Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 2:26 pm  

Thought when Wigan were chasing the game and forced into being more expansive late on, they looked better for it. Almost played into Leeds's hands with their conservative game plan for the first 65 minutes. With pace on the game and ball movement we looked to be struggling to live with them defensively.

Way too much dropped ball for both coaches' liking I would have thought. Some of it forced by good defence, but a lot of it through loose carries or dumb offloads.

Couple of thoughts on the controversial incidents. Charnley will be very, very lucky if he avoids a ban. Bailey got three games for making contact with an official during play when trying to defend his own try-line. The ball was dead in this instance, play had stopped and Charnley deliberately went to grab Hicks's arm. Should be looking at three minimum, but I don't doubt Wigan will play the "previous good character" card like they did with O'Loughlin.

I thought the Cuthbertson explanation of the Tautai incident was excellent at the touch screen. Tautai has come in to attempt to pin the legs of the ball carrier together and stop the leg drive. If you watch his arms, he is attempting to wrap them and not just flying in shoulder first. The force applied by the two defenders up top then bends the player back at an unnatural angle, unable to adjust their feet to compensate.

On first look, I thought it was a cannonball and said as much. On review, I'm less convinced that it was.

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 3:07 pm  

DHM wrote:

Segeyaro was fantastic, as were Ablett, Hall, Burrow and Watkins. The team had structure a pattern of play and were organised in defence. Even if they had lost at the end it was still a genuine performance. Structure and cohesion is so underrated. How much better did Watkins look defending as a centre - solid 1-1 hits and took his one chance in a tight match superbly.
In reality, Wigan had 9 first teamers out and have misfired badly on attack all season, but they have still been extremely difficult to beat. I don't know how Leeds have managed to dig a huge psychological pit of despair to live in since February but it seems some of the lads have decided they've had enough and have brought some positivity to the party.
Better late than never, but if it saves Mac's job then it will all be for nothing.

It seems to have coincided with Hardakers decision to move down under. Is this a coincidence? had he become a disruptive element? His game has been a shadow of last year for most of the season and Im guessing hes been agitating for the move since the off season. Maybe better of he doesnt come back however good we know he can be on top form. It does look like he wont get picked up in the NRL so he may be back with his tail between his legs

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 5:07 pm  

Biff Tannen wrote:

Lilley is far from the finished article but he has two great traits. He has lots of confidence in himself, almost a swagger about him for one so young and isn't afraid of trying things or the failure that may bring. The plenty of game time and the testing circumstances of this year should stand him in good stead for the future.

Thats my opinion of him also. Did much better last night and got some good low kicks in and with Burrow carrying on from last week with some good high kicks to the corner then looking much improved when near their line. However when we are 40/50m out we still look a bit messy when on the 5th tackle. One occasion Burrow almost gets trapped before managing to slide one out only to the 30m line and near the end Segeyaro just dinks one 5m through the defensive line when we were only on halfway with only minutes remaining. For our final set we also ended up with Hall 30m out running infield and chipping the ball over.....we did get away with that one however with Sarginson knocking on but not exactly the way we should've been organised on that last play.

All in all plenty of good performances. Thought the old guard of JJB, Delaney and Ablett had good games and showed what they can still offer. Singleton good and strong in defence but I would like to see him make more metres per carry if he's going to start at prop (14 carries, 77m, 5.50m avg). Thought Moon defended excellently before he had to go off and Keinhorst carried on where Moon left off. Hall strong again, Briscoe looked a bit rusty understandably.

Slack knock ons made life tougher than it should've been but good to see us winning collisions (the biggest difference from earlier this year) in both defence and attack and getting quick PTB's, we made a little bit short of 1500m against a notoriously tough defence without our leading metre making prop.

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:03 pm  

rhinos21 wrote:

So do we think the Sutcliffe switch to full back is permanent?

He seems to be growing into the role and I don't think Zak will be back.

for me no. he's doing a decent job of it but he's not a natural there for me. i'd like a top class full back brought in

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:17 pm  

The highlight - other than the win - was when Hicks penalised Charnley for moving metres off the mark. Something he does every time he's tackled in an attempt to win a penalty for his side. This time Hicks wasn't fooled.

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:18 pm  

ThePrinter wrote:

Thats my opinion of him also. Did much better last night and got some good low kicks in and with Burrow carrying on from last week with some good high kicks to the corner then looking much improved when near their line. However when we are 40/50m out we still look a bit messy when on the 5th tackle. One occasion Burrow almost gets trapped before managing to slide one out only to the 30m line and near the end Segeyaro just dinks one 5m through the defensive line when we were only on halfway with only minutes remaining. For our final set we also ended up with Hall 30m out running infield and chipping the ball over.....we did get away with that one however with Sarginson knocking on but not exactly the way we should've been organised on that last play.

All in all plenty of good performances. Thought the old guard of JJB, Delaney and Ablett had good games and showed what they can still offer. Singleton good and strong in defence but I would like to see him make more metres per carry if he's going to start at prop (14 carries, 77m, 5.50m avg). Thought Moon defended excellently before he had to go off and Keinhorst carried on where Moon left off. Hall strong again, Briscoe looked a bit rusty understandably.

Slack knock ons made life tougher than it should've been but good to see us winning collisions (the biggest difference from earlier this year) in both defence and attack and getting quick PTB's, we made a little bit short of 1500m against a notoriously tough defence without our leading metre making prop.

Our 5th tackle plays are still a mess and are often a result of dumb fourth tackle plays, more often than not our main kicker getting caught with the ball on the fourth. On Lilley, he had a better game than his nightmare against Hull - there's a lot wrong with his game but he is a tryer and seems to have the right personality to succeed. As has been said in here, how many 19 year-old halves have come into a team and looked good week-in week-out? Last one I can remember is probably Bobbie Goulding.

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:36 pm  

Lucas Albert is doing a decent job at Catalan. I think he's only the same age as Lilley, maybe younger.

Still I agree with the point, it's hard for young halves, especially if the rest of the team struggle.

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:41 pm  

Old Feller wrote:

The highlight - other than the win - was when Hicks penalised Charnley for moving metres off the mark. Something he does every time he's tackled in an attempt to win a penalty for his side. This time Hicks wasn't fooled.

Such a dumb play from Charnley too. Tierney had broke upfield to halfway and got tackled, quick PTB and Charnley is only denied by an ankle tap about 30m out....Leeds were spread to hell and scrambling back and only tackle 2 complete. Just PTB properly and you're in with a great chance to score. I know teams like to milk/win penalties but there's a right time to do and a wrong time to do it.

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 7:21 pm  

There were loads of really dumb plays towards the end.

Ryan Hall getting the ball on the last tackle with minutes remaining and game in the balance is pretty hard to beat, as well as chicko doing a grubber kick.............on the halfway line.

Even George williams' try, on the face of it, as a halfback running head on into 2 forwards on the last tackle is a stupid low percentage play.

Re: Wigan H : Sat Jul 16, 2016 8:27 pm  

On Hardaker, I have to agree that the team's morale seems so much improved since his departure. It fits well with the comments of a friend of mine who lives in the same village as Zack did. Apparently, things are allegedly much more serene now and the residents are no longer lodging complaints with his employers.
Will be interesting when/if he comes back.