Wigan 24 Saints 26

[BIG AL]

I always need time after a loss to get my mind clear.My observations on the match where .WE missed lockers defence, and organising the defence Price is a waste of space but it worrys me that MM seems to prefare him over goulding ,who should have played today .MM's choice on the bench was the same as when we played Leeds all forwards both matches in extreem conditions ,Yesterday very hot against Leeds Very wet and then not even useing the bench to the full ,against leeds we only played three of the subs ,and for the amount of time feka was on the field yasterday you can say the same .Saints to me where the better team they played the ball quicker and ran faster and harder than we did,but we where unlucky because if Pat had not droped the ball infront of goal we could have easily won

[platt-warrior]

I really do think Riddel was outstanding for us,he IMO had his best game in a Wigan shirt.MOM for me.

[cpwigan]

If there is a criticism the team have become too pre occupied with the second man play. When Madge first arrived he started to get the team doing what Melbourne do and regularly hitting a crash ball runner before opting for second man plays. It struck me Saints were waiting for second man plays which is why Joel busted them up the middle and Mickey Mac scored.

[jobo]

Here's my pennys worth.

Thought our forwards, shaded their pack 55/45.

Thought our backs were shaded by them 55/45.

Can't understand why Pat took 2 points early in the game, rather than keep the momentum going and go for 6.

Also a bit puzzled with the 4/5 drives then a punt.

Bailey isn't up to speed and it cost us dearly.

The killer though for me was the referee.

The result was decided by one person and it wasn't any of the players. Bentham performance in this game should be the thing that really comes under scrutiny. In my opinion, he purposely avoided doing his job, even as in the KC elbow, when it was blatantly obvious.

So tactics, game plan, Lockers in or out, none of it matters if the ref is either bent, or too cowardly to do the right thing.

[El Bobbers]

Well I wouldn't like to say with Lockers in the side we would have won partly as it is unfair to the lads that came in. I thought Farrell did well as did Tuson.

The biggest difference was that a few players you would put your house on to take advantage of a situation made individual errors at key times and this cost us.

One thing I have to question is the Meli try in the corner. Whilst I accept in todays game these are usually given, I must ask if this is right? He had no control of the ball and i'm not convinced there was downward pressure as a slide down the side of the ball.

Bailey showed his age for the Pryce try, I will be horrified if his contract is renewed.

[georgeorwell]

Wonderful fast, open, exciting football, only spoilt by wrong result. Please humour this relative newcomer to the game, by allowing me a few thoughts.

1. Most posts are bemoaning, quite rightly, the absence of Lockers, but no-one has pointed out that Saints were without their main playmaker, Eastmond. Had he been playing I think they would have beaten us by a few more points.

2. IMO the Meli try was legit. True he should not have been allowed the space and time to score, but he did.

3. I attended the last three Grand Finals, where the aforementioned Meli gifted Leeds all of them by not being able to cope with high balls to his corner. Every bloody team in Super League knows Meli's problem and constantly bombard him, to good effect. How many times did Sam and co do this? Hardly at all. Unforgivable error in my book.

4. Our Pryce brother. What to say? The problems are obviously all in his head. His physique is enough to scare anyone to death but he punches way below his weight. Young Goulding must wonder about his future at Wigan when a muppet like Pryce gets the nod over him.

5. I thought that all our players looked nervy and unsure for the first 30 minutes or so. It's almost as though they didn't believe themselves that they could beat Saints. Maybe the recent history weighs heavily on them.

6. Saints oldies played really well and with a lot of pride. I hate to say it but I think they deserved their win....just!

7. So. Smashing game, close call, not too much to worry about. Onwards and upwards. Madge and co are good enough to lift the boy's ready for the remaining games. Wire is a must win game now.

Come on Wigan.

[DaveO]

1. Most posts are bemoaning, quite rightly, the absence of Lockers, but no-one has pointed out that Saints were without their main playmaker, Eastmond. Had he been playing I think they would have beaten us by a few more points.

But you are forgetting the problem we have is we are not just missing Lockers but all the other injured players all of whom would be in the side instead of their counterparts who were playing IMO.

I am referring to O'Carroll, Hansen, Lockers and Mossop. I think they would all have played if available. Certainly Lockers and Hansen would and the first try from the scrum would not IMO have been scored.

2. IMO the Meli try was legit. True he should not have been allowed the space and time to score, but he did.

Without a video ref I doubt it would have been given. Slow motion makes downward pressure appear to be there when in fact he had no control of the ball.

4. Our Pryce brother. What to say? The problems are obviously all in his head. His physique is enough to scare anyone to death but he punches way below his weight. Young Goulding must wonder about his future at Wigan when a muppet like Pryce gets the nod over him.

I can't understand why he is still being picked in that he can't break a tackle to save his life and makes very few meters when carrying the ball out of defence. Every other winger we have whop has ever donned a first team shirt is better at it than him.

5. I thought that all our players looked nervy and unsure for the first 30 minutes or so. It's almost as though they didn't believe themselves that they could beat Saints. Maybe the recent history weighs heavily on them.

What the victory over Saints at KR you mean? It was IMO simply poor play and given the reaction the rocket they got at half time off Madge you have to ask why the slow start.

6. Saints oldies played really well and with a lot of pride. I hate to say it but I think they deserved their win....just!

I don't think they did simply because of the dirty play they got away with. Constantly going head high and KFC should have been sent from the field. All their scores bar the try from the scrum came off being marched up the field or off a penalty and whether you think the ref was bent or we are our own worst enemies we handed the game to them on a plate leaving ourselves too much to do.

Dave

[GeoffN]

I really do think Riddel was outstanding for us,he IMO had his best game in a Wigan shirt.MOM for me.

Piggy had a good game, but I thought we looked a lot better when McIlorum was on.

We dominated the first 20 minutes, only conceding a try against the run of play to a 40-20, and unlucky not to score a couple.

Also, that last 10 minute was all Micky, and again we were unlucky not to pinch it at the end (or at least get a draw - on three tackles in our last full set of the game, we should have had a penalty for offside).

Two of the many momentum shifts were Riddell's forward pass and McIlorum's try.

[Mike]

We certainly would not have conceded the Pryce try Dave and I would suggest he may have been somewhere near Roby. However, you must start to develop you understanding of RL Dave. Spacing and drift are two of Lockers strengths so just his presence in the defensive line makes other defenders in the line better.

Would lockers have been defending in Bailey's position in that scrum defence situation? If he had been I believe he would have made that tackle, but then we'd have thought Gleeson would too, but he didn't at Leeds. I don't think he would have been in that position anyway, and starting from the scrum base he would not have been able to get near that tackle.

However, I think we would have been a bit more organised and had a few more options in attack with Lockers on the field. We didn't have a good attacking performance in the first half and a couple of times in teh second we looked a little disorganised on the last plays.

[cpwigan]

I would presume Lockers would have been standing out at the scrum. Still not sure why Bailey did with Farrell at loose forward.