Wigan vs Leeds

[CheshireWarrior]

Good solid team performance overall!

Jai Field's tackle on the Leeds winger reminded me of when Radlinski lined up Darren Albert in 2004 at Cardiff!

Seem to have much quicker line speed, more confidence using and moving the ball and kicking in open play!

Nice to see Marshy putting the shoulder in, Mago looks a unit, Byrne has beefed up and a good effort from Smithies.

Powell looks much more comfortable and confident at 9, needs to be consistent though throughout!

French on the wing works for me all day (never a 6 in a million years)! Bring on the Giants!

[jobo]

Got to give some credit to IL and KR. The coaching team and players they've brought in, under difficult circumstances, so far, look just the ticket.

Carry like this and we should see 20k plus for the Derby.

[Southern Softy]

Couldn't possibly quibble with Field's MOM - people would have gone home talking about his tries, particularly the second one and that's what great sport is all about. Mad though it sounds, we were applauding the TV when he scored it. A massive shout out to Liam Marshall, playing better than ever. His tracking down of Sezer, as he wandered across the pitch, contemplating a killer pass was just the best part of the evening.
Congratulations to Byrne who seems to have turned his career round by cutting out mistakes and making yards and Smithies who ignored some half-hearted Leeds provocation.
Still wish Bateman would pass more - look what happened when he did and Bibby doesn't look happy at left centre. He constantly overran the ball and maybe Zak would do a better job.
Still, if we can win with not everything perfect, then it's great.

[Firestarter]

For me , signing aussies with a point to prove works better and always has…… cust reminds me if dobson…… his pass with 4 defenders on him was pure effort

[DaveO]

Just read Peet’s match summary and he praises Bateman and Faz as making important contributions and I think he’s right. Bateman came in for a bit of stick last season (not undeserved) and almost seems to have gone out of fashion with some fans but I thought he was great last night. He was a real thorn in Leeds side and was involved more than just Fields try on half time.

[DaveO]

He has been exploiting quick play of the balls and making great yards. He’s causing us lots of problems.

If only we had a hooker capable of doing the same thing

Are you for real Meds? Powell is completely different to how he played under Lam! Hard working for 80 minutes every game. And gave us two incredible tries

He was on the spot for his tries but to say his play is completely different than under Lam is an exaggeration. He still doesn’t take the line on with a run from AHB and he still hesitates when he passes the ball. He did it several times last night where he made the move to ball with his arms, didn’t and then did it again to pass. No idea why he did that. I suppose it’s an improvement over last season where he dummied the other direction that fooled no one but fundamentally his limitations are still there. Leeds hooker was more of a threat in the first half by some distance.

[Exiled Wiganer]

If only we had a hooker capable of doing the same thing

Are you for real Meds? Powell is completely different to how he played under Lam! Hard working for 80 minutes every game. And gave us two incredible tries

He was on the spot for his tries but to say his play is completely different than under Lam is an exaggeration. He still doesn’t take the line on with a run from AHB and he still hesitates when he passes the ball. He did it several times last night where he made the move to ball with his arms, didn’t and then did it again to pass. No idea why he did that. I suppose it’s an improvement over last season where he dummied the other direction that fooled no one but fundamentally his limitations are still there. Leeds hooker was more of a threat in the first half by some distance.

His forward passes were embarrassing. Leeming was far more dangerous with ball in hand, and gave us a glimpse of what that would look like. It’s pointless lamenting it though, in a few weeks he’ll have a new long term contract.

[nathan_rugby]

Isn't it great to see someone with genuine pace?

Their winger ran around Marshal (who is no slouch), yet Field's cover tackle was sublime. He looked like he was jogging over until he decided to tackle.

Great to watch.

Bateman also put in a shift last night which was nice to see.

The reason he was jogging was to time his tackle and show the winger the outside.

If he sprinted directly at him / across, the winger would have stepped inside with Field with ease.

[fozzieskem]

Just read Peet’s match summary and he praises Bateman and Faz as making important contributions and I think he’s right. Bateman came in for a bit of stick last season (not undeserved) and almost seems to have gone out of fashion with some fans but I thought he was great last night. He was a real thorn in Leeds side and was involved more than just Fields try on half time.

He was the same last week doing the small,things right and seemed to be everywhere it’s good to see him regain the form we all know he’s capable of

[fozzieskem]

If only we had a hooker capable of doing the same thing

Are you for real Meds? Powell is completely different to how he played under Lam! Hard working for 80 minutes every game. And gave us two incredible tries

He was on the spot for his tries but to say his play is completely different than under Lam is an exaggeration. He still doesn’t take the line on with a run from AHB and he still hesitates when he passes the ball. He did it several times last night where he made the move to ball with his arms, didn’t and then did it again to pass. No idea why he did that. I suppose it’s an improvement over last season where he dummied the other direction that fooled no one but fundamentally his limitations are still there. Leeds hooker was more of a threat in the first half by some distance.

But Leeds lost,badly.

While I do love a hooker in the mould of a Roby (for instance)Powell does what is asked of him by the coaches and it seems to me if he’s given concise clear instructions he will do the job they want of him,quite what was going on last season is anyones guess frankly but on the (small evidence) of a couple of games he’s back doing what they want him to do and if it produces more of the same then it’s time to accept the limitations of him and also accept for the greater good of the team him being there works.