21-man squad to face Castleford

[Great grandad Harry ball]

Smithies

There's aggression and there's aggression. He's going to spend some time on the sidelines.......just like Partington- who got a 4 match ban that's lasted nearly 6 months.
Sort it out, young lad - they are both super prospects but there's more than that. A good backroom staff and/or older players need to knock the 'bad' aggression out of them.

[EagleEyePie]

Smithies

There's aggression and there's aggression. He's going to spend some time on the sidelines.......just like Partington- who got a 4 match ban that's lasted nearly 6 months.
Sort it out, young lad - they are both super prospects but there's more than that. A good backroom staff and/or older players need to knock the 'bad' aggression out of them.

Depending on how the disciplinary view both his offences he could be in for a long ban. We've already had Partington banned or 4 matches and Joe Shorrocks banned for 5 for a challenge in an under-19's game against Widnes. We've got some cracking young players but they are getting a reputation of going beyond aggressive and it's doesn't reflect well on the club, and more importantly, detracts from the abilities of some great young players we have.

[nathan_rugby]

Some real positives to take from our pack. Havard was absolutely outstanding as he has been all season. For such a young player to play 80 minutes against a tough pack of forwards, with such an big work rate, is really impressive. But for him to not just cope but excel and be the best prop on the pitch, that is something special. I suppose we have to make the most of this while we can, as he'll be off to the NRL in no time and I doubt we'll see anything close to his best in a Wigan shirt.

Farrell is hands down the best back rower in Super League. The pack is an area where we have plenty of options but if we lost Farrell we'd struggle to compete for trophies. He's that good and that important to us.

Joe Bullock had one of his best games and he deserved to top it off with a try. We've always known we needed a strong running prop in the side and since the restart he's been filling that role well. His defence has been improving too. A real promising performance.

I was also impressed with Flower given that was his first game in a while so he'll be lacking match fitness. His technique in defence is second to none and he makes some smart runs in attack. If he can remain fit he can have a real positive influence on the team before he leaves.

The negatives. George Burgess again looked our worst prop by a distance. There's an occasional strong carry in his game, but we get very little from him in attack and he looks unfit and lacking mobility in defence. Maybe Lam is just trying to get him minutes and improve his match fitness, but at what point does it become an unnecessary weakening of the team to keep picking him. I hope we haven't included a clause in his contract where he's guaranteed to be selected if fit, because if the Grand Final was played tomorrow there's no way he'd deserve to be in the side.

Lam deserves some credit for his tactical switches. Bringing Smith on and moving Hastings to hooker, or at least that loosely defined hooker/lock role, made a real impact. He made some smart decisions from dummy half, was willing to run with the ball while Powell showed some smart playmaking touches. Smith isn't the sort of player you'd expect to make an impact off the bench so he was a little quiet but his 40/20 was such an important contribution and showed the quality of his kicking. He's more than earned his place in the starting 17 and will hopefully continue to improve as the year goes on.

A clause in his contract that means he plays when fit? Heard it all now.

He’s been average for years in the NRL, underwhelming before Covid and underwhelming now since the restart.

I don’t buy the whole fitness thing. Why’s he any different to anyone else? If he’s struggling he should be putting in the extra work to get up to par with everyone else.

Could allow the argument for Burgess if he was quality in the minutes he plays but then didn’t have the fitness to sustain. In my opinion he looks soft, uninterested and has zero aggression. Call me glass half empty but he’s had his peak, believed in all the hype and has lost it now. He won’t get much better than we are seeing. Such a shame because he was awesome a few years ago.

[widdenoldboy]

Wasn't looking forward to this game but it turned out a cracking match and a good result for us.

Havard and Bullock were good value, Faz is total class.
Burgess looked slightly fitter and thats the only positive for him....
Flower went OK and I'm hoping PArtington comes back and continues to develop.

Both Hastings and Smithies are lucky not to see red and may get banned after reviews.

[Mike]

Good performance, especially from Hastings, Powell, Bullock and Flower. Bevan was definitely dangerous the whole game too. Very happy with how we're developing, we should be a force when the trophies are handed out.

The only negative for me is that the team struggle to make metres as effectively as many of our opponents. A lot of our tries come from back moves. The kids in the pack do a great job, but they just aren't penetrating the line often enough. Hopefully that will come. Oh and G Burgess, hopefully he'll gain some fitness and platform more than 10mins a game one day.

[ddtftf]

I honestly feel there is a problem with Burgess maybe an injury the club is trying to ease back to match fitness , defiantly something as he is nothing like the player i watched in the NRL

[Wigan_forever1985]

My take on the match;

We are in strange form - we look like we arent clicking into high gear at all be we are doing enough each match to win - sign of a championship winning team IMO. I cant see past a Wigan vs Saints Final at the moment

Havard was outstanding i know others have said but wow massive minutes in a tough game for the young lad and he handled himself really well. Bullock is our best prop by far and i think he's turning into that Coley type prop who is reliable meters. Flower i thought was good considering how long he has been out looked more like the flower of old. Smith needs to play every game he can at the moment IMO he's probably our most creative player right now. Hasting seems to be playing a different role for us than Salford he's putting a lot of work in all of the place and he was busy all match with some really nice touches. I thought Bibby had a decent match too. Faz was excellent for me he's captain material - Powell also had a really good game, on Powell could Lam not get a sprint coach in to work with him - if they could tease out half a yard of pace it could make a world of difference

Negatives - Burgess which is obvious completely ineffective the worst prop on the pitch by a country mile. Smithies aswell, seems like he has signed up to the Sky character theyve assigned him, he's starting to make his game about anything to make an impact including cheap shots and thats not tough its thuggery - Ryan Bailey style tactics. I thought Tommy was showing his age again - id have him as rotation hooker then out to pasture next year

On that note please please please can someone tell Lockers to retire! im getting nervous when sky said hes coming back soon - we are starting to find our way without him and he is useless if he is going to disrupt the team for the 2 matches he will play before inevitably being back in the stands for 6 just leave him in the stands its over

[The booze hound]

My take on the match;

We are in strange form - we look like we arent clicking into high gear at all be we are doing enough each match to win - sign of a championship winning team IMO. I cant see past a Wigan vs Saints Final at the moment

I think Catalans are also a real danger this season.

[pedro]

cant grumble, weve not played well this season and still top

[Firestarter]

My take on the match;

We are in strange form - we look like we arent clicking into high gear at all be we are doing enough each match to win - sign of a championship winning team IMO. I cant see past a Wigan vs Saints Final at the moment

Havard was outstanding i know others have said but wow massive minutes in a tough game for the young lad and he handled himself really well. Bullock is our best prop by far and i think he's turning into that Coley type prop who is reliable meters. Flower i thought was good considering how long he has been out looked more like the flower of old. Smith needs to play every game he can at the moment IMO he's probably our most creative player right now. Hasting seems to be playing a different role for us than Salford he's putting a lot of work in all of the place and he was busy all match with some really nice touches. I thought Bibby had a decent match too. Faz was excellent for me he's captain material - Powell also had a really good game, on Powell could Lam not get a sprint coach in to work with him - if they could tease out half a yard of pace it could make a world of difference

Negatives - Burgess which is obvious completely ineffective the worst prop on the pitch by a country mile. Smithies aswell, seems like he has signed up to the Sky character theyve assigned him, he's starting to make his game about anything to make an impact including cheap shots and thats not tough its thuggery - Ryan Bailey style tactics. I thought Tommy was showing his age again - id have him as rotation hooker then out to pasture next year

On that note please please please can someone tell Lockers to retire! im getting nervous when sky said hes coming back soon - we are starting to find our way without him and he is useless if he is going to disrupt the team for the 2 matches he will play before inevitably being back in the stands for 6 just leave him in the stands its over

good post this and i agree with everything....... i will add that although french is class i think he needs to pin his ears back a bit more....... at times he seems to overstep a gap...... maybe a slight injury, im not sure