Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:51 am  

Can we stop using the phrase 'powderpuff pack' please. It's childish and stupid. Unless you seriously believe Lockers, Bateman, Farrell and McIllorum (when he was here) are actually powderpuff, in which case carry on showing your ignorance. If your issue us with the props, say so.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 2:46 am  

The props aren’t the problem I believe, it’s the way they are told to play. Although Nuuausaula was poor last season, it didn’t help the way he was told to play. The props don’t carry the ball enough imo and are often just told to save their energy for defence which is wrong, a starting combination of FPN and Flower with Sutton Clubb and Tautai on the bench is actually quite good imo and if they show more commitment with the ball and carry it more they will not be bullied by any pack in the league. I think we will suprise a lot of people this year imo because I do believe there has been changes in the style of play and the changes are for the better. If we can keep the spine of Escare Tomkins Williams Leuluai/Powell and O’Loughlin fit for 2/3 of the season we will get top 4 pretty easy I believe.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 10:48 am  

Phuzzy wrote:

Can we stop using the phrase 'powderpuff pack' please. It's childish and stupid. Unless you seriously believe Lockers, Bateman, Farrell and McIllorum (when he was here) are actually powderpuff, in which case carry on showing your ignorance. If your issue us with the props, say so.

Do you actually think that Farrell and Mickey Mac played well last year?

Maybe not powderpuff, but very, very below standard.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:31 am  

One match last year FPN's stats were 4 hit ups and 27 tackles.
He is playing like that because he is directed to. We had 13st wingmen taking up the first 3 hit ups in a set and being tackled by 3 or 4 17st forwards.
Rectify that and we will begin to sort out the basics.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:38 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

One match last year FPN's stats were 4 hit ups and 27 tackles.
He is playing like that because he is directed to. We had 13st wingmen taking up the first 3 hit ups in a set and being tackled by 3 or 4 17st forwards.
Rectify that and we will begin to sort out the basics.

You hit the nail on the head there and its all down to Wayne's coaching we could have a team of world beaters here and playing Waynes way they would be crap.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:04 pm  

jaws1 wrote:

You hit the nail on the head there and its all down to Wayne's coaching we could have a team of world beaters here and playing Waynes way they would be crap.

Absolutley. I'm sure it's SW who's telling them to keep their tackle-counts low.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 2:02 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

Absolutley. I'm sure it's SW who's telling them to keep their tackle-counts low.

27 tackles isn’t low if u only play 35 to 40 minutes a game.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 2:32 pm  

Bigredwarrior wrote:

27 tackles isn’t low if u only play 35 to 40 minutes a game.

The problem is that SW has become a good excuse for poor performances from our props.

I've already put on record that I think SW's style has gone stale, that he no longer has much authority and should move on. But I don't remember the last time I saw a Wigan prop make a storming break or a stonking big hit. I'm sure the coach has not instructed them to avoid monstering the opposition.

For me, FPN, Tautai, and to a (slightly) lesser extent Sutton and Clubb, have generally been poor. Flower, I'm undecided on due to recent injuries, but he seemed to lose a lot of vigour after that long ban.

The coach might be underusing them, but we still need props with aggression and go-forward.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 3:13 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

One match last year FPN's stats were 4 hit ups and 27 tackles.
He is playing like that because he is directed to. We had 13st wingmen taking up the first 3 hit ups in a set and being tackled by 3 or 4 17st forwards.
Rectify that and we will begin to sort out the basics.

How many of those 27 did he miss?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jan 10, 2018 3:16 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

The problem is that SW has become a good excuse for poor performances from our props.

I've already put on record that I think SW's style has gone stale, that he no longer has much authority and should move on. But I don't remember the last time I saw a Wigan prop make a storming break or a stonking big hit. I'm sure the coach has not instructed them to avoid monstering the opposition.

For me, FPN, Tautai, and to a (slightly) lesser extent Sutton and Clubb, have generally been poor. Flower, I'm undecided on due to recent injuries, but he seemed to lose a lot of vigour after that long ban.

The coach might be underusing them, but we still need props with aggression and go-forward.

Sutton made a 40 yard break in a match at the end of last season.