Graham's necessary bollocking : Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:17 pm
Outstanding effort by the lads today. Outplayed Wigan for fifty minutes of the eighty (they were strong ten minutes before half time and twenty minutes after) and only conceded through inexperience. I can understand Graham's frustration. We gave Wigan three gilt-edged chances with eight minutes to go. Lomax's kicking the ball to their most elusive player on the last tackle and in their ten metre zone. Then Shenton failing to secure the ball with three minutes left and six tackles to play. Then Foster's poor drop-out which resulted in Wigan starting on our forty.
In many ways it's one of those paradoxical games that you need to experience fully before you can win. Lomax, Foster and Shenton might well be able to get away with such sloppy play in the reserves (or Cas), but you can't afford the same if you want to play with the big boys.
Yes, injuries (and a woeful forward pass) went against us. I wasn't too worried about Wellens because I thought he was having a stinker anyway and looked old. But losing Wheeler was tragic as it allowed the Wigan defence to concentrate solely on Lomax, instead of having a dual axis to worry about. And there was the complete lack of forward power when Graham and Puletua went off. I doubt if we made more than thirty five yards per set of carries in that first twenty. When both players returned we immediately started to make ground.
The above said, pretty much everyone played well - except Gardner (who looked hopeless and was totally outplayed by Foster). Meli wasn't too hot either and gave away too many penalties.