Wigan squad for Leeds (SLR5)

[moto748]

Yeah, Douglas recovered from that well.

[medlocke]

What's the crack with the Lavender kit

It’s a charity shirt for Wigan Hospice!

How come they always look awful

[DaveO]

Did Byrne come back on for another spell? Dupree and Mago were OK but didn't get big minutes - whats with Forber warming the bench for 80? No wonder Hill is unsettled...

Ecky and Douglas showed some real grit and we need to blood the youngsters when we can - don't wait until we really need them and they are undercooked. Hodkinson needs a run at FB with French back to SO,

I think Byrne had only one spell but he's hardly done enough to justify getting longer minutes. Same with Dupree who I thought was awful last week. Mago apparently has been unwell for a bit so I can understand a short spell for him. Unfortunately Thompson and Ellis were below par and when that happens we need others to step up.

Forber is another who hasn't made the most of the opportunities that he's had so I'm not surprised Matt Peet was less inclined to play him. You want to bring players on if they can make an impact and unfortunately Forber hasn't shown that so far this year.

I was worried when I saw Farrimond, Eckersley and Douglas on the same edge but I thought they did really well. Eckersley in particular was making some good reads. It's just a shame Douglas made such a crucial error as I thought he did well otherwise.

So Byrne, Mago and Forber not being good enough (in a nushell) are the reason why Peet only used 5 out of 8 substitutions and didn’t play Forber at all?

I think if you pick 17 players you need to play them as you can’t expect the 14 you think are good enough to keep going for most of the 80 minutes in the modern game. They are the 17 you have so you use the less good ones to spell the others.

[widdenoldboy]

Did Byrne come back on for another spell? Dupree and Mago were OK but didn't get big minutes - whats with Forber warming the bench for 80? No wonder Hill is unsettled...

Ecky and Douglas showed some real grit and we need to blood the youngsters when we can - don't wait until we really need them and they are undercooked. Hodkinson needs a run at FB with French back to SO,

I think Byrne had only one spell but he's hardly done enough to justify getting longer minutes. Same with Dupree who I thought was awful last week. Mago apparently has been unwell for a bit so I can understand a short spell for him. Unfortunately Thompson and Ellis were below par and when that happens we need others to step up.

Forber is another who hasn't made the most of the opportunities that he's had so I'm not surprised Matt Peet was less inclined to play him. You want to bring players on if they can make an impact and unfortunately Forber hasn't shown that so far this year.

I was worried when I saw Farrimond, Eckersley and Douglas on the same edge but I thought they did really well. Eckersley in particular was making some good reads. It's just a shame Douglas made such a crucial error as I thought he did well otherwise.

Fair points and I don't think we will be far off before long and I don't want to sound too critical but why pick Mago if he is unwell? Why pick Forber if you don't think he is good enough? On Forber, he isn't being used to his strengths that he has shown in the reserves/academy - his game was to see a quick PTB and scoot a few yards - if the defence covered him he would send out a good pass it they didn't he made good yards but he seems to just be Powell MKII - going from PTB to PTB and passing flat footed this season.

Agree that the other youngsters did well after some poor plays and that's to be expected and best done in this kind of game in order to get them ready.

[Wintergreen]

Peet was proud of that performance apparently……

[Kate83]

Peet was proud of that performance apparently……

And he should be.

Yes we didn't win & we were far from our best but the squad is going through a fair bit of adversity at the moment.

In the past couple of weeks we have lost the best full-back in the league & our first-choice right edge wing/centre pairing to injury. One of those also being our regular goal-kicker.
There have been numerous illness issues amongst the squad also - most notably Mago & French who apparantly have hardly trained, if at all, over the past 2 weeks.

These are not excuses but they are definite reasons as to why we aren't playing at our absolute best. There are obviously other reasons too - some players aren't playing at their full potential, some in-game decisions are also sometimes questionable from the outside.

But we are by no means 'miles off' & I for one, is very confident for the rest of the season.

[Firestarter]

Last season we had isa and cooper in the forwards.We were reasonably lucky with the injuries to the backs as we had limited cover there.This season we are minus them two forwards and have started without oneill and havard.Surely we need a signing or two to just add a bit of pressure on the players who seem cemented in the team.My big question is to WHY we start players and then say they wernt fit or are carrying injuries after a loss?We never seem to say this when we win

[Wintergreen]

Peet was proud of that performance apparently……

And he should be.

Yes we didn't win & we were far from our best but the squad is going through a fair bit of adversity at the moment.

In the past couple of weeks we have lost the best full-back in the league & our first-choice right edge wing/centre pairing to injury. One of those also being our regular goal-kicker.
There have been numerous illness issues amongst the squad also - most notably Mago & French who apparantly have hardly trained, if at all, over the past 2 weeks.

These are not excuses but they are definite reasons as to why we aren't playing at our absolute best. There are obviously other reasons too - some players aren't playing at their full potential, some in-game decisions are also sometimes questionable from the outside.

But we are by no means 'miles off' & I for one, is very confident for the rest of the season.

He should be proud of losing to a sub standard team?

It’s a view

[widdenoldboy]

Peet was proud of that performance apparently……

And he should be.

Yes we didn't win & we were far from our best but the squad is going through a fair bit of adversity at the moment.

In the past couple of weeks we have lost the best full-back in the league & our first-choice right edge wing/centre pairing to injury. One of those also being our regular goal-kicker.
There have been numerous illness issues amongst the squad also - most notably Mago & French who apparantly have hardly trained, if at all, over the past 2 weeks.

These are not excuses but they are definite reasons as to why we aren't playing at our absolute best. There are obviously other reasons too - some players aren't playing at their full potential, some in-game decisions are also sometimes questionable from the outside.

But we are by no means 'miles off' & I for one, is very confident for the rest of the season.

I'm largely in agreement, the effort was there - did anyone have a poor game? I can't recall any.
A few had average games and maybe only Walters, Marshy and Leeming had games close to what we expect.
Yes, some poor options were taken but some good stuff played as well.
So - some fatigue, some disruption and we are missing some.
So - where does the "blame" lie?

[DaveO]

Peet was proud of that performance apparently……

And he should be.

Yes we didn't win & we were far from our best but the squad is going through a fair bit of adversity at the moment.

In the past couple of weeks we have lost the best full-back in the league & our first-choice right edge wing/centre pairing to injury. One of those also being our regular goal-kicker.
There have been numerous illness issues amongst the squad also - most notably Mago & French who apparantly have hardly trained, if at all, over the past 2 weeks.

These are not excuses but they are definite reasons as to why we aren't playing at our absolute best. There are obviously other reasons too - some players aren't playing at their full potential, some in-game decisions are also sometimes questionable from the outside.

But we are by no means 'miles off' & I for one, is very confident for the rest of the season.

That is two players out FFS. The Mago one was just daft by Peet if he was ill. We had an 18th man so play the fit player.