How can we improve for next year?

[the pieman]

i know conditions werent great last night but i think with Mago and Nsemba on the pitch we saw something a little different. Different lines run by Junior and the ability to offload from both him and Mago. We dont need to be extravagent with it (ala Wire a few years back where they just offloaded whenever and where-ever), but with the ability of those guys to get the ball free and have French and Field running off them, that must be something that we will be working on this year and we've seen in glimpses over the last 12 months or so, and i also think Walters falls into that category too

So for me, backrow options are looking promising if they can kick on and deliver what we as fans think they can

could we start with 5 props, especially if we have a backrow that can play 80 minutes comfortably, and imagine the intensity that will bring for 80 minutes. If the lads perform, i cant see any drop off in intensity with the below

Start with Thompson and Havard, rotate with Dupree, Byrne, Hill (2 from 3) and Mago for impact spells, and obviously include Cooper in the mix for this year, and then we still have Eseh, Chan, Makin etc in reserve. I've left Ellis at 13 but could be included in the prop rotation

[fozzie58]

According to sky we can improve by giving away less penalties 46 so far this season only Hull above us

Well it would help wouldn't it?

It would but it would also help if we had some consistency from the officials.

They’re doing their best to enforce rules,rules them yet again to have changed because of public outcry,if you bring in rules and think they are the correct way to go then stick with them not change after a couple of weeks because you or I don’t like them,to me that’s why the inconsistent if indeed they are.

[Mike]

Well it would help wouldn't it?

It would but it would also help if we had some consistency from the officials.

They’re doing their best to enforce rules,rules them yet again to have changed because of public outcry,if you bring in rules and think they are the correct way to go then stick with them not change after a couple of weeks because you or I don’t like them,to me that’s why the inconsistent if indeed they are.

What we mean are decisions that we consistently agree with. That's all we ask!

[ancientnloyal]

Looks like Wigan want to emulate that Leeds team who just seemed to be the same each year. Problem is or the worry is if form drops and we are stuck… should always be looking to compete for places and having that incentive to do better.

Although I’d gladly have a 7 year contract and sit on the bench as 25th man!

[lucky 13]

Looks like Wigan want to emulate that Leeds team who just seemed to be the same each year. Problem is or the worry is if form drops and we are stuck… should always be looking to compete for places and having that incentive to do better.

Although I’d gladly have a 7 year contract and sit on the bench as 25th man!

I think most strategic approaches have positives and negatives. You can't really see the form of these players dropping off a cliff so I would say the scales are weighted towards the positive. The constant shuffle on player turn over hasn't helped us, as with the strategy we seem to have in place now I'm pretty sure we would have had another trophy per season over last five years at least. Imagine most would say Wardle, Jai, French, O'Neil, Havard, Smith, Jnr, Thompson Ellis on four year deals gives us a real solid spine to the team and is very good.

[nathan_rugby]

Looks like Wigan want to emulate that Leeds team who just seemed to be the same each year. Problem is or the worry is if form drops and we are stuck… should always be looking to compete for places and having that incentive to do better.

Although I’d gladly have a 7 year contract and sit on the bench as 25th man!

What are you talking about?

You don’t think we should reward our best players with new contracts to try and keep them for the long term?

Majority of this squad have won all / most of the trophies available.

A key contributor to saints and Leeds dominance in the past was keeping a core set of their best players and having consistency every year.

[Charriots Offiah]

It would but it would also help if we had some consistency from the officials.

They’re doing their best to enforce rules,rules them yet again to have changed because of public outcry,if you bring in rules and think they are the correct way to go then stick with them not change after a couple of weeks because you or I don’t like them,to me that’s why the inconsistent if indeed they are.

What we mean are decisions that we consistently agree with. That's all we ask!

Exactly. They are not applying the same rules consistently. I don’t give a flying fook whether they make mistakes all I want is consistency.

[Charriots Offiah]

Well it would help wouldn't it?

It would but it would also help if we had some consistency from the officials.

They’re doing their best to enforce rules,rules them yet again to have changed because of public outcry,if you bring in rules and think they are the correct way to go then stick with them not change after a couple of weeks because you or I don’t like them,to me that’s why the inconsistent if indeed they are.

What public outcry?

[Charriots Offiah]

Looks like Wigan want to emulate that Leeds team who just seemed to be the same each year. Problem is or the worry is if form drops and we are stuck… should always be looking to compete for places and having that incentive to do better.

Although I’d gladly have a 7 year contract and sit on the bench as 25th man!

What are you talking about?

You don’t think we should reward our best players with new contracts to try and keep them for the long term?

Majority of this squad have won all / most of the trophies available.

A key contributor to saints and Leeds dominance in the past was keeping a core set of their best players and having consistency every year.

I agree, we are in a good place.

[Mike]

It would but it would also help if we had some consistency from the officials.

They’re doing their best to enforce rules,rules them yet again to have changed because of public outcry,if you bring in rules and think they are the correct way to go then stick with them not change after a couple of weeks because you or I don’t like them,to me that’s why the inconsistent if indeed they are.

What public outcry?

The games dead. One more card and I'm never going again....

That public outcry.

The reaction to the games attempt to reduce head contact has been quite extreme. And the refs are IMO starting to back off the interpretations of the first couple of rounds. That always happens though.

In general, I think the game has changed a little every year since we all started watching. This is just another change. Larger than some yes, but not the death of the game. I've talked to a couple of people this year who've not seen a game for a good few years and they are amazed at the hits and the physicality of the game. We perhaps don't see it anymore because the players have got gradually bigger and faster and the hits harder and more violent each year, but its has happened without us noticing a big change. Those who aren't regular followers are sort of shocked how intense the sport is now because they've just started paying attention again.

If anything, the red cards lead to the tackles being shown in sports news and get the game more attention than it would otherwise have had. They are usually big hits too, the sort of thing that makes people want to watch, to see if it happens again. In terms of growing the game, maybe it's not a bad strategy.

It seems to me that we've got a moment in time right now to become relevant again with the British sporting public and int hat context any publicity is good publicity, so let's take this chance and make all the games sell outs! More hits, more red cards, more fans!