Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 11:22 am  

Hull FC fan in peace. Just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed watching you guys this season. Love the intensity you play with and what a superb job Peets and Briers have done.
I tipped you back in February to win the final this year and looking good to do that.
Lastly, what a humble guy Matty Peets comes across as too. He’s been a breath of fresh air this season and really admire how he goes about his business quietly with no fuss. Deserves Coach of the year.
Best of luck in the play offs and hope to see you lifting the trophy on September 24th.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 11:23 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

Was that the one where Simm lied down praying the Video Ref would take pity on him?

Only way the players will learn is by them being told to get up and get on with it. I was so pleased a penalty wasn’t given.

I’m assuming you haven’t watched it back? You’ll likely feel a bit silly about this post once you have. Was a bad tackle and Simm was legit rattled and showed the effects for the rest of the match, barely being able to move his arm. There is a ban incoming for Cust. Not sure if it’ll be the whole season, but 3 games wouldn’t surprise me.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:10 pm  

Phuzzy wrote:

I think the "better 1-17" argument is well over played. We compete in a sport where the first choice 1-17 is rarely...if ever...on the field at the same time and definitely never come the business end of the season. It rather like saying "if we had Wally Lewis in his pomp playing for us we'd easily be the best". Guess what? That's never going to happen either!

If Saints are less able to cope with injuries than us (I think they had 1 more than us last night) then that's on them. Spend less on the 1-17 and concentrate on a more rounded squad. That's the choice you make and live and die by. If it works for them like in the last couple of years, then fine, but they shouldn't be crying about it if and when it doesn't. You can't have it all ways.

Oh I agree absolutely and am not defending their injury issues, but we can't pretend them missing the players they were missing didn't help us. The difference is, as I said, we have a better all round squad and that's thanks to guys like Isa and Shorrocks that get bagged every week but can fill in a few positions and not let us down.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:10 pm  

The Reaper wrote:

I’m assuming you haven’t watched it back? You’ll likely feel a bit silly about this post once you have. Was a bad tackle and Simm was legit rattled and showed the effects for the rest of the match, barely being able to move his arm. There is a ban incoming for Cust. Not sure if it’ll be the whole season, but 3 games wouldn’t surprise me.

Well it would surprise me as it was a good tackle.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:12 pm  

The Reaper wrote:

I’m assuming you haven’t watched it back? You’ll likely feel a bit silly about this post once you have. Was a bad tackle and Simm was legit rattled and showed the effects for the rest of the match, barely being able to move his arm. There is a ban incoming for Cust. Not sure if it’ll be the whole season, but 3 games wouldn’t surprise me.

Haven't seen the incident back you refer to, but Simm at the end is shaking hands with his left hand and keeping his right pretty tight to his body so definitely something there.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:26 pm  

Phuzzy wrote:

I think the "better 1-17" argument is well over played. We compete in a sport where the first choice 1-17 is rarely...if ever...on the field at the same time and definitely never come the business end of the season. It rather like saying "if we had Wally Lewis in his pomp playing for us we'd easily be the best". Guess what? That's never going to happen either!

If Saints are less able to cope with injuries than us (I think they had 1 more than us last night) then that's on them. Spend less on the 1-17 and concentrate on a more rounded squad. That's the choice you make and live and die by. If it works for them like in the last couple of years, then fine, but they shouldn't be crying about it if and when it doesn't. You can't have it all ways.

Me being biased of course,I cannot agree with the 1-17 Saints players are better,they are not !!
would you change-French,Field,Marshall,Smith,Byrne,Faz,Bateman,Cust,Tommy,Havard,Singo,KPP,O,Neil,Smithies etc I wouldnt, only area I think maybe centres.
Roby is now fading,Welsby is not the second coming,Morgan (who) Knowles is not the greatest player ever,Makinson got burned by Marshall as did Percival when it mattered,
LMS old and slow likes to shout a lot,Walmsley slower than a dump truck,Lomax not as good as Smith or Cust.

There you go a honest appraisal from a non biased Wiganer .

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:39 pm  

Lots of attention and praise on our backs (and rightly so) we are a very exciting team to watch but really impressed with Mike Cooper.

I know some people didn’t think we needed to bring in another prop hopefully they can now see the difference that he is making.

The Saints pack, whilst ageing is still a good one and I thought they struggled to handle him, he’s a bit of a machine and compliments what we have.

Looking like a pretty shrewd signing for us.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:48 pm  

dany1979 wrote:

Lots of attention and praise on our backs (and rightly so) we are a very exciting team to watch but really impressed with Mike Cooper.

I know some people didn’t think we needed to bring in another prop hopefully they can now see the difference that he is making.

The Saints pack, whilst ageing is still a good one and I thought they struggled to handle him, he’s a bit of a machine and compliments what we have.

Looking like a pretty shrewd signing for us.

He’s going to be so important in the big games. It’s his footwork that’s the big difference and he is constantly getting forward because of it. Havard is much the same and he’ll be important as well. Looking at last night and the minutes the props played, I would say Ellis or Mago will be vulnerable when Havard is available. I always thought Singleton would retain a starting shirt and I still do.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:51 pm  

Love Cooper. He is an immense signing. Daryl Powell is an absolute idiot letting him go and getting players like Dudson in to replace him. I still want another prop though, and i still want that prop to be Royce Hunt.

Re: Wigan v Saints (h) (match talk not general chat) : Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:57 pm  

Jason65 wrote:

Me being biased of course,I cannot agree with the 1-17 Saints players are better,they are not !!
would you change-French,Field,Marshall,Smith,Byrne,Faz,Bateman,Cust,Tommy,Havard,Singo,KPP,O,Neil,Smithies etc I wouldnt, only area I think maybe centres.
Roby is now fading,Welsby is not the second coming,Morgan (who) Knowles is not the greatest player ever,Makinson got burned by Marshall as did Percival when it mattered,
LMS old and slow likes to shout a lot,Walmsley slower than a dump truck,Lomax not as good as Smith or Cust.

There you go a honest appraisal from a non biased Wiganer .

It comes back to the "combined team" argument which, if I'm honest, I'm not a fan of. It's a non starter of an argument for me as, in a salary capped sport, no team could afford all the best players so it doesn't really matter if player A is better than player B. All that matters is that the squad you assemble has the best balance.

On this front, I think we comfortably have the best as was demonstrated last night when both teams had similar numbers of injuries. It doesn't matter if Percival, Makinson or Hopoate would make them better. They've all spent large amounts of time out so you can't guarantee them being there. I've no doubt Hardaker, Havard and Tommy would similarly improve us but they're not there either so it's irrelevant.

So in answer to your post no, I currently wouldn't swap any of ours for any of theirs because we're currently the better team and that, in the real world, is all you can ask for. Anything else is just a Sunday afternoon discussion over a pint