It's completely fair and relevant to point out that we are way understrength at present. But that cannot be the whole of the narrative.
I mean how often do you ever have a full complement of players? There are always 2 or 3 missing, so we can't afford to start hankering after some mythical future when every single person is fully fit, because it's never going to arrive. Good grief, several players were already injured when the season started, which defies all understanding but proves that you can't afford to bank on 100% fitness.
At the same time, George Williams was brought back against Warrington, and was virtually anonymous for the whole match. Now it's a tough call, bagging the lad on his first game back - he's bound to be ring-rusty, but that no-show reminded me that he's been anonymous in lots of other games too. I wonder if we're expecting too much from Sam as well? No one could be absent as long as he has, without it having a significant impact.
There are lots of praiseworthy things about player development at Wigan. The youth policy is second-to-none, and with the odd exception of Hampshire (though I think that's been overstated), SW is prepared to give them their chances. But when you have so many youngsters in a team, heads drop when the chips are down. In addition we must face the fact that we have a real problem at halfback. I hate it when people pick on Matty Smith - he's been the only pivot available in recent weeks, so the pressure's been on him, and he virtually won the game for us against Huddersfield. But our close-in attack is generally toothless, and for that you have to look at the midfield general who is not creating enough options to challenge even average SL defences.
And it's not just Matty. Our props are very weak at present - so much so that, with the exception of Clubb, I'd happily replace all of them (and that includes Ben Flower, who's been a shadow of himself since that incident in the Grand Final).
It's easy for me to sit here and call for lots of new blood. That's not possible in the age of the salary cap. But I do think the time's come for us to revise our recruitment strategy, and look at making signings where we can. I hear some fans saying that it's like 2006 again and that we seem to have walked blindfolded into a situation were the team is substandard across the board. I totally disagree with that, but I'm starting to think that some dead wood needs to go, and something much better needs to be found to replace it, and that this is becoming a matter of urgency.
