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The issue is that a player like Farrell should never be considered "immense" in a Wigan team if that Wigan team has quality.

He is a very good, solid player, whom I rate highly, but is never in a million years a superstar.

If we are looking to him to "drive" the pack then we are lacking in this department.

As for Bowen, as I said on the "other" forum when we bought him, (before I was banned by a Mod with small penis syndrome), we'd be better off with Jim Bowen.

Nothing has changed my mind.

Disappointing. Outplayed by a better side but it is just disappointing we made so many mistakes, of which several of their tries came from. Our kicking game was also poor but we now need to move on from this and concentrate on Super League.

Here is my player ratings.

Bowen - I hate how SL clubs sign players who are way past their best, that game could have done wonders for Hampshire. Bowen was abysmal.

Burgess - Outstanding talent, played well for most of the game and finished his try well.

Sarginson - He is looking sharp and played well against quality opposition.

Goulding - I thought he was poor and looked really slow, not sure whether he was injured but his thigh was heavily strapped.

Charnley - Up and down performance.

Green - Disappointing game, a real shame Sam Powell was out injured.

Matty Smith - Also disappointing, poor kicking game a few wrong options.

O'Loughlin - Poor first half but much better second half. Looked to be playing on one leg.

Farrell - Pretty good, made a couple of half breaks.

Hughes - A bit quiet but looking forward to seeing him more in the future, if he can add a bit more size without losing his mobility he will be a handful.

Dudson - That dropped ball killed off all the momentum Wigan had built.

McIllorum - A really tough physical effort from him

Flower - Much better in his second spell.

Taylor - i like him, he should have started. Made decent metres.

Bateman - Good talent, big future. He stood up well to the big Roosters forwards.

Pettybourne - Really gave it all before injury.

Crosby - Came into the game when Wigan had no ball at all and had plenty of defence to do.

Bowen looked lost: bewildered at times. Very disappointing for a player of his experience. He should have shown some leadership to the young players.
Given the inexperience and youth of some of the players I was, in general, satisfied and...their heads didn't go down when it was 18-0.

There was one positive, at least we played in a Wigan shirt!!! Unfortunately that's something that we won't have for the rest of this year when we turn out looking like a mongrel of St Helens / Hull KR!!!!

On balance ,the brave decision to go to Aus for the game just about vindicated. A heavier defeat would have negated the positives. JP is right when he says the trip has enhanced the young players, the Wigan brand and Super League generally.

Lenaghan could have taken the easier option of a game at the DW but,despite the risks of a lot of new players ,gambled on the longer term gains.

medlocke wrote:This fixture needs to be moved to 2 or 3 weeks after the Grand Final so it can be played by the team that won that Grand Final and it needs to be played under international rules, it would have been a far better spectacle if the actual champion side had played instead of a young side that has lost so many of those players, we probably still would have lost but there wouldn't have been that much in it

Good shout

The problem there is that the club challenge would then bump the priority of the international fixtures and that politically is never, ever going to happen. That would mean admitting that Rugby League is a club game.

It's worth noting that its the world CLUB challenge and not the TEAM challenge. Any clubs involved will have some turnover of players and they could in theory field their youth teams if they wanted. It's a clubs perogative. The other problem is that contracts tend to run from October-October because of the structure of the season and pre-season prpes. If players transfer clubs and the match is played in November, it would mean effectively playing players on loan from other clubs. That's not going to happen.

I thought Wigan played as well as we were allowed and showed some great heart, but Syndey were just great. Their first half was near perfect. They pinned us down well under our 40, took away all the depth from the lateral play and their pack beasted the job. It's only when their fatigue took the edge off them, we got some room to play. I can take that fairly and squarely on the chin. Beaten by a better team.

Don't write Bowen off. That was done with a string of oz players most of whom ended up in the hall of fame. Tackling is timing. Ball control is timing. Yes have the game two weeks after the GF. Let's face it, this is a season warm up game. More disruption than anything else. When both teams I are at their peak before the layoff it would be a spectacle.

medlocke wrote:This fixture needs to be moved to 2 or 3 weeks after the Grand Final so it can be played by the team that won that Grand Final and it needs to be played under international rules, it would have been a far better spectacle if the actual champion side had played instead of a young side that has lost so many of those players, we probably still would have lost but there wouldn't have been that much in it

I agree it should be an end of season competition. Teams change too much (potentially both sides) to make it representative of the sides that won each GF.

Not suggesting we would have won had we had Hansen, Mossop, Richards and Sam but I am sure we would have done much better.

However we only have ourselves to blame for starting with so many faces in the team again and for not addressing the blindingly obvious need for a goal kicker in the off-season.

The steady progression with junior players fed gradually into a more experienced side has seemingly gone out of the window.

All that aside I think the club has to be applauded for taking the game to Australia. I think it generated far more interest than had it been here which is a good thing especially on the back of bad news like Burgess leaving the game.