Wigan v Wakey

[i'm spartacus]

Fairly happy after that, we looked like a team playing together, defence and line speed much better, some nice off the cuff play and offloads, conversely we allowed too many offloads. Our passing was going to hand and for the most part was sticking. Rocky made a difference to the structures allowing options, George's kicking needs to get better.
Wakey were awful, but there were lots of improvements in the way we played as a team. And my impression was there were a lot more carries by the big men, anyone got the stats to prove this?

Top 5 for carries , Bateman, Gelling, Club, Farrell, Sarge

Meters, Farrell, Club, Bateman, Williams, Gelling

Busts, Manfredi, Club, Farrell, Hampshire, Gelling

Clean breaks, Gelling, Hampshire, Williams, Club, Farrell



Man of the match picked by the match sponsor (Lee Mossop's mum)
Lee Mossop

[southernpie]

I'm surprised Tautai is not in there

[i'm spartacus]

I'm surprised Tautai is not in there

He is second behind Bateman on tackles made, and his average gain is quite impressive on only 12 carries

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

He did drop a couple and their some risky balls, but then he tried things that no one else would and sometimes it comes off. Last night more often than not it came off and as well as his 3 tries (that were all easy but he got himself in the right place enough) and one assist he set up some other opportunities too. He's such an enigma, but he did fine.

I think the big question is can he do well against the better teams.

Although he passed to his winger last night it still strikes me that most of the time when he gets the ball that is where the play ends as it rarely goes any further. Sometimes it ends in a score but if it doesn't most of the time, that is it.

I don't think he can, quite simply he is not a centre. As for effort I cannot fault the lad. Let's get him in the backrow.

[cumbria_warrior]

Off topic posts removed,

We had to play what opposition was in front of us, agree not the best game but we needed the confidence boost of getting a good few points on the board. Easter is a hard period at the best of times

[curryman]

I've been fretting about Wigan rugby for a long long time. In fact the first rugby experience I can remember was watching the 1963 Cup Final on TV when we were thrashed by Wakefield Trinity at Wembley. I was heart broken and I have never forgiven Wakey for that.

We've had many revenges over the years and frequently have some high scoring games with Trinity. When I heard the team news on Friday, the fact they had 8 first choice players out injured, my first thought was that any half decent Wigan team should be sticking 50 plus on this lot. That might seem arrogant, but comparing squads, it looked obvious.

If we played anything half decent we would stroll through this match.

Which we did. We played well in parts, we had pace, vim and vigour. The biggest positives for me were Clubb and Bateman, I think these two young men are immense talents, they have the hearts of lions and must be an inspiration to their team mates. Along side this, Hampshire at full back was a vast improvement on Bowen in both attack and defence.

I've nothing against Bowen, who has been a great player in his time, but his legs have gone. He's been awful this season, he's slow, he doesn't defend and he's even been looking weak under the high ball. One of the most infuriating sights of the season so far for me was at Leeds, when Handley went over to make the score 10-8 to the Whinos. Bowen was strolling along the back line, he made no attempt to get anywhere near the corner flag and defend. Ergo, his legs have gone.

I watched Hampshire quite closely on Friday. I didn't think he was that brilliant, just very good and a massive improvement on MB. I am sure that if Rocky is now given a run in the team, which should happen if there is any justice, he will become a big star for our club.

What I liked most was the fact that he corner flagged. He made sure he was in the right place to defend if needed and once he even pulled off a proper tackle - around the ankles, which was great to see. That is something else I find infuriating in the modern game, this obsession with the first tackler clamping the rugby ball. But that is another story.

On the down side, I thought Williams started well but then disappeared for much of the game. On top of that, our kicking game remains very poor. Matty Smith takes most responsibility for this, but also Williams and the hookers kick badly. The squad needs to work hard in training on this aspect of the game.

So in the end, it was a good win worth celebrating and a good weekend in general with most results going our way. However we now have a series of very tough games coming up, so I think we will have the bigger picture of where our team are at this season after the Easter period has ended. One thing I do know for sure, the last two Easter Mondays have seen us winning 84-6, same score two years running. This Easter Monday we are away at Salford and I do not see any way we will be getting a scoreline hat trick if Wane puts Bowen back in at full back.

[DaveO]

Along side this, Hampshire at full back was a vast improvement on Bowen in both attack and defence.

I think that is a complete exaggeration.

I don't see how you can possibly say Hampshire was a massive improvement defensively given he had virtually nothing to do all night. He was put under very little pressure.

Regarding his tackling around the ankles you can only do that if you are covering a breakaway and its one on one with no support for the attacker. Otherwise it's a pass and a try. I think all our speedy players will tackle around the ankles when chasing such a breakaway and won't go for a ball'n'all type of tackle.

As to the attack he did OK but wasn't a revelation. You also have no idea how Bowen would have gone against such poor opposition. He could have had a field day.

That is the trouble with playing such poor sides. They make your own average players look good, even outstanding. Gelling often looks far better than he is v poor sides.

I am not saying Hampshire is average but making a general point saying you can't make valid comparisons between Bowen and Hampshire when one is playing v Wakey with his side dominating and the other playing v Leeds where it isn't for example.

[markill]

I've nothing against Bowen, who has been a great player in his time, but his legs have gone. He's been awful this season, he's slow, he doesn't defend and he's even been looking weak under the high ball. One of the most infuriating sights of the season so far for me was at Leeds, when Handley went over to make the score 10-8 to the Whinos. Bowen was strolling along the back line, he made no attempt to get anywhere near the corner flag and defend. Ergo, his legs have gone.

His legs do look to have gone. Was it at Cas when he pulled up chasing a break? He look done, no speed off the mark or acceleration.

Do not agree with your comment about looking weak under high ball though. One mistake all year on a kick he didn't need to go for and only did because he didn't trust the stand in winger to catch it.

I am not saying Hampshire is average but making a general point saying you can't make valid comparisons between Bowen and Hampshire when one is playing v Wakey with his side dominating and the other playing v Leeds where it isn't for example.

You make a fair point. I suppose a better comparison would be the Hull FC game than the Leeds game in that our forwards provided a similar platform and we had similar amounts of opportunities, but Bowen didn't look a threat and made no breaks (in fact he has made none all year). Hampshire on Friday looked a threat and made 2 breaks. Although, Bowen had quite a few more running metres against Hull than Hampshire against Wakey.

The way I read Hampshire's performance was that he was pretty quiet in the first half and only really injected himself in the running game after half time. Maybe he was easing his way in and building his confidence. If he carries that forward into his next game and is involved from the off then that can only be good.

He was fine in defence because he had no defence to do, so we can't read anything into that from this game. His speed will be an asset. He caught well under no pressure so lets just hope that helps his confidence.

[DaveO]

You make a fair point. I suppose a better comparison would be the Hull FC game than the Leeds game in that our forwards provided a similar platform and we had similar amounts of opportunities, but Bowen didn't look a threat and made no breaks (in fact he has made none all year). Hampshire on Friday looked a threat and made 2 breaks. Although, Bowen had quite a few more running metres against Hull than Hampshire against Wakey.

I think Hull were much better than Wakey defensively. We were in their half (Hulls) for 70 minutes and could not score and whether that was their defence or our attack that was at fault there were more players than Bowen failing to make a dent.

The way I read Hampshire's performance was that he was pretty quiet in the first half and only really injected himself in the running game after half time. Maybe he was easing his way in and building his confidence. If he carries that forward into his next game and is involved from the off then that can only be good.

I was expecting Wakey to collapse at some point given the defending they had to do. I'd expect players to try more things when the game is in the bag. The question is, would he do it if we were 12-0 down to Saints in the first half if the opportunity arose?

He was fine in defence because he had no defence to do, so we can't read anything into that from this game. His speed will be an asset. He caught well under no pressure so lets just hope that helps his confidence.

It was a good game to play him in to get some confidence and hopefully he won't have been the only one to have gained a bit of confidence from that game but I don't think you can read a thing into virtually anyone's performance relative to anyone who wasn't playing, e.g. Manfredi v Josh never mind Hampshire v Bowen.