Wigan v Wire

[Kittwazzer]

Nail & head TBW. Wire can't get any better with last year's team. We can only get better. Must admit, last 2 weeks have left me shellshocked. But in a good way!

[MrDave]

Was impressed with the Wigan performance tonight the game plan was good and the players played to it.

With injuries, a smaller pack and a totally new half back pairing you would expect Warrington to dominate but Wigan matched them.

But for a very rare defensive mistake for O'Loughlin or an obvious mistake from the referee we would be talking about a Wigan win...but the result tonight was fair.

[weststand-rich]

Great game. I thought we looked sharp, quick and hungry for defense. Some fantastic try line defence. Warrington had the better of the terroty and forced our kicking game into a weak position more often than not. Light going forward at times.

But what a great start.

[bocco]

brilliant loved every minute of the game, we matched them toe to toe.That was RL at it's finest skill,power,pace more skill & lots of courage still buzzing. Great crowd as well. Everyone there tonight should give thems elves a pat on the back.

[Kittwazzer]

Following Saints hammering by Hudds, someone on RedVee posted
"Its not all bad. We will beat Widnes next week and assuming Dire and the Pies don't draw, we'll be on equal points with one of them. COYS!"

I will find that post and respond if I have to stay up all night!

[josie andrews]

An Awesome Draw

Wigan and Warrington showed their title credentials as they shared the points in a heart-stopping battle on Friday night.

Matty Smith thought he had pinched an emphatic win for Wigan in the 73rd minute with a deftly struck drop-goal but Lee Briers landed one of his own to snatch a draw.

A titanic arm-wrestle involving Warrington wouldn't be complete without a Briers one-pointer and this was the 72nd of his career.

It was the first time the sides have drawn since July 1999, and coincidentally, that game at Wilderspool also finished 17-17.

Warrington began strongly, pressuring Wigan into their own 20 metre area where they had to hold off numerous attacks, save for an Iain Thornley chance after six minutes, when Matty Smith tried to find space with a probing kick.

But the Wolves pressure paid off in the tenth minute when Joel Monaghan stretched his scoring run against Wigan to five consecutive games when he edged over in the corner for the first try.

Wigan gained the lead by responding with two tries, firstly with Josh Charnley finishing a move involving Blake Green and Smith before Ben Flower crashed over just seconds after coming off the bench.

But the Wolves equalised four minutes before half time when Monaghan bagged his second try.

The chance was created by Briers, who booted the ball skyward and Charnley couldn't handle it as it spiraled down.

From the resulting play, the Wolves attack wasted no time in shipping the ball to Mongahan via Briers and Hodgson for the try but the video replay showed Charnley's mistake could've been a result of interference from Ryan Atkins before he came into contact with the ball.

Hodgson uncharacteristically drifted the conversion wide though, leaving the scores locked at 10-10.

From the kick-off, Garreth Carvell had a forgettable couple of minutes when he sloppily lost control of the ball when trying to play it, then conceded a penalty on the next set for swinging an arm at Green.

With the clock running down, Richards opted to knock a penalty over to give the Warriors a two-point advantage at the break.

Warrington wasted no time in snatching back the lead with two minutes of the second half gone. Richie Myler took a sharp pass from Briers and danced around two defenders with ease to score in front of the delirious Wolves following.

That would be the last time they would lead though as Liam Farrell gained a nice reward for a superb all-round display by bagging a try to reset the balance.

The video referee was called into consultation for obstruction but it only took one look before the try was given to set-up a nail-biting finale.

Richards missed the conversion to put Wigan in front again though, leaving the scores at 16-16.

Warrington continued to probe and pressure, backed by their typically boisterous following but Wigan continually held on as tempers reached fever pitch.

With just ten to go, Green fired a strong kick to touch from his own 40 metre area which Hodgson made a hash of to set Wigan up for Smith's one-pointer.

But minutes later, when Wigan could've kicked to touch, the ball ended up being swung back upfield by the Wolves to give Briers the chance to level up the scores, which he took with precision.



Wigan Warriors 17

T - Charnley, Flower, Farrell

G - Richards (2), Smith DG

Warrington Wolves 17

T - J. Monaghan (2), Myler

G - Hodgson (2), Briers DG



Half-Time: 12-10

Attendance: 20050



Wigan Warriors - Sam Tomkins, Josh Charnley, Darrell Goulding, Iain Thornley, Pat Richards, Blake Green, Matty Smith, Gil Dudson, Michael McIlorum, Lee Mossop, Jack Hughes, Liam Farrell, Sean O'Loughlin

Replacements - Ben Flower, Scott Taylor, Sam Powell, Greg Burke

Warrington Wolves - Brett Hodgson, Chris Riley, Rhys Evans, Ryan Atkins, Joel Monaghanm Lee Briers, Richie Myler, Adrian Morley, Michael Monaghan, Chris Hill, Trent Waterhouse, Ben Westwood, Simon Grix

Replacements - Garreth Carvell, Mike Cooper, Micky Higham, Stefan Ratchford

Referee - P Bentham

http://www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

[Kittwazzer]

The chance was created by Briers, who booted the ball skyward and Charnley couldn't handle it as it spiraled down.

My arse!

[CougarDeb]

Extremely pleased with our performance tonight, thought everyone had a decent game and proved lots of doubters wrong. Well deserved man of the match award for Farrell, was also impressed by the Smith/Green combination which can only get better as the season progresses. All in all a most enjoyable evening with a good atmosphere. :eusa2:

[cow yeds]

The bookies got it right Wigan +1

[Kiwiseddon]

I was so chuffed primarily with how the kids stood up to Morley, Carvell and co. and Lockers again showed what a player he is. The number of times he stood up with a swagger having put one of their big lads on his arse.
Wigan 'Haven't they lost a lot of players' 17 Warrington tipped to do the double 17. Happy with that

The only negative for me was how we started the second half. Two technical pens and a try conceded. That's not good enough I'm afraid. But it's a small fly in an otherwise awesome jar of ointment and I'm a very happy camper.
Well done lads. Brilliant.