Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 12:14 am  

Solid, workmanlike performance. We didn't get out of 2nd gear and in truth didn't need to. Good performances from Byrne, Mago, Havard and Powell in the forwards and Bateman, Marshall and Hardaker in the backs. Bateman particularly impressed especially seeing he hasn't played in the centres since his international stint as far as I can recall.

Was good to see a win based on defense as that's been the weaker start this season. Good that we can still win without the Field factor playing a part too. He'll be heavily policed going forward no doubt and that's where I think having French in the side will help. I doubt many will be able to keep both of them quiet at the same time.

A good cup performance really. Nothing flashy but never in any danger either. On to the quarter finals...

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 12:39 am  

I was surprised by how little Salford threw at us.

I could be underestimating our defence, but given the Twitter build-up to Salford this week, I expected much more from them in terms of attack. Very unimpressive.

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 6:55 am  

It was a very beige performance.

Salford were terrible ball in hand and as such we never got out of second gear as others have said.

This resulted in a fairly unentertaining match sadly.

The main positive was the 0 after a few ropey weeks and our defence was generally good in regards structure and discipline.

Professional job done and on to the next one.

Good to see Bateman playing well, hopefully this is the start of his return to form.

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 7:25 am  

jonh wrote:

It was a very beige performance.

Salford were terrible ball in hand and as such we never got out of second gear as others have said.

This resulted in a fairly unentertaining match sadly.

The main positive was the 0 after a few ropey weeks and our defence was generally good in regards structure and discipline.

Professional job done and on to the next one.

Good to see Bateman playing well, hopefully this is the start of his return to form.

Strange how people experience a game so differently - I personally thought it was far better than the Cas game. Obviously in defence but I thought we showed a wider range of attacking threats with Bateman, Cust, Mago and Leuluai all threatening after they marked out Field.

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:07 am  

Good to hear Mago played well after a quieter few weeks. How many minutes did he play?

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:42 am  

1872_WiganRLFC wrote:

Good to hear Mago played well after a quieter few weeks. How many minutes did he play?

Probably around half an hour, maybe a bit more.

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:44 am  

MadDogg wrote:

Strange how people experience a game so differently - I personally thought it was far better than the Cas game. Obviously in defence but I thought we showed a wider range of attacking threats with Bateman, Cust, Mago and Leuluai all threatening after they marked out Field.

The best we’ve played this season for me. They’re a decent side Salford and have loads of attacking threat and I felt we dominated them with our defence and that’s been needed. To have Field marked out of the game and find threat/points elsewhere was really pleasing. It really highlighted how a team focussing on one man can create space for others, as it was no coincidence Bateman had more room to play in. In other weeks teams have kept a close eye on Bateman and that’s left room for Field. To think we can add French in to that mix soon is pretty exciting.

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:23 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

The best we’ve played this season for me. They’re a decent side Salford and have loads of attacking threat and I felt we dominated them with our defence and that’s been needed. To have Field marked out of the game and find threat/points elsewhere was really pleasing. It really highlighted how a team focussing on one man can create space for others, as it was no coincidence Bateman had more room to play in. In other weeks teams have kept a close eye on Bateman and that’s left room for Field. To think we can add French in to that mix soon is pretty exciting.

That shouldn't be underestimated. When Rowley was asked for positives to take out of the game he said "our edge defence was good and it managed to keep Field quiet" (sic). That just meant we had more room up the middle and we used it to good effect. Matty Peet alluded to it in his post match interview too.

On reflection, I think we're possibly being a bit critical in using terms like "workmanlike" and "beige". This was a cup game and the only objective is to get through. We played the hand dealt to us perfectly in hindsight. They were that focussed on nullifying Field that it allowed us to take full advantage via route one and we did just that. It may not have resulted in the 80 metre tries we're becoming used to but, coupled with a rock solid defense, it was equally as effective. 20 - zip? Good cup win that.

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:53 am  

I think the fact it’s a knock out game makes it the most pleasing win we’ve had and the manner of it was really positive. Make no mistakes, Salford were desperate for the win and even in games this year were the opposition has been at times lax, we’ve matched them for that and switched off. We didn’t do that last night and showed a good intensity and we’ll need that and more in future games.

Re: Easy Cup Progress For Wigan Warriors Over the Red Devils : Sat Mar 26, 2022 12:33 pm  

I thought the intensity was very good last night. The effort areas such as scramble defense and kick chase were top drawer. No slackening off at all for the whole 80.

I also thought we used Mago very well too. Not sure on how many minutes he did but he was very busy in both attack and defense while he was on. Got us on the front foot several times with his runs. Byrne continued his good form too. He's becoming quite a handful and his engine is outstanding for a big guy. I'm sure he could do the full 80 if needed. He never looks gassed.