Wigan v Saints - Match Reaction!

[RJ]

I was just delighted to see a team seriously competing for the match. I thought we deserved better for the effort the lads put in but in the circs I am not about to grumble. For the first time in ages I went home feeling that we had the makings of a team that could seriously compete in the competition. Sam Tomkins and Ainscough have been a revelation and lets hope we see more youngsters being given their opportunity. If these two are anything to go by we need to do this on a more regular basis.

[fred ladd]

Cracking game fielden was poor , coley was our best prop i must say riddell is getting better by the week , phelps looked good at full back was chiming into the line nicely i fink we have taken a big step in the right direction even tho we lost r players can gain confidence from that performace well done lads

[gpartin]

Cracking game fielden was poor , coley was our best prop i must say riddell is getting better by the week , phelps looked good at full back was chiming into the line nicely i fink we have taken a big step in the right direction even tho we lost r players can gain confidence from that performace well done lads

Feka was our best prop by an absolute mile.

[Wigan_forever1985]

I was very impressed with tonights performance i said in a previous post we had to do 2 things to win the match and i stand by that.

1 was we had to play to win - this was the one thing we did, and what i was sop happy about we took the game to stains, we were excellent in defence stains never got a really clean try which is a huge effort from us. We attacked ok but i would of took that result on our recent form if had been offered to me before the match.

the 2nd thing i said we needed to do which didn't happen was for feilden and coley to have their best games ever, Coley was so so still doing his crabman thing but was good in defence and put so big hits in.

Feilden well.......words cannot describe how much he has fallen from where he was he is terrible!, we are 1 or 2 props short of a really good team. Our backs can do the business but if feka aint on we lose our go forward and hock becomes a make-shift prop to make up for how woefully bad feilden is, he had like 5 carries and dropped it 3 times. he cant break wind let alone the line he's shocking! i just wish to god noble would drop him. Thing is it seems like he's now accepted he is rubbish, last season everyother day it was "ill rubbish but ill get my form back" but now all quiet as he has realised and noble should to he is SHOT!. get rid get a big workhorse prop in and watch our very good backline do their thing.

ok enough negative a bit more positive, phelps i thought barring a couple of errors was very very good, and he has been out for a while which makes that performance all the more impressive. Ainscough and sammmy are just getting better and i think lulu and sammy compliment eachother v.well. Riddell is starting to hit form and is showing glimpses of why we signed him. i lockers had a really really good game lead from the front and looked up for it. by enlarge apart from feilden the whole team played well and as a unit a really solid performance play like that every week and top 3 would be a given.


Feilden out though before any real progress can be made

[Panchitta Marra]

Didnt see the game, but by all accounts should have won this one against a Stains side well off their best.

[turf]

Didnt see the game, but by all accounts should have won this one against a Stains side well off their best.

That would probably sum it all up in one sentence. Well done Panchitta Marra :eusa2:

[cpwigan]

I just hope people do not think Saints were bad more than we were good. Saints are like the Wigan teams of the 80's and 90's. They really dig deep. They soak up pressure and get to the finish line ahead. It's a great quality to have for any sporting team. They are not a startling team individually compared to great teams that we had but they do have the same attitude.

Sport is incredibly tough mentally. To make decisions / play under pressure is what separates the best from the rest. When Wigan beat Hull KR in the CC 85 Semi, Hull KR were beaten before they stepped off the coach. I have never seen players look so terrified. Even Watkinson who was a real dog of war looked like he was going to a funeral. Widnes on that Championship decider when Offiah scored those tries were like crazed drug addicts whilst Wigan missing players looked beaten in the warm up. The mental stress sees players vomiting pre match etc.

Players who can keep their head and execute under such pressure are so rare. The inability to execute under pressure is why you get games like the Wigan v Saints, Hull derby, Leeds v Bradford where the defence is far far better than the attack. Attack in SL is fairly poor across the board but if Wigan can get it better then they ill do far far better. Had we converted pressure into points in the first 40 Saints would have never come back but we didn't and they grew stronger. Look how much better players / teams become when the game is won. Even conversions show you that remove pressure and many more players look far better.

RL because it is physical is a bullying gladitorial contest. Boxing is the only sport IMO where the contest between two men is more raw and intense.

[jaws1]

Saints play for each other and dont want to lose just like Wigans CC run when the players openly said they did'nt want to lose.This is instilled to the players at coaching level Saints have not changed there game plan for as long as i can remember(55 years watching rugby now) they play open rugby and defend their line come what may,different coaches have tweaked them to play better they still play basic rugby with a will to win.

[gpartin]

I just hope people do not think Saints were bad more than we were good. Saints are like the Wigan teams of the 80's and 90's. They really dig deep. They soak up pressure and get to the finish line ahead. It's a great quality to have for any sporting team. They are not a startling team individually compared to great teams that we had but they do have the same attitude.

Sport is incredibly tough mentally. To make decisions / play under pressure is what separates the best from the rest. When Wigan beat Hull KR in the CC 85 Semi, Hull KR were beaten before they stepped off the coach. I have never seen players look so terrified. Even Watkinson who was a real dog of war looked like he was going to a funeral. Widnes on that Championship decider when Offiah scored those tries were like crazed drug addicts whilst Wigan missing players looked beaten in the warm up. The mental stress sees players vomiting pre match etc.

Players who can keep their head and execute under such pressure are so rare. The inability to execute under pressure is why you get games like the Wigan v Saints, Hull derby, Leeds v Bradford where the defence is far far better than the attack. Attack in SL is fairly poor across the board but if Wigan can get it better then they ill do far far better. Had we converted pressure into points in the first 40 Saints would have never come back but we didn't and they grew stronger. Look how much better players / teams become when the game is won. Even conversions show you that remove pressure and many more players look far better.

RL because it is physical is a bullying gladitorial contest. Boxing is the only sport IMO where the contest between two men is more raw and intense.

A good assessment, Saints were not poor by any stretch of the imagination, nor at any point did they look overly tired. It suits Saints fans arguments to say that a Wigan Side at their best couldn't beat a poor, tired, lacklustre St Helens side. It wasn't like that, it was an incredibly close game which on another night could have gone either way. Saints were brilliant defensively and most of our errors were forced by that... The odd ball bouncing a different way etc etc and it could have been a different story.

[Wigan Watcher]

Well well what a lot of people getting carried away yet again.

Fielden was rubbish tonight, Lockers yet again could not break through a paper bag and had no ideas in fact the team had no ideas going forward. Coley was ok but only just, Fecka played well, the backs where poor but that is understandable considering our forwards where poor. Must say Hock looked dangerous.

After all that we rested players for this game so should have won considering that the Snakes had a really hard game again Leeds and their players where very tired along with others missing.

Over all a very disappointing night