Just got back!! Todays Game!

[ancientnloyal]

and im tired.

Points I picked up on:

1/. Andy Coley seems to be a great addition to the squad made the tackles but IMO got a bit tired towards the end... due to Lockers not being on?
2/. O'Loughlin pulled his hamstring it seemed from the strapping but he was walking onto pitch at end... wait and see but it isn't serious I don't think.
3/. Mathers and Carmont were a bit risky... Mathers needs more games under his belt with cobnfidence... Carmont just needs more games with Richards and Hock on the left... it seemed risky to say the least down the left.
4/. Barrett never really shone it was a team effort.
5/. Paul Prescott was awesome! He broke a few tackles,carried some yards and did 1 or 2 good offloads. Big year for him.
6/. Paleaaesina did ok as expected, impact he sure did, set one up, scored another... make use of him until round 12. Crowd fully behind him except for a few murmurs of "going down going down going down!!! quietly at the back

7/. Wigan fans: Filled the East and the North stand had plenty in also... 8,000 gate I should imagine 50% were Wiganers!! Awesome support! great atmosphere

[ancientnloyal]

Oh, and Danielle passes my long distance driving test

[Mr Stu]

just got back and thought that was not the best of performances but the fitness levels definatly helped alot as quins got tired and we were fitter. mathers looked quite poor defensivly. we were poor defending near our line as they seemed to score all the time when they were attacking near our line, feka, presscott goulding and McClorrum were our best players. carmont needs time to setle i think but im sure he will come good. coley was good and made two big hits right after each other but needs to stop hesitating before he reaches the oppositon. the crowd was awersome. all east stand was full and in good voice, liked it when the wire fan walked past and we sang the 'have u ever seen a wire win the league' chant.

also good to see joe lydon mingling with the fans as he was right infront of me talking to some fans, also lenegan was at the back stand near the bar talking to fans. seemed to like talking to the fans

[Mr Stu]

all in all a win is good and expect a bit of a rusty performance in the first game of the season whilst being away.

[GeoffN]

Scrappy game by both sides, I thought, not helped by a possibly over-fussy referee (though the same for both sides, for once). Penalty count seemed high to me, although I don't have figures to prove it, and I thought a lot of the offences, by both sides, could safely have been let go to let the game flow.

I thought we were pretty much on top until Feca went off, and Lockers got injured, which is when they came back into it - we clearly missed Lockers in defence. From then on, our pack was second best until Feca came back on.

It seems to me that Tommy L has been given a lot more creative resposibility this year - it was noticeable that not everything is going through Barrett now.

Both Higham and McIlorum were always looking dangerous, though sometimes took the wrong options; I think both did rather too much running from DH, don't knoe whether that was a deliberate tactic or not.

The backs all looked sharp in attack, though a bit suspect in defence, especially Mathers, which is a bit worrying.

Good result, but don't be fooled by the scoreline; it was a lot closer than the eventual result shows. We'll meet much better teams than Quins, and today's performance wouldn't have beaten the top teams, I feel.

Having said that, without Fielden, Calderwood, Pryce, Hock (and O'Loughlin for 3/4 of the game) on the whole a satisfactory performance.

MoM for me was definitely Feca - we looked a completely different side when he was off.

Fabulous turnout from the Wigan fans, too, and lots of noise!

[cpwigan]

The youngsters are getting better and better

Re Carmont / Mathers etc. It will take time. I think that is why Nobby is not rushing Fielden back. Nor will Pryce just come back in and be dominant straight off. Lack of match practice particularly after a long absence from injury takes more time to get over than we give players credit for.

Re referees. You will see high penalty counts fr the first few rds. Wire match had a high count too. It is important to err on the side of caution, being ultra clean if possible to get the benefit. Even harder away from home.

[DaveO]

GeoffN posted:
Good result, but don't be fooled by the scoreline; it was a lot closer than the eventual result shows. We'll meet much better teams than Quins, and today's performance wouldn't have beaten the top teams, I feel.

I got that impression from what I have read report-wise and in the forums but I'll take the result. How often to we have a poor start so a 19 point margin of victory will do at the stoop.

Having said that, without Fielden, Calderwood, Pryce, Hock (and O'Loughlin for 3/4 of the game) on the whole a satisfactory performance.

Good to read and thinks for the mini report. I am just glad we are off to a winning start.

Dave

[gpartin]

GeoffN posted:


It seems to me that Tommy L has been given a lot more creative resposibility this year - it was noticeable that not everything is going through Barrett now.

I noticed that in the Bradford game, I think its good that we'll have a lot more variety. Lulu looked more creative for NZ, particularly at Hull than he did for us all last season, maybe Nobby's picked up on that.

[FROM A TO B]

A game of 5 halves :exc:
2 in the first half, where Wigan dominated, but gave away to sucker tries with an intercepted pass and a stupid penalty.
3 in the second half, first 10 minutes or so, complete domination in attack and awsome defence by London, 10 minutes of 50/50 and then 20 minutes of sheer magic.
Can I replace Stevo?
Fans never stopped singing and chanting.

We're top of the league, your having a laugh :eusa2:

[Exiled Wiganer]

I thought it was a very good game, and that it bodes very well for the year ahead. The emergence of McIllorum, Prescott and Goulding into genuine first team players is a massive boost for the team and the squad. From one and a half props last year, if Feca keeps up yesterday's form, we now have 4 props all of whom can do a lot of damage. My money woudl be on Fielden's form going through the roof after a long off season and with others to share the work load.

I am pleased that so much of Quins' effective attack was because of Mathers as Carmont, as it suggests teething troubles we can fix, rather than being too alarming.

Quins are a good side - when everyone is fit, in Hill, Paul, Purdham, McLinden and Orr they have play makers galore and always score lots of points when they get close to the line. Last year we'd have lost tis game because we struggled to make breaks - no worries on that score this year.

Having seen 8 teams play on tv and live, I would place us just behind Leeds and on a par with Wire. Plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

And what lovely weather and what an excellent atmosphere.