Wigan v Salford

[fozzieskem]

Powell does his job,not the best but not the donkey some would have you believe,another good game from him

[ddtftf]

Powel makes around 50 tackles a match which is tremendous for a hooker

[Fujiman]

That good it needs saying twice

[josie andrews]

Dual-threat side: Marshall

Liam Marshall reflects on Wigan Warriors’ victory over Salford Red Devils on Friday night.

Winger gives credit to Tommy Leuluai for getting the best out of him in recent weeks.

Marshall: “We’re starting to click at the right time and jumping into fourth in the table is something we couldn’t have dreamed about two months ago.”

Liam Marshall says it is thanks to teammate Tommy Leuluai as to why the winger has improved in form recently, having scored three tries in two weeks.

Marshall grabbed a brace in Friday night’s 28-12 win against Salford Red Devils, as well as one in last week’s victory over Huddersfield.

He said: “It’s always good to get the individual plaudits. I feel I’m starting to play some good rugby and Tommy (Leuluai) is key to that.

“He’s flowing and unlocking teams; our right side is starting to do some good things with the ball, and it takes the load off the left side.

“We’ve locked in a few shapes that we want to nail and we’re keeping it pretty simple, but it seems to be working. If we can keep doing that then we’ll challenge teams and it means we’re a dual-threat side.”

The Warriors returned to the DW Stadium for the first time in eight weeks and Marshall praised the Cherry and Whites supporters for turning out in numbers with 12,066 in attendance.

“It was great to come home and get the result. Our fans were outstanding.

“It’s a tough period of being away from home for a few weeks, but we were grateful to the fans. They turned out in big numbers and we put on a performance for them.

“We were solid and in control of the game and you can see we are starting to click. If we can make the DW a fortress, we’ll be in a good place.”

With the victory taking Wigan up to fourth and into the top five in the Betfred Super League table for the first time this season, the 23-year-old admitted he couldn’t have predicted for it to happen within a short space of time.

Marshall said: “The way the year has gone, it’s been poor from our standards.

“But we’re starting to click at the right time and jumping into fourth in the table is something we couldn’t have dreamed about two months ago.

“We’re going in some good places; we just need to keep our feet on the ground and keep sticking at it.”


https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2019 ... iofDP1U.99

[lucky 13]

For me Powels only fault was a lack of line threat. Even if he does not make breaks from acting half he needs to offer that option. It helps our yardage in anything he makes himself but also because it creates extra space for our hard yard makers A and B defenders are set and have to hold the play the ball area. It also keeps the all middles tighter and should give outside edges more to worry on our shift and set plays.
What's even better is he looks like making breaks and he aluded to it being something Lam is working on with him. That for me is fine not many busier or harder hitters in SL from 9. Hes also leading the team he was one of the main voices when Lockers left early.
It will also help his passing game when he takes the ball to the line. For me RLs simple as a ball player you just keep asking defenders questions until they get it wrong. Adding this option from Powell is massive for us and I think you can see already the impact. Our right edge looks like a true threat and for me our left which is as good as any will benefit.
Good on him if he keeps that up and learns I wont worry about the 9 role going forward.

[pearsy]

Marshall praising TL for his recent form more likley not having Dan the man as his centre for him getting more tryes

[Levrier]

As a strike runner Sarge is probably more effective than Hankinson but having a centre who can pass to the right seems to be more important.

[Levrier]

For all of those who criticise Powell the last few weeks should be an eye opener. Used properly he is a valuable addition in a salary capped sport. He does some thing's very well. Realistically he does not need to be a superstar in every area. What Lam seems to have done is to get him to be a bit more dynamic running from the ptb, this in turn just puts enough doubt in the defenders minds that they have to hold their line for a heartbeat. This is enough to create a bit of space of we can do something about it. The outcome is that Marshal gets the ball and can cut back inside across a panicking sliding defence.

[DaveO]

For all of those who criticise Powell the last few weeks should be an eye opener. Used properly he is a valuable addition in a salary capped sport. He does some thing's very well. Realistically he does not need to be a superstar in every area. What Lam seems to have done is to get him to be a bit more dynamic running from the ptb, this in turn just puts enough doubt in the defenders minds that they have to hold their line for a heartbeat. This is enough to create a bit of space of we can do something about it. The outcome is that Marshal gets the ball and can cut back inside across a panicking sliding defence.

There are still half a dozen hookers better then him in the league so as far as I am concerned this position still needs to be improved and he’s still a compromise. I don’t think he does anything “very well”. His not that quick, his passing is generally poor, his fabled tackle count is based on him often being last man in. When was the last time you saw him do a bell ringer like TL?

He certainly is running from dummy half more and it does make a difference so this begs the question why hasn’t he done it as much in previous seasons? Waneball?

[DaveO]

As a strike runner Sarge is probably more effective than Hankinson but having a centre who can pass to the right seems to be more important.

I don’t think it’s so much a centre who can pass to the right but one who has the vision to do so. Would Sarge have even attempted the two passes Hankinson gave Marshall for his tries?

I reckon Sarge is faster than Hankinson but even when he makes a break he’s likely to get tackled with the ball.