Wigan squads for Derby double-header

[Southern Softy]

Eckersley right choice for MOM but Farrell became more and more influential as the match went on. Last 15 minutes he was the best forward on show and that says something when you consider Havard, Thompson and Ellis were also outstanding.
Major congrats to Matty for the inventive way of dealing with no regular hooker available. Farrimond needs to improve his passing for the future and I'm getting a little worried about Dupree who doesn't seem to be the same player as when we signed him. Maybe there's something going round the team because Hill, Walters, Byrne and Mago also seemed to be a bit off the pace.
Hilarious when saints went potty to the ref when Eckersley scored despite there being nothing at all wrong with the try. Some eccentric reffing on display though.
And can there be a better pairing that Wardle and Marshall in SL?

https://www.superleague.co.uk/match-centre/report/4480

Stats for the game. Dupree made more yards than any of our other forwards.

Stats eh? Useful as a general guide but take away the yards Dupree made after the chargedown and it's a bit of a different story overall.

[mickali1]

I agree with what's already been said, I always enjoy your insightful posts EEP. Keep up the good work .

[Ipinwigan]

I thought we played that really well considering our missing players. Throw Brad O’Neil back in and I think we win easily. I thought Moore was appalling, did we get a penalty in the 2nd half, there were at least 2 big shoulder charges from Percival. Thought Welsby showed what a classless loser he really is during the match.

I don’t agree with other posters regarding our players staying down, other teams do it, its about time we stopped being so honest and started playing the system as well.

I quoted Ellis, because he's done it 2 weeks running, Dupree is another culprit, and yes other teams do it.
To say others do it, so we should, isn't the answer, it becomes a very short straw to us ending up like football, with play acting becoming the norm.
The RFL / Super League need to hand out warnings to players to stop it, it's not what the game is about, we don't need cheats.

Stop using TV replays and leave it to the referee. Video footage should be for the use of the MRP.

Totally agree.
The video ref is used far too much and in my opinion, is one of the worst decisions ever made, shouldn't be used at all.
Just get on with it, there will always be controversial decisions in the game, just keep it flowing.

[Charriots Offiah]

Eckersley right choice for MOM but Farrell became more and more influential as the match went on. Last 15 minutes he was the best forward on show and that says something when you consider Havard, Thompson and Ellis were also outstanding.
Major congrats to Matty for the inventive way of dealing with no regular hooker available. Farrimond needs to improve his passing for the future and I'm getting a little worried about Dupree who doesn't seem to be the same player as when we signed him. Maybe there's something going round the team because Hill, Walters, Byrne and Mago also seemed to be a bit off the pace.
Hilarious when saints went potty to the ref when Eckersley scored despite there being nothing at all wrong with the try. Some eccentric reffing on display though.
And can there be a better pairing that Wardle and Marshall in SL?

https://www.superleague.co.uk/match-centre/report/4480

Stats for the game. Dupree made more yards than any of our other forwards.

Stats eh? Useful as a general guide but take away the yards Dupree made after the chargedown and it's a bit of a different story overall.

True though. By the way he made 11 tackles and didn’t miss any. I am not sure why you are singling him out. We win as a team and lose as a team and we won.

[@KingdonMorris]

Does anyone know if Junior Nsemba is OK? he put in some magnificent hits early on, but wsn't on the field in the last quarter. I am hoping he has not managed to injure himself as I think he is our best forward at the moment.

[morley pie eater]

Hi EEP. I always look forward to reading your excellent summaries, and often learning from your observations. . . . BUT . . .

I think your analysis above, whilst good on detail, misses the main point: we had 4 spine players out. Nothing Peet or the team could do could change that.

Yes, as Josie has shown, Saints we're missing 8 to our 7, but they had Lomax, Welsby and Clarke. We had no right to win in these circumstances, and we didn't win because of any failure or mistakes by Saints. We won through sheer bloody-minded grit and determination - bodies on the line stuff - "They shall not pass".

Given all that, I'm afraid that going into detail of what Peet could or should do differently almost fades to insignificance for me. No offence, and keep up the good work.

It wasn't meant to sound so negative. It was more of an observation that I thought we overcomplicated the issue for a lot of the game and I felt like we could have made things a bit easier for Farrell and Farrimond. But you're right, given the disruption we had there's no guarantee any other course of action would have made much of a difference. The team and the game plan got the job done which is the most important thing.

I'm just a big nerd when it comes to tactical stuff even though I understand only a fraction of what the coaches do, but the plan fascinated me as soon as I saw what we were doing.

By no means a nerd. Your posts are some of the best game detailed on this forum. Keep them coming.

Absolutely, kitdf. I've often thought that EEP does a better job than most RL reports from pro journalists.

And I didn't want to come across as negative, either - it's the first time I've seen things from a slightly different angle and felt I should point it out.

Sometimes it's like treading on eggshells on here, and I appreciate that casual remarks or attempts at humour don't always work in cold print.

So keep em coming EEP, and thanks for the positive response!

[josie andrews]

Does anyone know if Junior Nsemba is OK? he put in some magnificent hits early on, but wsn't on the field in the last quarter. I am hoping he has not managed to injure himself as I think he is our best forward at the moment.

Heard he’s done his hamstring while at the Reserves game today, didn’t get a chance to ask him though. He was there but looked okay

[M6 Warrior]

Does anyone know when Jai, Kruise and Coops are due back? Fingers crossed it’s not too long as we’re getting to that part of the season when injuries and suspensions (courtesy of Cullen & Cronies) start to mount up

Coops could play next week although I expect the Club to give him another week off, Jai could return against Warrington, and Kruise will be out for four more weeks.

Thanks Charriots!

[Mike]

When Bevan's fit then. he goes to 6 and Eckersley stays at full back.
That's as tough a game for a very long time.

I think jai comes in at stand off - he's back first isn't he? Heard French is out for 8 weeks.

[Mike]

I thought we played that really well considering our missing players. Throw Brad O’Neil back in and I think we win easily. I thought Moore was appalling, did we get a penalty in the 2nd half, there were at least 2 big shoulder charges from Percival. Thought Welsby showed what a classless loser he really is during the match.

I don’t agree with other posters regarding our players staying down, other teams do it, its about time we stopped being so honest and started playing the system as well.

It's about time the RFL did something about it before it kills the game. Take the cameras away and they get up and play the ball. I can't see Lomax playing next week his arms will be too sore, all that waving above his head.

I really wish people would stop saying things are "going to kill the game". That match was a great spectacle for anyone watching and I can't believe a potential fan is going to say "let's not watch this because there's a short stoppage for a potential head injury".... It's not going to kill the game. Its a small difference in how the game is being played now compared to a few years before, and it can be modified by tweaking the rules if it we need to.