etc. he did all of that in the hope of bunching the defence in the middle so we could ship it out.

It more than likely comes down to ability.

[jobo]

Wait till the morning and post isn't such a bad idea.
I might be totally wrong but the fact that all the forwards had an off-night didn't seem due to Salford's opposing pack and I wonder if there is a virus somewhere in the camp. Add to that, Cust looking drained and off the pace and it might be wrong but something looked up.
I actually thought Ellis was pretty good but suspect he was kept on too long and looked knackered by the time he was subbed.
Field had his best game at full-back and saved two if not three certain tries. Salford would have been out of sight but for him.
O'Neill was back to his absolute best and should start from now on. His finest moment was at the scrum when we had a planned move to the right - the ball got stuck under feet in the scrum so he noted that Salford had moved over to cover and took off down the middle, nearly scoring. He needs work on his passing but the PTB was much faster with his longer and quick passing.
Smithies and King aren't going to change so no point in going on about them. The real worry is Wardle who looks like a lost soul and doesn't seem to know where he is defensively,
As for Marshall, what's the point in having one of the best wingers in SL if he never sees the ball?
I didn't think the best team lost - I thought the team with some inspired skills and determination eventually came through. It wasn't great and work needs to be done but we won a game that could so easily have been lost. We were also fitter than Salford and it showed at the end, despite our forwards struggling throughout.
As for Faz and French - we're lucky to have them.

Good post. Sums it up nicely for me

[morley pie eater]

Another point:

Whilst everybody has their theories about why we were disappointing/poor, the fact is that we won - we didn't throw the towel in and we found a way to win.

If you listened to Rowley's excuses, it was their lack of depth led to tiredness. I don't suppose our game plan,cunningly hidden from Jon Wells, was "Ride out the first 60 mins and they'll be knackered. As long as we're within 10 points, we'll win it in the last 10 minutes."

[josie andrews]

Wait till the morning and post isn't such a bad idea.

I might be totally wrong but the fact that all the forwards had an off-night didn't seem due to Salford's opposing pack and I wonder if there is a virus somewhere in the camp. Add to that, Cust looking drained and off the pace and it might be wrong but something looked up.
I actually thought Ellis was pretty good but suspect he was kept on too long and looked knackered by the time he was subbed.

Field had his best game at full-back and saved two if not three certain tries. Salford would have been out of sight but for him.

O'Neill was back to his absolute best and should start from now on. His finest moment was at the scrum when we had a planned move to the right - the ball got stuck under feet in the scrum so he noted that Salford had moved over to cover and took off down the middle, nearly scoring. He needs work on his passing but the PTB was much faster with his longer and quick passing.

The real worry is Wardle who looks like a lost soul and doesn't seem to know where he is defensively,

As for Marshall, what's the point in having one of the best wingers in SL if he never sees the ball?

Think Budgie thought he was going to score in the first half only for Jai, who pound for pound, is a fantastic tackler for his size & so skilful, reminds me of a cat waiting to pounce

O’Neill needs to play his own game he used last season. Being mentored by Powell in training is only going to get him playing the same way as him! That’s no offence to Powell.

Wardle doesn’t look happy IMO, he doesn’t seem to interact with the other players or fans as opposed to King. Maybe he is more withdrawn just yet & needs longer to get used to the Wigan Way & the fans.

Marshall is getting more ball than he did this time last year, but maybe that is because of the switch from Smith being moved over to his side on the left to the detriment of Cust being moved to the right?? Maybe that is why Cust isn’t settling on the right? Who knows?

[ian.birchall]

I am still not convinced French and Field are up to match fitness, they certainly are not up to last seasons blistering speed.
It was a mistake to leave them in Austtralia until after Christmas when the rest of the team were well into pre-season training.
Come next December they should be back here getting fit.
I did enjoy Fields tackle on Joe Burgess though, worth the entrance money alone.

One question though, do Sky only have one BETFRED Motm lanyard, I noticed that after French had been presented with it, no cheque for the charity of his choice these days, as he walked away after the interview he took it off and gave it back to the Sky man who had brought him for the interview.

[jobo]

Another point:

Whilst everybody has their theories about why we were disappointing/poor, the fact is that we won - we didn't throw the towel in and we found a way to win.

If you listened to Rowley's excuses, it was their lack of depth led to tiredness. I don't suppose our game plan,cunningly hidden from Jon Wells, was "Ride out the first 60 mins and they'll be knackered. As long as we're within 10 points, we'll win it in the last 10 minutes."

Baldrick must be on our coaching team

[morley pie eater]

Another point:

Whilst everybody has their theories about why we were disappointing/poor, the fact is that we won - we didn't throw the towel in and we found a way to win.

If you listened to Rowley's excuses, it was their lack of depth led to tiredness. I don't suppose our game plan,cunningly hidden from Jon Wells, was "Ride out the first 60 mins and they'll be knackered. As long as we're within 10 points, we'll win it in the last 10 minutes."

Baldrick must be on our coaching team

[Wintergreen]

Field's defence is spot on.

Last year too he has the ability to line up his opponent and tackle.

Very Radlinski esque.

[Brennox7]

Field's defence is spot on.

Last year too he has the ability to line up his opponent and tackle.

Very Radlinski esque.

Wouldn’t say that to Joe Batchelor. Ran over him twice last year to score. I think FB position has changed over the years. It’s more linking and supporting breaks rather than Defence and catching bombs