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We were also poor after the first 25 minutes last week at Salford. We’ve been far from our best recently, with the exception of the semi final, so I’m hoping they turn up next Saturday and play to their potential individually and as a team…and, stop conceding so many penalties!

Totally different game at Wembley and we need to win. Nothing else.

One thing for sure is there will be no byrne at wembley as he was our worst forward again for me

Firestarter wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2024 4:52 pm

fozzie58 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2024 4:46 pm

Firestarter wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2024 4:43 pm
Yes i agree about the grand final but it was always gonna happen today.Commentators haven't mentioned the tai and drinkwater tackles

Loo with respect mate commentators aren’t running the game they’re just calling what they see no influence on the game at all and let’s be fair isn’t it the law when Jon Wilkin is on the team the mute button demands to be pressed

Again i agree but constant replays help and i didnt see nothing of theirs.They were bad but hey ho.Just been thinking who will play wing/centre worst case scenario, marshy keighran out.Im going with walters at centre and the new lad on the wing.No Hampshire at any cost as ive seen enough of him and byrne

I think Marshy will play and I expect Eckersley to play at centre. We will perform far better next week, that looked like a team that didn’t want to be there. Everyone, but Wigan, seems to have written us off.

Firestarter wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2024 5:15 pm One thing for sure is there will be no byrne at wembley as he was our worst forward again for me

I thought Mago was poor again.

The ref was awful. We talk about the standards of Superleague, but that display was shocking.

Keighran- stupid and clumsy. Not malicious but he will get banned.

His kicking is exceptional and we may well miss it. All we can hope for now is that Harry Smith has an "on day".

The centre position choice at Wembley will be interesting.

Other than that, and a hopeless display (which I am happy to put down to pre Wembley mindset) I thought Peet actually got the selection spot on.

I agree that French plays better with more minutes under his belt and it made sense to rest Field/Farrell who need to be managed it seems. Thompson also will now get a final after missing the WCC.

I am going to go against the flow on here and say that overall, with the very notable exception of Keighran, that wasn't as bad as people are making out.

Still confident next week but no passengers.Play a fit team and we will win imo.Keighran, dupree, tai and drinkwater will all get bans so its 50/50 and i do think we have much more quality and effort to come

That is a useful win as it puts us 2 wins ahead of the 3rd best team. Finishing in the top 2 is very important indeed, and we have increased our chances of doing so considerably, and got another challenging away game out of the way.

As for the performance, it was the week before Wembley. Simple as that.

Keighran was a bit unlucky as Lindop fell at him quickly and he couldn't react to that and a bit silly in leading without any wrapping action but a ban seems v. likely.

Options then would be Eckersley, Walters and Farrell (at a pinch).

Wigan_forever1985 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2024 4:35 pm That’s keighran banned - I said this on another thread he’s a decent player but he does have that in his game

For 4 or 5 matches I would think. Extra kicking practice for Harry all next week, starting Tonight!

That's exactly how I thought the game would go to be honest. Wire had absolutely nothing holding them back and nothing to risk. There wasn't a chance we'd go into that game playing anywhere near 100%. You can't really expect players to not have an eye on next week considering what's at stake. No one wants to get injured or suspended before a cup final.
That's why Keighran's challenge is so frustrating because you have to be smart in situations like this. While there was obvious mitigation in terms of the player rapidly losing height the way he approached the tackle is careless. I think Matt Peet touched on it in the post-match interview that he's done stuff like this before but been more fortunate with the outcome.

Keighran will almost certainly be suspended and that will cause issues because presumably Eckersley replaces him and it's that right edge that is the weakest defensively. Adding someone new in there and someone less experienced is far from ideal. It's a big opportunity for Eckersley but a tough ask.

Dupree might be in trouble too for leading with his head into Powell in the ruck, but fortunately we do have plenty of depth in the front row.