Squad v Castleford

[DaveO]

One thing seems to have been missed in all the analysis - though Josie touched on it by referring to changes in the spine:

At any point in the season, we could have enforced changes due to injury. If this means changes to the spine, then Hampshire is first in line to come in. Yet he's had very little chance to adapt to the first team, and get to know the players around d him in match conditions. What better game and what better time to give him a run out?

If we'd signed a star Aussie (recommended by Meds, no doubt!), we'd surely allow him a settl8 g in period of 4 or 5 games, say. I'm not Hampshire's biggest fan, but I can see that, under the cap, he's an astute signing to cover 1, 6 and 7. And I remember him doing some good stuff on the odd occasions I watched him at Wakey.

Surely we can make some allowances, and see the big picture?

I’m not sure why Hampshire is being singled out for blame. I think he went ok last evening, like most of the side. Like all halfbacks he requires quick, clean and accurate passing from the dummy half and that was not available last night. For me, and I have said it before, the jury is out on Leeming. Our performance drops when he replaces O’Neill, having said that he also needs, and deserves a bedding in period.

Nothing against him personally but he just isn't the quality player that Wigan deserves, very much like Thornley, never understood why we re-signed them both, must have better quality youngsters

Agreed. The attack died nearly every time he got the ball and defensively he was poor.

[NICKYKISS]

I think the cup game gave us fans a false impression. Once the game was gone there they had nothing to play for. They have been far more competitive in the league and even beat Salford in their previous game. A combination of them not being that bad and wholesale changes to the spine gave us what we saw last night. Still some really pleasing signs though.

Spot on.

I do agree with Josie in that the defence has been a little lax at times but we know it’s there when needed, in the big games.

I can’t lie, I was glad it was a contest last night. I was bored to tears in the cup last week. No game against a team in your league should be that easy, especially in a knock out game.

A contest? Wigan would have had to have contrived to lose that game. It was just a case of are Wigan going to wake up and play with a bit more intensity which they did in the second half.

If we were going to see 40 minutes of clunky RL from Wigan I’d have been happier if the performances in the two halves were reversed i.e. scored four tries to put the game away by half time and then if the intensity had dropped off in the second that would have been understandable as that often happens in that situation but overall the lack of cohesion just made it a frustrating match to watch.

Even when we stepped it up second half, Cas didn’t fold and kept it pretty respectable. The easy option for them after last week would’ve been to just turn it in from minute one again but they didn’t.

Could we have played with more intent from minute one? Probably but the lads aren’t robots. If you think we should just turn up and stick another 60 on Cas, it only highlights that motivation could be an issue for the players as well. Add in the changes to the spine and I think it was a fair nights work overall and I enjoyed it as a game far more than standing at Cas watching us walk through them (although a different ref may have made it better again).

[DaveO]

Spot on.

I do agree with Josie in that the defence has been a little lax at times but we know it’s there when needed, in the big games.

I can’t lie, I was glad it was a contest last night. I was bored to tears in the cup last week. No game against a team in your league should be that easy, especially in a knock out game.

A contest? Wigan would have had to have contrived to lose that game. It was just a case of are Wigan going to wake up and play with a bit more intensity which they did in the second half.

If we were going to see 40 minutes of clunky RL from Wigan I’d have been happier if the performances in the two halves were reversed i.e. scored four tries to put the game away by half time and then if the intensity had dropped off in the second that would have been understandable as that often happens in that situation but overall the lack of cohesion just made it a frustrating match to watch.

Even when we stepped it up second half, Cas didn’t fold and kept it pretty respectable. The easy option for them after last week would’ve been to just turn it in from minute one again but they didn’t.

Could we have played with more intent from minute one? Probably but the lads aren’t robots. If you think we should just turn up and stick another 60 on Cas, it only highlights that motivation could be an issue for the players as well. Add in the changes to the spine and I think it was a fair nights work overall and I enjoyed it as a game far more than standing at Cas watching us walk through them (although a different ref may have made it better again).

I am not sure if it is motivation or approach that was the issue. The team and Peet must have known Cas were depleted and if that affected how they began the game that's not very professional. I'd like to see the team approach every game starting with intensity as if they were playing Saints every week. Then if having done that Wigan are out of sight against poor sides I can accept and expect a drop off in intensity.

Maybe the changes to the spine prevented that. It was certainly true nearly every time the ball went right the attack dissolved at Hampshire.

I was half expecting Peet to switch Hampshire and French around at half time due to this. Hopefully Peet will have learned if Field is out injured just leave Bevan at 6 and put Hampshire at 1. Much less disruption.

It was good to see AK goal kicking. We won't be blowing HKR away even if we start like a house on fire so hopefully him being subbed for a problem with his knee is not going to rule him out and we won't be ruing missed goal kicks.

[NICKYKISS]

Just read an interview with Peet saying Keighran is fine and was just taken off because of a slight knock and because they had Eckersley on the bench. Keighran was also confirmed as the permanent kicker going forward.


https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/wi ... -matt-peet

[widdenoldboy]

One for the referees on this forum; was Nsemba’s tackle on Charbel Tasipale a hip drop?

No but I did wonder at the time and I thought Lingard was saying hip drop to someone on the sideline. I'm assuming it was checked at the time but Jnr. Didn't make any contact with his his legs. He may be warned for a clumsy attempt and I'd think the coaches will have a word.

[Charriots Offiah]

One for the referees on this forum; was Nsemba’s tackle on Charbel Tasipale a hip drop?

No but I did wonder at the time and I thought Lingard was saying hip drop to someone on the sideline. I'm assuming it was checked at the time but Jnr. Didn't make any contact with his his legs. He may be warned for a clumsy attempt and I'd think the coaches will have a word.

If the sport considers Juniors tackle as clumsy, reckless or whatever then we are entering the realms of lunacy. We will see those sorts of tackles all year long, when you are off balance there is nothing you can do about it. Having said that, I do understand your point given the current interpretation of the rules.

[EagleEyePie]

One for the referees on this forum; was Nsemba’s tackle on Charbel Tasipale a hip drop?

No but I did wonder at the time and I thought Lingard was saying hip drop to someone on the sideline. I'm assuming it was checked at the time but Jnr. Didn't make any contact with his his legs. He may be warned for a clumsy attempt and I'd think the coaches will have a word.

It will fall under the banner of dangerous contact and I'm fairly sure Nsemba's tackle will see him get banned. If Tasipale is out for a while it could be lengthy like the Cas players following the tackle on Isa.

Both his legs leave the ground as he swings his body around which puts all his body weight on the players knees while also causing a twisting motion. Seems a fairly clear mechanism to cause injury.

It's going to test our depth in the back row if he does get banned. I don't think Walters is ready to return and there's no obvious candidate to replace him (given Chan has been pretty poor in all his outings so far).

[Charriots Offiah]

One for the referees on this forum; was Nsemba’s tackle on Charbel Tasipale a hip drop?

No but I did wonder at the time and I thought Lingard was saying hip drop to someone on the sideline. I'm assuming it was checked at the time but Jnr. Didn't make any contact with his his legs. He may be warned for a clumsy attempt and I'd think the coaches will have a word.

It will fall under the banner of dangerous contact and I'm fairly sure Nsemba's tackle will see him get banned. If Tasipale is out for a while it could be lengthy like the Cas players following the tackle on Isa.

Both his legs leave the ground as he swings his body around which puts all his body weight on the players knees while also causing a twisting motion. Seems a fairly clear mechanism to cause injury.

It's going to test our depth in the back row if he does get banned. I don't think Walters is ready to return and there's no obvious candidate to replace him (given Chan has been pretty poor in all his outings so far).

There is absolutely no comparison between the tackles.

[EagleEyePie]

No but I did wonder at the time and I thought Lingard was saying hip drop to someone on the sideline. I'm assuming it was checked at the time but Jnr. Didn't make any contact with his his legs. He may be warned for a clumsy attempt and I'd think the coaches will have a word.

It will fall under the banner of dangerous contact and I'm fairly sure Nsemba's tackle will see him get banned. If Tasipale is out for a while it could be lengthy like the Cas players following the tackle on Isa.

Both his legs leave the ground as he swings his body around which puts all his body weight on the players knees while also causing a twisting motion. Seems a fairly clear mechanism to cause injury.

It's going to test our depth in the back row if he does get banned. I don't think Walters is ready to return and there's no obvious candidate to replace him (given Chan has been pretty poor in all his outings so far).

There is absolutely no comparison between the tackles.

I didn't compare the tackles

[Fujiman]

One for the referees on this forum; was Nsemba’s tackle on Charbel Tasipale a hip drop?

No but I did wonder at the time and I thought Lingard was saying hip drop to someone on the sideline. I'm assuming it was checked at the time but Jnr. Didn't make any contact with his his legs. He may be warned for a clumsy attempt and I'd think the coaches will have a word.

It will fall under the banner of dangerous contact and I'm fairly sure Nsemba's tackle will see him get banned. If Tasipale is out for a while it could be lengthy like the Cas players following the tackle on Isa.

Both his legs leave the ground as he swings his body around which puts all his body weight on the players knees while also causing a twisting motion. Seems a fairly clear mechanism to cause injury.

It's going to test our depth in the back row if he does get banned. I don't think Walters is ready to return and there's no obvious candidate to replace him (given Chan has been pretty poor in all his outings so far).

I don’t think he has been pretty poor at all. A few mistakes but work in progress.