Richard Mathers

[jackoh]

Well done Richie Mathers and Mickey Higham , Richie was better away from Wigan as his form and his confidence weren`t great .
Micky didn`t want to go we signed Piggy instead ! , he played with an injury and couldn`t have been match fit . His determination carried him through , well done to them both .

[DaveO]

Im chuffed for the guy, and Higham, the way these two were treated at our club. Mathers for the stick he recieved and Higham for the way he was treated by managenent, and also some fans for his shortcomings.

Both are challange cup winners with Mathers getting on the score sheet. Its Certainly very quiet on here after Warrington won the challange cup, for which i was quietly confident of them achieving this.

Maybe in the future we give players a little bit of time to settle rather than over analyzing there weaknesses and knocking confidence. Riddell, Roberts and Phelps come to mind already.

Rant over.

Well as you will probably know I was one of Higham's greatest defenders on here but you will also know I don't rate Riddell and Roberts that highly.

Just because I rated Higham does that mean I should also rate Riddell and Roberts in the same way? I judge each player as they come and that is all there is too it.

Dave

EDit & PS : I would also like to congratulate the pair of them on their winners medals. I still don't rate Mathers but does he care? Nope!

[butt monkey]

Im chuffed for the guy, and Higham, the way these two were treated at our club. Mathers for the stick he recieved and Higham for the way he was treated by managenent, and also some fans for his shortcomings.

Both are challange cup winners with Mathers getting on the score sheet. Its Certainly very quiet on here after Warrington won the challange cup, for which i was quietly confident of them achieving this.

Maybe in the future we give players a little bit of time to settle rather than over analyzing there weaknesses and knocking confidence. Riddell, Roberts and Phelps come to mind already.

Rant over.

Winning a Challenge Cup medal does not translate as class - remember former winners such as Leroy Rivett & Ricky Bibey. Just means that some players can be regarded as lucky enough to play in a good side, fortunate at that time, to make a cup final, irrespective of certain players failings. I think this is called being in a team.

[gpartin]

Im chuffed for the guy, and Higham, the way these two were treated at our club. Mathers for the stick he recieved and Higham for the way he was treated by managenent, and also some fans for his shortcomings.

Both are challange cup winners with Mathers getting on the score sheet. Its Certainly very quiet on here after Warrington won the challange cup, for which i was quietly confident of them achieving this.

Maybe in the future we give players a little bit of time to settle rather than over analyzing there weaknesses and knocking confidence. Riddell, Roberts and Phelps come to mind already.

Rant over.

Well as you will probably know I was one of Higham's greatest defenders on here but you will also know I don't rate Riddell and Roberts that highly.

Just because I rated Higham does that mean I should also rate Riddell and Roberts in the same way? I judge each player as they come and that is all there is too it.

Dave

EDit & PS : I would also like to congratulate the pair of them on their winners medals. I still don't rate Mathers but does he care? Nope!

Ditto, well done to them both. Mathers is still crap and I always rated Micky, I'd swap Piggy and Roberts for him any day of the week.

[highland convert]

OK I may be the champion of lost causes. Mathers I tried to defend on this site as a player. He was invited down under. Few have achieved that. He was a good player at leeds, he would have been good for us if allowed to settle. He is good for Wire, He has a medal. He will go on to be the best FB in superleague in a couple of years. As for one trick Mick he was a good impact hooker but did not muscle up as the main man. Riddell is far better. And it is not me wearing the Cherry and Whites. His klast 6 months he turned up. Prior he was not up there, but congrats on his winner's medal too,

Jim

[Panchitta Marra]

Good luck to Mr Mathers, he has got a winners medal with Warrington, he was well protected by team mates covering up for him when kicks were aimed at him in defence, he didn't have much to do, and he played as he did for Wigan, ie. "With no confidence" and it shows. He will go no further in our game because he has got "no bottle". We were well shut.
Mickey Higham on the other hand, good luck to him, he was a good team player when he was here, a 100%er, and as with other posters, wish he was still here! Well deserved.

Fully agree mickh.

Richie Mathers was only average (at best) at Leeds, prior to his move to Gold Coast. He was much worse upon his return to the UK, and to be honest I cant see him improving.
Although a lovely lad, I still feel, he is not good enough for a position at Wigan.

Micky Higham should never have been released from Wigan, he proved his worth at Wigan, especially in 2008.
Micky H was one of Englands best performers in Australia 2008, lest we forget.
Riddel is no better, and I dont see him bringing on Mike Mc any better than Micky Higham could have done.

[Panchitta Marra]

The simple fact, ritchie mathers has got his confidence, which for some reason eluded him at Wigan.

He isn't a world beating player but is very obviously a player who thrives on being constructively criticised by his coach rather than being left to stew in his own cock ups and having his confidence undermined.

Mathers has openly admitted that it is good to be coached again, the fans aren't to blame for him leaving Wigan as the wire fans are equally if not more aggressive towards there players.

The difference between mathers at Wigan and the mathers at Warrington is the coach !

What smith has done at wire in such a short space of time is exceptional.

Do you think Mathers has improved that much since leaving Wigan.

I dont want to sound ugly saying this, but I have never considered him as a good player, even at his best for Leeds.

I fully agree, the coaching is far better at Wire, the Challenge Cup Semi Final is good evidence of that.

I still dont however see that this coaching has progressed Richard Mathers game that much since signing for Warrington.

[cpwigan]

Did Mathers do anything out of the ordinary in the final? I know he scored a try but the charge down created a defence at 6s and 7s. I think sometimes fans want to create imaginary form to suit their views.

What irks is when fans / owner then ignore what the player said. He never mentioned fans. He said it was nice to be coached again. Now you could choose to say that criticises his past coach or shows a dependence upon a single coach. Who knows. We do know that the Wire player profiles took the P out of him calling him Ritchie Smith and mocking his cheerleader style antics but of course if a fan calls him a cheerleader heaven forbid. Dave O has it pegged right. Sometimes players are good, sometimes bad.

Mind you I am somebody who thinks players do not think what fans says even warrants merit and by and large do not give a damn about fans, the media etc etc. Fans over estimate their own impact / self importance. Every fan is a statistic, X £s that keeps a club ticking over. In that sense very important / vital but that is all. In return fans get to escvape from the hum drum of real life by becoming engrossed in an abnormal passion for a particular club and/or enjoyment of watching quality exciting RL. Don't ever expect a player or official to commit Gerald Ratner suicide by admitting as such though.

[DaveO]

OK I may be the champion of lost causes. Mathers I tried to defend on this site as a player. He was invited down under. Few have achieved that. He was a good player at leeds, he would have been good for us if allowed to settle. He is good for Wire, He has a medal. He will go on to be the best FB in superleague in a couple of years.

I bet you he won't.

As for one trick Mick he was a good impact hooker but did not muscle up as the main man. Riddell is far better. And it is not me wearing the Cherry and Whites. His klast 6 months he turned up. Prior he was not up there, but congrats on his winner's medal too,

He was ever present for his entire 3 years here and had a very good season in 2008 and earned his place in the England squad on the back of it. To say Riddell is far better is simply not true IMO. Riddell is slower, nothing like as good as Higham defensively and his passing can be wayward. I don't see what anyone sees in him unless of course they don't want to admit the player who was bound to be better than Higham actually isn't.

Dave

[cpwigan]

I think Monaghan showed us what a Wigan RL hooker should play like. Conversely, I think Huddersfield made a mistake not playing Moore as his starting hooker. Lunt whilst good at what he does is more of an individual.

As BM said. Medals truly mean very little in terms of ability. There have been umpteen great players hardly won a thing and many poor players in the right teams with several medals.

Mathers is poor. Phil Gould in reference to the final on this weeks Sunday Roast described SL as a second rate competition not worth discussing.