Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:14 pm  

Look like we can add Asiata to it too
That's 8

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:16 pm  

Mr. Zucchini Head wrote:

I'm fine with that tbh. It's just a reflection of where both teams are at the minute. They are a top quality team with class in every position. We are a team at the start of a long transition. We might have done a little better with our best players on the field, but in the end we tried hard and were outclassed by a much better team.

As others have said I thought Salabio showed glimpses of being an astute signing, Sezer played well again, the wingers continue to impress, and I thought Briscoe did a lot of good things. I am very much warming to him at centre. He certainly put himself about and I think he can make an impact. I think Cartwright got the selection wrong though. Fash and Chamberlain on that right hand was a always a recipe for disaster and the two of them were chasing shadows all night. Not to mention we got them some really good ball at times and they just didn't have the quality to do anything with it. It had to be Rapana at centre and Chamberlain at centre, with Moy at FB. Fash on the bench for Gardiner. With all the will in the world I just don't think Gardiner will ever be good enough.

Agree think we have to go with Moy FB, Rapana centre next week

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:26 pm  

Wigan were excellent, particularly for a Round 2 game. Rock solid, very powerful in the forwards and Jai Field looks twice the player he was this time last year. I have a suspicion he's trying to put himself in the NRL shop window but we'll see.

Hull tried hard and there were no overly soft tries conceded unlike last year. The short drop out was a bit daft. No getting around it though - unless the luck with injuries improves it will likely be another tough season. A real shame there are so many so early - not just with Hull but across SL.

Ese-Ese, Sezer and Rapana looked decent and good to see Barron give Jai Field a run for his money.

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:35 pm  

Rapana is our full back. So no need to move him. Moy will just have to wait patiently. Shouldn't be to long a wait with our injuries luck.

Our strongest three quarter line right now looks like the one that started last week at Catalans. With Chamberlain, Westerman and eventually Litten as back up.

It'd be crazy to move your best full back to play at centre.

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:36 pm  

I like Cartwrights straight to the point interview style

""We played against a really classy team who played some really classy football.

"We had to be at our best physically and tactically and unfortunately we were nowhere near the mark.

"I felt we were hanging on all game. I thought some of our kicks at the end of sets were pretty poor. Look, they are a very strong team who will be there at the end of the year come Grand Final time.

"They have class right across paddock. It was a bit of that and a bit of we weren't where we needed to be."

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:38 pm  

I was surprised with barrons pace. Any other full back in the league and he'd have scored. It also looked like field made contact with his head when he tackled him but that was watching from the east stand

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:40 pm  

Don't see the problem with short drop-out.
What do we do, weere 18 points down and need the ball. In truth it was a bang on the money kick from Rapana, manage to knock it back but aren't alert enough to regain it second-ball.
What's the alternativ, punt it downfield with the likelihood of them scoring with a full set anyway?
Think we'll be big underdogs away at Giants but these are the games we need to compete in otherwise it's gonna be 2024 deja-vu.

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:42 pm  

I always feared that apart from Herman, there just isn’t enough size to win the forward battles up front.

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:43 pm  

Not much more to add to what everyone else has said tonight.

Score was a little disappointing, but it was men versus boys out there. We don't have the firepower to be able to compete with a high-quality side firing on all cylinders as Wigan were tonight. They would have been way too quick, slick and clinical for virtually every other SL side tonight let alone against a club struggling to put itself back together out of the rubble of recent years.

We stuck at it, everyone kept working right to the end and they didn't let their heads drop or start feeling sorry for themselves which is a big improvement on recent years. We ran headlong into the best team, by some margin as well, in the competition. We all said before the game this wouldn't define where we are or how the season may pan out, and that view still stands.

Dust ourselves down, pick ourselves up and go again next Friday against Huddersfield. But we really could do with some good news on the injury front. Our thin squad is already, two games in, starting to look threadbare. Think we have no choice but to tough it out over the next few weeks unless we can bring in some decent reinforcements, but who exactly is the pertinent question.

Re: Wigan Warriors - Home : Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:44 pm  

Jake the Peg wrote:

I was surprised with barrons pace. Any other full back in the league and he'd have scored. It also looked like field made contact with his head when he tackled him but that was watching from the east stand

Looked like Field had done his hamstring trying to keep up with him but he recovered OK.