Wigan v Hudds

[josie andrews]

I text Mat Peet before every game wishing him & the team Good Luck.

Today only remembered during the first half this is the message I sent him:

Oh bloody hell lad forgot to message you Sorry
Good Luck today
Give them a bol****ing at half time
xxxx

I saw him after the game he said: Thanks for the message, it worked

[Charriots Offiah]

Playing on past reputation now I’m afraid.
Time has caught up with Faz.

Just check his stats week in week out. He’s not going to be as good as he was in his mid twenties but he is still good enough.

You're absolutely right, Chariots.

At some point last season, I began to wonder if Faz was fading. I started to notice him more after that, and soon realised that he contributes massively. Add to that the fact that we have relatively young kids in the squad, and the influence and example that he gives them, on and off the pitch, and he's good for this season and next, I reckon.

[moto748]

I just watched the tries for the first time. Really pleased with the effort; the mark of champions. So proud of our team. When Bevan got that ball down, when it looked like he'd be thwarted, it seemed symbolic.

[DaveO]

The first half score wasn't a fluke, neither was the second half score and result.

Obviously off the game in the first 40 and Hudds deserved their HT lead.
The second half showed what the Wigan lads are capable of.
Hudds are bottom of the league and then second half told us why.

Astounding crowd of over 17,600.

Certainly a game of two half’s. I was surprised when they announced the crowd.

Hudds seemed to think the game finished at half time and Wigan that is started.

At least Moore didn’t slow it down to a crawl like he did v Leigh but his decision that was overturned by the captains challenge was ridiculous. He was on the other side of the ruck and can’t possibly have seen it but blew anyway and denied Wigan a certain try.

I also think Hill’s try that was presumably disallowed for obstruction is one where it only looks like obstruction if you stop the motion on a certain frame. I am not sure what our player was supposed to do. Evaporate?

It's up to the attacking player to get all the way through the line before they stop, so it's his responsibility. For me it's fine because having criteria like that adds consistency to decisions.

A great performance today I'd say. Hudds played well in the first half but our class shone through. Job done and back in the regular season grind now

I just thought he hardly moved and that as Hill ran to the Wigan right the Huddersfield player was in no position to get any where near Hill anyway.

The win was great especially after the Vegas trip. I see Burgess has mentioned it as an excuse for Wires loss today.

It was particularly good that having gone behind that the players rolled their sleeves up upped the tempo so noticeably in the second half. Huddersfield never had a sniff.

Just watched the tries back and there was some very nice play. I thought Smith had one of his best games and those 40:20’s were brilliant. You could see the effect they had on the Huddersfield players. Heads dropped.

[the pieman]

Luke Robinson's post match interview was very telling

He just said its like a broken record, and making dumb plays (Burgess stripping the ball on the 1st tackle of 2nd half) was trying to cheat themselves into the game. Seemed a very honest interview and only blamed his teams dumbness for the defeat. No complaining about anything other than his own team, and that they need to sort it out and quickly, giving away soft penalties / repeat sets

We'd been out so only caught the game from about 25mins into 1st half. We looked a little jaded, and they got on the front foot with a penalty from which they scored, and then some credit for the little chip over to create the 3rd try. Harry Smith i think was lucky there was no action taken, although its in back play on the replays, and probably looked a lot worse than it actually was

2nd half, we completely dominated and they just couldnt live with us when we stepped up a gear, but no team in this league can live with us when we are in the mood

[WarriorWinger]

I wasn't too worried after the first half although I would have preferred to go in either level or just in front, but I was happy for the players to conserve energy in the first half as it was hot and there was probably still a bit of a hangover from Vegas.

Second half showed just how good we are and can be when we want to be, they had blown any hangover off in that first half and came out with intent in the second, some really well worked tries and Smith's 2 40x20's were excellent.

Roll on Saturday for Hull which I think will be a much sterner test for us but hopefully we will be fully recovered from Vegas and come out firing in the first half.

[ancientnloyal]

It would be quite evident that Peet would not accept Vegas and “fatigue” as an excuse hence the strong line up as opposed to Warrington who changed 5 bodies and looked off it.

That’s the difference.

There shouldn’t be fatigue anyway, it was 8 days ago!

[WarriorWinger]

It would be quite evident that Peet would not accept Vegas and “fatigue” as an excuse hence the strong line up as opposed to Warrington who changed 5 bodies and looked off it.

That’s the difference.

There shouldn’t be fatigue anyway, it was 8 days ago!

The fatigue would be from the travelling and 'jet lag' plus I suspect some celebrating afterwards, not from the number of days to the last game.

Recovery is a big part of the game now and doing it right is paramount to help the body recover from the previous game, sitting on a plane and sleeping is not what it is about, it is about getting the right stretches, massages etc. to recover correctly.

[Big Steve]

I like how we are getting more time into the rotation props and giving Luke a decent breather.

Walters has really played his way into a bench spot the past 3 games and when Luke came back on he was really energetic in post contact.

[the pieman]

I like how we are getting more time into the rotation props and giving Luke a decent breather.

Walters has really played his way into a bench spot the past 3 games and when Luke came back on he was really energetic in post contact.

Looks like we are starting to see the potential that Walters had. I know last season was disrupted early with his injury, and he looked to be lacking in confidence initially when he came back, but had a blinder in the play off semi final

as others have posted, he gives us a bit of flexibility off the bench as he can cover 2nd row too, but is looking the part at prop at the minute

re Thompson, yes, i think its good to give him some bench time and keep him fresh through the season, and only use him for big minutes if it really matters. The Wardle try in the 2nd half was just class. Field with excellent try saving tackle on Swift in the corner, Thompson with a busting run and quick PoTB, and then Field putting it on a plate for Wardle to score. We went from almost conceding to adding another 6 points within about a minute