Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:02 pm  

St pete wrote:

Exactly, no point in having 95% completion rate and a whopping amount of ball if you don't do anything with it.

If Wigan had that same 95% completion rate then they would have won 20+ points, and in truth had Joel decided to put the ball over the line instead of passing it could well have been that anyway.

I haven't seen the Sam no try yet on video (my Sky + didn't record) but it looked a very harsh decision whilst on the ground.

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:04 pm  

I don't find much wrong with what Saddened! said, to be honest. We have had a fair whack of luck with injuries at this stage of the season, whereas the start of the season was a struggle thanks to certain injuries, in particular Pat Richards.

Our first half defence was incredible, but you have to admit there were many shocking decisions that went against us, especially your chargedown that didn't reset the tackle count. That was the joke of the year.

Full credit to all of Saints, with the exception of Pryce. I'm not going to praise that thug, he went out determined to take heads off, and didn't get pulled up for it once. After he put a lot of effort in trying to break our line in the first half, he was anonymous in the second. Everyone else did you very proud, though, especially Foster and Lomax.

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:07 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

I haven't seen the Sam no try yet on video (my Sky + didn't record) but it looked a very harsh decision whilst on the ground.

Classic obstruction. Dummy runner runs straight into the line into a defender who wasn't watching him but moving towards the ball.

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:08 pm  

I think we were good but by no means near perfect. I don't know where Saddened! has got the 95% completion figure from, but the BBC had us at around 70% at half time, and it got worse in the second half.

As St Pete and others have said, we matched them up front but weren't clinical enough. Ian Millward had it spot on when he said that we were too lateral. We made good inroads when we worked the short balls round the ruck, but overall we focussed too heavily on shipping it out to the left before we'd laid a proper platform.

Credit to Wigan, though. They clearly enjoy defending, and that's something that really works for them in the big matches. They also work flat out for 80 minutes. They didn't get everything their own way today but they hung in there and took their chances when they came. We, on the other hand, had a soft ten minutes, much like we did at the DW on Good Friday, and it ultimately cost us the game. Compared to recent performances against Wigan and Wire, however, there were some encouraging signs.

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:10 pm  

Last Son of Wigan wrote:

Only time will tell. But like I said, we are once again the dominate force. Roll on the double.

Time will tell? lol.

It's inevitable. This isn't the 1980's.

You'll have 4/5 hot years, then slip back into the pack abit. If you want to dream of total domination for the next decade that's fine, it just means you'll end up humbled.

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:14 pm  

Dux wrote:

I think we were good but by no means near perfect. I don't know where Saddened! has got the 95% completion figure from, but the BBC had us at around 70% at half time, and it got worse in the second half.

Slight error in the stat reading there. Was tackle completion at 95% not set completion

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:18 pm  

Saddened, read your 2nd and 3rd posts again.

You say a full strength Wire would trouble us, we have incredible lock with injuries, we never seem to be missing key players but the opposition always lose a couple of players before big games. You mention Morley, Briers, Pryce and Eastmond missing and how you struggled with Graham being finished (your words) and we wouldn't cope without Lockers and Sam against you and Wire.

If thats not whinging about injuries I don't know what is.

Afew years ago Wigan had a similar season to yours injury wise but all we heard from opposition fans was all teams have injuries, it's a squad game and you can't use injuries as an excuse. Now the boot is on the other foot you don't like it.

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:28 pm  

We were very predictable in attack and our defence was poor.

quite frankley a better coached team would have demolished Wigan, however when you have an attack that consists of flinging it wide and hoping, combined with a defence that doesnt know how to turn a player onto his back then you can put all the effort in that you are capable of, but lose against a team that is coached properly.

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:28 pm  

The Chair Maker wrote:

We were very predictable in attack and our defence was poor.

quite frankley a better coached team would have demolished Wigan, however when you have an attack that consists of flinging it wide and hoping, combined with a defence that doesnt know how to turn a player onto his back then you can put all the effort in that you are capable of, but lose against a team that is coached properly.

You attacked the right side (charnley, tomkins) all afternoon, it eventually paid off with 2 tries, but was a poor return overall and would never been enough to win you the game. Mixing the attack to attack both sides would have certainly bagged you a few more tries for me.

gray wrote:

Afew years ago Wigan had a similar season to yours injury wise but all we heard from opposition fans was all teams have injuries, it's a squad game and you can't use injuries as an excuse. Now the boot is on the other foot you don't like it.

Thats what i think also, when your not winning you can always blame injuries, we've had fielden roberts and gleeson out all season, plus minor injuries to most players in the squad. Does this not count for whatever reason?

Saints run the risk of becoming what Wigan used to be under Noble as perennial 'nearly men'

Re: Near perfect and we still lose : Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:31 pm  

Resigning Leon Pryce is an absolute necessity. He is brilliant and although far from top fitness today was very influential IMO, letting Lomax go hunting. It's amazing how solid we look with him on the field, compared to the headless chickens routines we go through without him.

Your joking right....Pryce went missing again in a big game and has no heart...just like his brother