Sarge still a work in progress

[Wiganer Ted]

Dan is not a centre yet and I simply don't know why he was played there.
For those of us who were at Cas saw the nightmare that was Sarginson and Burgess defending (or not defending) on the left. Cas were 16-0 up in 16 mins with three tries down their right and our left side defence.
Hardaker did last night what Luke Dorn did at Cas.
Waney must have been between the devil and the deep blue not knowing whether to risk Sargy right wing v Hall or play him left inside Burgess.
When I saw the team sheet I just said "Oh No" and at that point thought we would lose by far more than we did.
Hopefully Gelling will take the left centre position next week to see how he goes there. Waney can't drop him after that performance.

On a separate issue, why do we kick to Hall's wing?
Moon never passes to him and the only time he gets the ball is fielding on kick returns. He does a lot a damage too. So why kick to him? It's just asking for trouble and trouble is usually what he gives you!

[cpwigan]

Dan is not a centre yet and I simply don't know why he was played there.
For those of us who were at Cas saw the nightmare that was Sarginson and Burgess defending (or not defending) on the left. Cas were 16-0 up in 16 mins with three tries down their right and our left side defence.
Hardaker did last night what Luke Dorn did at Cas.
Waney must have been between the devil and the deep blue not knowing whether to risk Sargy right wing v Hall or play him left inside Burgess.
When I saw the team sheet I just said "Oh No" and at that point thought we would lose by far more than we did.
Hopefully Gelling will take the left centre position next week to see how he goes there. Waney can't drop him after that performance.

On a separate issue, why do we kick to Hall's wing?
Moon never passes to him and the only time he gets the ball is fielding on kick returns. He does a lot a damage too. So why kick to him? It's just asking for trouble and trouble is usually what he gives you!

The only thought re kicking to Hall is that if you kick to that side you make that team pass the ball / run from their 20 right to left which is generally the weaker side whereas if you kick to Briscoe you then allow Leeds to go left to right and hit Hall tackle 3 or 4 in the set. It also depends on where you want the last tackle to be to try to make the kick hard for their kicker. All the aforementioned is rendered pointless though if you do not dominate and make that first up tackle.

Not sure bombs are the answer either. Hall is a big lump and the Volcano was similar in build and hated turning or picking up kicks along the ground. Personally, I would kick to touch v Leeds.

[East Stand Faithful]

So what are our options for centre then?

Any youngsters coming through?

Can we buy anyone as we must be flush and under the cap?

[josie andrews]

Think you all tend to forget, Dan is only 20! 21 this month.

Our team is mainly filled with young players in positions that need more seasoned professionals.

It wasn't that long ago we were all singing his praises :exc:

Give all the kids a break, I'm sure they will benefit from games like this & become better players for it

[devon jim 1]

Think you all tend to forget, Dan is only 20! 21 this month.

Our team is mainly filled with young players in positions that need more seasoned professionals.

It wasn't that long ago we were all singing his praises :exc:

Give all the kids a break, I'm sure they will benefit from games like this & become better players for it

Agreed, josie

[No straw damn us]

Not impressed.

And why, when we have the production line we have, do we sign "work(s) in progress" from anyone?

And who do you think from that production line is ready from the first team?

[Wiganer Ted]

After the loss at Leeds I think Waney will bring in changes for the Hull game.
Wouldn't surprise me if he brought in Manfredi to play right wing with Gelling going left centre.
He's got to play Powell soon so may go with him as interchage and Williams going to 7 giving Smithy a rest.
He dumped Thornley after a poor game and he may do the same with Sargy this time around.

If one young player goes out then another young player will come in. We don't have any seasoned and mature players for replacements in our back division.

[cpwigan]

We do not have a centre ready OR better at this stage in the academy. The alternatives from the 1st team squad are mainly 'back rowers' Jack Hughes / Rhodri Lloyd (loaned) Or Jack Murphy (loan). The most exciting prospect is Oliver Gildart who is probably seasons away, 2/3/4 seasons.

[No straw damn us]

We do not have a centre ready OR better at this stage in the academy. The alternatives from the 1st team squad are mainly 'back rowers' Jack Hughes / Rhodri Lloyd (loaned) Or Jack Murphy (loan). The most exciting prospect is Oliver Gildart who is probably seasons away, 2/3/4 seasons.

Agree, that's what I was getting at in my reply/question to DaveO. Gildart is a very very good prospect and I would hope he'll get a game this season. However as you say he's probably a few years away from being a starting centre. I also like the look of Jack Higginson who is in his first year in the U19's.

[x Wigan Warrior x]

Sarge is bobbins. A real liability in defence and exposed very badly by Leeds.

We need to see if anybody will release a center or get one on loan because we are severely weak without Thornley who IMO would have made at least two of them missed tackles.

Sarginson is poor defensively, however Thornley let Lomax skip round him for fun last week before he injured himself. He isn't the shining example of a safe defender.
Disappointed with Goulding this season. He looks a shadow of the player we've seen for the last couple of seasons.

Back up a bit ..... Thornley was injured before that try !!! That's why he "skipped" around him !