Farrel

[DaveO]

MrsLam posted:
Im not a farrel lover or hater but ive not been impressed with him recently. I dont think its even the way hes been captaining (if thats a word) us, its just generally the way we play when hes on the field. I agree with all those who said hes predictable, hes fast when he gets going but hes not one of those players thats, well like Carney, he can do the sort of thing robinson used to do and I know its a different position but if youve got a player that can dodge around anyone and then run the length of the pitch rather than sideways then you're doing alright!

I must admoit I don't understand the above. Farrell is a forward and physically huge for a back-rower. You can't expect him to be jason Robinson MkII.

I think last year is a good example of why lam should be captain/joint captain. When faz was injured last year there was a massive improvement in play and I think that little patch was the best part of last season (except the challenge cup:>)

I pointed this out last season when it happened so I think its worth doing it again. When Faz was out last season for the majority of those games lam was captain we did not play the strongest teams. I think we only played one top flight side.

Farrell's come back last season coincided with a real tough set of fixtures and sure enough, when things were tougher for the team it was all Farrel's fault when in fact the opposition was that much better.

Faz is probably the player in the team that the youngsters look up to most and follow, but I think Lam is a better example of a good captain.

Over recent weeks I must disagree. As Fraggle points out at times it was a committee down there deciding whether to kick a penalty or not.

I just think that sometimes faz tries too hard to slow down play and we dont need or want that because weve probably got one of the fittest sides in the league. We'd outplay other teams like Bradford regularly, cause theyd never catch the likes of carney, briscoe and ainscough.

Fittest side in the League? There are regular threads questioning NAJ and the level of fitness of players on here and other message boards.

Back to Faz people should realise he has played so few games this year and has been out so long its going to take time to get back into the swing of it.

Dave

[Ellie from the Block!]

Radlinski is not really what I would see to be a leader yet...this may change, but I doubt it (but he is the best full back!). Newton, again too hot headed. Sculthorpe...have a word! He's a great player, but I think he needs more time. It's a little to early in his career to take on such a responsibility.
We all expect a lot from the captain and it needs to be a person with a strong character, who doesn't come accross as arrogant, is calm under pressure and a creative player. Lam is perfect for the job!
Maybe Farrell needs the competition here to give him the challenge to lift his game and change his style of leadership?????

[MrsLam]

I must admoit I don't understand the above. Farrell is a forward and physically huge for a back-rower. You can't expect him to be jason Robinson...

Thats why i said I know its a different position. I know hes a big lad but i think sometimes he'd be more effective if he tried going around the opposition rather than into the defence.

MkII

Is that a reference from the bible????

Farrell's come back last season coincided with a real tough set of fixtures and sure enough, when things were tougher for the team it was all Farrel's fault when in fact the opposition was that much better.

I dont think it should really matter how big the team are, the fact is that he brought back the predictable play and thats what the bigger teams wanted. They knew what he was going to do and therefore took advantage of it.

Over recent weeks I must disagree. As Fraggle points out at times it was a committee down there deciding whether to kick a penalty or not.

Fair enough.

Fittest side in the League? There are regular threads questioning NAJ and the level of fitness of players on here and other message boards.

Yeah I know there have been. What I meant by fitness was that our team are very young and should still have a lot energy in them, I dont think theres one player that I could actually say was slow. Injurywise it doesnt seem to be the youngsters that are getting injured all the time so Im sticking by my opinion 'cause with our speed and energy we should be playing fast rugby.

Back to Faz people should realise he has played so few games this year and has been out so long its going to take time to get back into the swing of it.

Yes and im sure he will be back soon but I still think that lam would be a good captain.

MrsLam

[DaveO]

MrsLam posted:
I dont think it should really matter how big the team are, the fact is that he brought back the predictable play and thats what the bigger teams wanted. They knew what he was going to do and therefore took advantage of it.

By tough I didn't mean physically big. What I meant was Lam was Captain when we played the clubs in the bottom half of the table and Faz's return coincided with fixtures against the teams in the top half.

That being so, the opposition was more skillful and basically better when Faz returned so Wigan were almost bound not to look as good as the opposition was that much better.

In the last two weeks we looked poor against Leeds compared to against Halifax.

Why is that? Because Leeds are a better side by a long way IMO.

We don't have a right to look as good v sides of Leeds caliber. We have to step up a gear all around the park if we want to do that and the question is, are we capable of doing it?

As soon as we look one-dimensional against a good side has anyone considered its because we are not actually a good enough team just now rather than saying "Oh, Faz is hogging the play"?

So what I am saying is it is easier to captain the side against teams like Fax than it is teams like Leeds.

Its also easier for any of our players to play against Fax than it is Leeds. In the situation where our backs are to the wall Faz does assume responsibilty of trying to get us a result IMO and I think instead of questioning is this right we should be looking to the other players and asking are they capable of stepping up that gear and not relying on Faz to rescue yet another game?

Dave

[MrsLam]

I was on hoiday when we played leeds last week and the video recorder decided it wasnt going to work so i havent seen the match in full.

But on other performances against leeds and saints this year I would say, yeah we are good enough to compete with them and come out with a result like we did against both of them.
And yes it is about the team rather than blaming it on one player, obviously if we lose a match its not down to one player because the other 12 should make up for little mistakes.
I just think faz needs to maybe learn from the inexperienced lads while they're learning from him, cause although that sounds really stupid, if hes getting ideas from them and their creativity and theyre getting ideas from him and his experience I think that'd work well.
I really cant put my sentences together tonight so this isnt going to make annnny sense at all.

[dp13]

warriorjon posted:
Thought it would be better to start a new thread on this subject before the one about the team for saints descends into a war of words. What are peoples opinions of him? I am not one of the people who think the sun shines out of his backside but equally so i dont think he should be dropped either. Without destroying his confidence i think it would have been a wise move to give Lam the capitaincy and hence let Faz know that he cant do everything on his own as he sometimes tends to do. If utilised correctly ie outwide running at the centres he would be of much more use to the Wigan and G.B. team. I do think some of the responsibility should be removed from his shoulders and im sure he would return to a more consistant performance.

the way to take some of the responsibility off farrel is simple, sighn a top class s/off.
untill we do we will never be atop class team.

[warriorjon]

Matty Johns? Julien O'Neil either of these two spring to mind? Matty Johns is a quality stand off and Julien O'Neil is proving what he can do at Widnes now he is able to take charge and is showing what true class he has. Farrel needs to stop trying to run things and get on with making the busts and the hard yards. Leave the creativity to the halves and im sure both these players would have had more productive days at our club. I think we need to remember no man is bigger than the club but at times Farrels influence seems too great for its own good.

[Ellie from the Block!]

I don't think I couldhave explained it better myself!