Team v Hud

[widdenoldboy]

Much better last 30 as stated, a lot more straight running after Wardle's try.
Is Hampshire the answer v Leigh, barely did enough basics but good vision for the try?
Walters had a decent cameo but we need more from him.
We have a gem in the making with Eckersley.

[fozzie58]

Well that was hard work have to up the game to beat Leighton that’s for sure,but after the last 2 weeks I’ll take the win plus Connor’s “kick”,ballon brain strikes again what a tool

[Wintergreen]

We are a mile away from where we need to be and would have lost to the top sides.

No plan B. Plan A relies on getting into a good position and letting French and Field score/set up tries with their talent, or Smith kicking to the corner. If this fails, we try it again and hope it works.

We have no half back combinations going on and our right edge defence is woeful.

Gone on too long to be a "blip" imo.

That said, we have 4 trophies in the bag.

[DaveO]

Well that was a game of two halves Wardle’s try and Eckerley’s imitation of French for those two tries were worth the trip on their own.

What was worse, Wigan’s first half performance or the refs for the entire game?

I don’t think I have seen a Huddersfield team regardless who the coach is who don’t spend most of the game lying on but I thought they were really taking the mick with the HIA. Convinced they were milking a couple of free interchanges.

Glad we won and enjoyed the tries but we are a long way from our best. At least there was some aggression in the second half. In the first they just look lost at times.

[Wiganer Ted]

Who was SKY's Player of the Match please?

[fozzie58]

Well that was a game of two halves Wardle’s try and Eckerley’s imitation of French for those two tries were worth the trip on their own.

What was worse, Wigan’s first half performance or the refs for the entire game?

I don’t think I have seen a Huddersfield team regardless who the coach is who don’t spend most of the game lying on but I thought they were really taking the mick with the HIA. Convinced they were milking a couple of free interchanges.

Glad we won and enjoyed the tries but we are a long way from our best. At least there was some aggression in the second half. In the first they just look lost at times.

Said the same about the HIA to my wife as for them lying on I thought at one point they’d fallen asleep but what does Moore do?naff all much like his brother would do

[josie andrews]

And they say there’s no such thing as a one man team ? Without Bevan French we seem clueless in attack , hope I’m wrong here but it looks like we could play for another 80 minutes and still not score .

We beat Leigh & then Saints without Bevan or Jai!

[Flash]

We are a mile away from where we need to be and would have lost to the top sides.

No plan B. Plan A relies on getting into a good position and letting French and Field score/set up tries with their talent, or Smith kicking to the corner. If this fails, we try it again and hope it works.

We have no half back combinations going on and our right edge defence is woeful.

Gone on too long to be a "blip" imo.

That said, we have 4 trophies in the bag.

There you go again with the "no plan B". So in the 2nd half where there was no French and we scored a long range try from Wardle, a mid field kick for Hampshire and a set scrum move was that still plan A because I didn't see any of those in your description?

[widdenoldboy]

Who was SKY's Player of the Match please?

Wardle

[EagleEyePie]

I don't agree that we have no 'plan B', it's just hard to implement 'plan anything' when established players are dropping the ball early in the tackle count under little pressure, or at any point before the end of the set preventing us from getting in the positions we need to mount an attack.

While halfback combinations aren't really as important as halves combining with the players on their side of the pitch I do think we can be too rigid in structure and don't seem to get Smith moving across to the right edge where he's already proven, albeit from very few opportunities, that he can create opportunities for us.

I thought the biggest difference between the first and second half was just keeping hold of the ball and not making those errors. Huddersfield did struggle to keep us under the same pressure but we also didn't panic as much with ball in hand and played a much more composed game.

We've still got a problem with the right edge defence, but it's a tough one to fix. Hampshire was better defensively than Farrimond, but still isn't a good defender and Huddersfield were able to catch out Nsemba and Hampshire when they got the opportunity. The problem is if you start putting new players into those positions you're throwing unfamiliarity into the mix and that can cause just as many issues if players aren't familiar with how those around them like to defend.

One thing is for sure, Leigh's left edge is far, far more dangerous than that of Huddersfield, Hull or Saints and we've seen what happens when we come up against a strong team. It's a big concern that Leigh's biggest strength is coming up against our biggest weakness. There's also the squad management aspect. Can we really expect Luke Thompson to play another 60-80 minute game on Tuesday, and then again on Saturday?

I think, whether it gives us a better chance of winning or not, we need to see extended game time over the next couple of games for the likes of Walters, Byrne, Hill, Eseh Jr and maybe Cooper if he's able. It's not like things get easier after this period with a derby at Magic Weekend to follow.

The biggest positive though is we've got the win. By the end of this weekend there will either be a 2 point buffer between us and 3rd place, or we'll be a point ahead of 2nd and 3rd, with a game in hand. How we approach the Leigh and Leeds games could be interesting.