Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 8:10 am  

nottinghamtiger wrote:

Goes to show how opinions can vary!
I don’t remember seeing Mata’utia make a mistake since he joined. No dropped balls and no missed tackles. In fact, he’s stopped a fair few trees that looked nailed on. He’s got strength, good footwork and a turn of pace when he brings the ball away from the line.
He’s not been with us long so it’s been hard to fit into the attacking structure and to clear that the combinations aren’t always bang on attacking the opposition’s line. But with a full preseason, if he improves this I think he can be every bit as good as Hardaker.
If I had to have an outside bet for next year’s MoS, he’d be it.

I thought you FB went pretty well last night.
Even Hardaker (without a drugs ban or drink driving charge) wouldnt have made any difference.
Wigan's defence was awesome 10/10 and for Cas to have prevailed they would have needed zero handling errors and cut out the head high tackles (although a couple of those calls were very harsh).
You just have to say well played Wigan and it would be a brave man to bet against them in the final.

Wane has his first choice 17, playing at the top of their game, fully focused on the big prize.and neither Cas or Wire are going to stop them.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 8:27 am  

wrencat1873 wrote:

I thought you FB went pretty well last night.
Even Hardaker (without a drugs ban or drink driving charge) wouldnt have made any difference.
Wigan's defence was awesome 10/10 and for Cas to have prevailed they would have needed zero handling errors and cut out the head high tackles (although a couple of those calls were very harsh).
You just have to say well played Wigan and it would be a brave man to bet against them in the final.

Wane has his first choice 17, playing at the top of their game, fully focused on the big prize.and neither Cas or Wire are going to stop them.

Well certainly Cas aren't. Wigan are deservedly strong favourites for a win as they (and Saints) have been the standout teams in 2018. Warrington are at least twelve months, probably two years, away (if all goes to plan - far from certain) from being able to play to those standards consistently. Most Wire fans are astonished we've done so much this year after the shortcomings of the Tony Smith latter years were exposed in 2017. Add to that that our marquee signing never settled and has been nothing more than a solid half-back for us, not bringing the sort of spark that Chris Sandow did ( for a while). One-off games are just that, though, and Wire showed they can better Wigan if they get everything right as they did in the Challenge Cup QF. Should be a good final.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 9:48 am  

christopher wrote:

Cas are a show pony side, last years grand final showed that and tonight backed it up, basically they cannot cope when it matters and I don’t think they have the players to get to the next level, and this may be controversial but I don’t think Powell is all that as a coach, he doesn’t seem able to get the team up for it when it actually matters, has he ever coached a team to win anything?

Nothing wrong with Cas, it's a stupid system that doesn't reward teams that are the true Champions after a long season. I don't know how it can be called Rugby LEAGUE anymore.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 9:59 am  

roader wrote:

Nothing wrong with Cas, it's a stupid system that doesn't reward teams that are the true Champions after a long season. I don't know how it can be called Rugby LEAGUE anymore.

Which is why it is a good thing we are going back to the old format. Saints would be getting another bite at the cherry for being streets ahead for 30 rounds and rightly so. As it is, one bad night and it's all undone.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 11:08 am  

roader wrote:

Nothing wrong with Cas, it's a stupid system that doesn't reward teams that are the true Champions after a long season. I don't know how it can be called Rugby LEAGUE anymore.

Oh dear, do you want a bowl for those tears or some ice cream for those sour grapes.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 11:43 am  

nottinghamtiger wrote:

Goes to show how opinions can vary!
I don’t remember seeing Mata’utia make a mistake since he joined. No dropped balls and no missed tackles. In fact, he’s stopped a fair few trees that looked nailed on. He’s got strength, good footwork and a turn of pace when he brings the ball away from the line.
He’s not been with us long so it’s been hard to fit into the attacking structure and to clear that the combinations aren’t always bang on attacking the opposition’s line. But with a full preseason, if he improves this I think he can be every bit as good as Hardaker.
If I had to have an outside bet for next year’s MoS, he’d be it.

Mata’utia got turned inside out by Ben Flower last night.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 11:59 am  

christopher wrote:

Cas are a show pony side, last years grand final showed that and tonight backed it up, basically they cannot cope when it matters and I don’t think they have the players to get to the next level, and this may be controversial but I don’t think Powell is all that as a coach, he doesn’t seem able to get the team up for it when it actually matters, has he ever coached a team to win anything?

I don't think the problem is necessarily with bottle as Cas always concede a fair amount. I recon the problem is that Cas' attacking style is far too predictable and overly structured, they tend to do the same things (very well) over and over. So, when a team is fully defending for their lives and keeping their concentration, they can be held to very few points. Look at last years GF, Leeds completely shut down all their regular plays and Cas resorted to low percentage plays to try break us down, the same happened last night. Wigan had the same problem for a while )and possibly still have it) but they have always compensated with their defence.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 12:02 pm  

roader wrote:

Nothing wrong with Cas, it's a stupid system that doesn't reward teams that are the true Champions after a long season. I don't know how it can be called Rugby LEAGUE anymore.

The Rugby LEAGUE title has only been given to the league leaders for 25 years in the sports 100+ year history

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 5:11 pm  

roader wrote:

Nothing wrong with Cas, it's a stupid system that doesn't reward teams that are the true Champions after a long season. I don't know how it can be called Rugby LEAGUE anymore.

Rugby League has crowned its Champions in a Grand Final and not on winning a league table, 74, soon to be 75 times in its history.

Re: GAME ON : Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers - 19:45:00 : Sat Oct 06, 2018 5:12 pm  

leedsnsouths wrote:

The Rugby LEAGUE title has only been given to the league leaders for 25 years in the sports 100+ year history

Great minds...