Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:30 am  

I predict Matty Smith to have the game of his life on Saturday.
Dumped by his beloved Saints to a Salford club in freefall (pre Koucash), much like we did with Sean Long to Widnes all those years back.

Like Long, I can see Matty being 'up for this' like no other against his former boyhood club. Long always raised his game against us in Finals.

The stage is set for him and he'd be my strongest bet for the Harry Sunderland Trophy.

BTW - I don't think the game will be as easy as some non-wigan supporting fans have suggested with scorelines suggesting Wigan to blow Saints away.

Two words:

Remember Murrayfield.

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 9:02 am  

The game could go either way. Saints have nothing to lose and that makes them very dangerous. They've struggled to match our aggression and intensity in games recently but that shouldn't be a problem in a final.

As for Smith he's in a good place at the moment. He looks like a guy on a mission to take another step in his career and play for England. I remember him playing for them in 2010 and they never really have him the platform to damage us. Hopefully we can buy him some space on Saturday and if we do he'll guide us around the field. I'd be looking for him to turn Wellens time and again and really get his ageing legs working overtime.

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 9:25 am  

Wigan will not turn up to a Grand Final underestimating the opposition. Wigan will not turn up to a Wigan vs Saints derby not wanting a scrap. I'd be very surprised if Wigan lose.

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 9:38 am  

MattyB wrote:

BTW - I don't think the game will be as easy as some non-wigan supporting fans have suggested with scorelines suggesting Wigan to blow Saints away.

Two words:

Remember Murrayfield.

I've read similar comments to this a few times now with remember Murrayfiled or we were the underdogs in last years GF.

There is a massive difference with those two games and Saturdays and that's we had the strike players to cause the upset. The Murrayfield team alone had Faz, Lam, Radders, Dallas and Carney playing! Last season we had Lockers, Sam, Pat, Charnley etc.

Saints have Roby and ............

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 9:53 am  

sergeant pepper wrote:

I've read similar comments to this a few times now with remember Murrayfiled or we were the underdogs in last years GF.

There is a massive difference with those two games and Saturdays and that's we had the strike players to cause the upset. The Murrayfield team alone had Faz, Lam, Radders, Dallas and Carney playing! Last season we had Lockers, Sam, Pat, Charnley etc.

Saints have Roby and ............

But we're not a patch on that Saints side either in truth so there isn't as huge a difference IMO.

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:09 am  

sergeant pepper wrote:

Saints have Roby and ............

Lms and wellens

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:20 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

But we're not a patch on that Saints side either in truth so there isn't as huge a difference IMO.

I agree with that BUT i was trying to make a point that Saints don't have any weapons outside of Roby.

We will match them for intensity but who will win it for them?

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:35 am  

sergeant pepper wrote:

I agree with that BUT i was trying to make a point that Saints don't have any weapons outside of Roby.

We will match them for intensity but who will win it for them?

Roby is exceptional and by streets their best player but they do still have other guys who can hurt you. We're setting ourselves up for a fall if we think it's just a case of hammering Roby to get the job done. The intensity needs to be the same as it was on Friday, if it is then we win but it's not guaranteed.

As for who those other danger men are Manu is a handful, I like Percival, Turner can be as good as he can be bad, Makinson and Swift are both dangerous players and even Wellens can still produce some good moments. They also have a big pack with some form players in there like LMS (we can joke but he's playing very well) and Masoe (same as LMS).

It's the halves were our big advantage is.

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:43 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

Roby is exceptional and by streets their best player but they do still have other guys who can hurt you. We're setting ourselves up for a fall if we think it's just a case of hammering Roby to get the job done. The intensity needs to be the same as it was on Friday, if it is then we win but it's not guaranteed.

As for who those other danger men are Manu is a handful, I like Percival, Turner can be as good as he can be bad, Makinson and Swift are both dangerous players and even Wellens can still produce some good moments. They also have a big pack with some form players in there like LMS (we can joke but he's playing very well) and Masoe (same as LMS).

It's the halves were our big advantage is.

Thankfully it's not the windy buggers who post on here who will be playing!!!! If anybody here thinks that the Wigan players will be complacent, you really need to give your head a shake...

Re: Matty Smith : Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:54 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

Roby is exceptional and by streets their best player but they do still have other guys who can hurt you. We're setting ourselves up for a fall if we think it's just a case of hammering Roby to get the job done. The intensity needs to be the same as it was on Friday, if it is then we win but it's not guaranteed.

As for who those other danger men are Manu is a handful, I like Percival, Turner can be as good as he can be bad, Makinson and Swift are both dangerous players and even Wellens can still produce some good moments. They also have a big pack with some form players in there like LMS (we can joke but he's playing very well) and Masoe (same as LMS).

It's the halves were our big advantage is.

Imo, Roby aside, all of the players you mentioned are bettered by their Wigan equivalent. Guys like Percival & Makinson have been bettered at every level in the big games vs Wigan. I don't think it's setting ourselves up for a fail having extreme confidence in the talent that we have. Our young players are better than theirs, they've proved this in the past & our senior guys like Lockers are also better.

FWIW i don't think it's going to be a white wash. I do however think that if we nullify Roby then we stop Saints. I'm praying that we tap into that old Madge mentality of pure aggression in defence. I really want to see Micky Mac, Lockers, Joel, Bateman etc really get into Roby and LMS early doors.

If we bring our nastiest defence & 100% intensity then we will win this game.