Re: Pre-season chat : Thu Jan 19, 2023 11:58 am  

He came from Warrington didn't he? They hardly stood out as being physically dominant and blowing teams away in the last quarter last year. May have been Powell's 'magic' touch though. We'll have to wait and see on this one

Re: Pre-season chat : Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:52 pm  

TonyM19 wrote:

He came from Warrington didn't he? They hardly stood out as being physically dominant and blowing teams away in the last quarter last year. May have been Powell's 'magic' touch though. We'll have to wait and see on this one

Tough to say if fitness was an issue at Wire. I think you may be right in terms of the blame laying at Powell’s door. When a team struggles, fans look for reasons all over the place and everyone gets heat, so I’m sure fingers will have been pointed by some fans. We had much the same under Lam, with people saying we were fit enough yet we looked fine last year under the same S and C guys.

A lack of energy late in games can just come from a lack of effort and momentum as much as anything. It’s amazing how much harder people can work and how much fitter they look when they’re motivated and happy. Any football fans on here could look at Marcus Rashford for an example of that. Walking football to playing in fast forward and that isn’t just conditioning IMO. .

Re: Pre-season chat : Thu Jan 19, 2023 3:33 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Tough to say if fitness was an issue at Wire. I think you may be right in terms of the blame laying at Powell’s door. When a team struggles, fans look for reasons all over the place and everyone gets heat, so I’m sure fingers will have been pointed by some fans. We had much the same under Lam, with people saying we were fit enough yet we looked fine last year under the same S and C guys.

A lack of energy late in games can just come from a lack of effort and momentum as much as anything. It’s amazing how much harder people can work and how much fitter they look when they’re motivated and happy. Any football fans on here could look at Marcus Rashford for an example of that. Walking football to playing in fast forward and that isn’t just conditioning IMO. .

As a Utd fan I don't think it is as simplistic as that. Yes being happy will no doubt influence his effort levels but it was widely reported that under OGS he was playing with a shoulder and an ankle injury and played on for far too long before finally having the operations he needed.

That was the biggest factor for me

Re: Pre-season chat : Thu Jan 19, 2023 6:39 pm  

Stu M wrote:

As a Utd fan I don't think it is as simplistic as that. Yes being happy will no doubt influence his effort levels but it was widely reported that under OGS he was playing with a shoulder and an ankle injury and played on for far too long before finally having the operations he needed.

That was the biggest factor for me

Without going too far off topic, I think Some injuries were an issue for him and he lost confidence but his effort and energy levels were appalling last season. He looks stronger this season for sure but I don’t think this upturn is solely him feeling better physically. He has a manager pushing him and getting the best out of him and I think he’d have improved him in exactly the condition he was in last year as well (although granted maybe not to this degree).

The original point I made was basically that Wire being awful last season and not looking particularly energetic late in games doesn’t necessarily mean the head of S&C was poor at his job. It’s like George Williams looking lost for most of the season with Wire but he was then outstanding in the World Cup. When everything is going wrong at a club the majority of people feel the heat at some point but there was still some top class players and staff at Wire last year, so I’m not worrying too much about us taking a guy out of that club (a few guys including the couple of players we’ve signed recently).

Re: Pre-season chat : Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:15 pm  

Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/

Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/

Re: Pre-season chat : Sun Jan 22, 2023 2:52 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote: Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/ Worth subbing to wigan tv now anyway if you don't plan on attending any of the friendlies or only 1. £5.99 for the month and get all 3 friendlies is good value.

Rogues Gallery wrote: Just a reminder, Whitehaven v Wigan game today is being shown live on Wigan t.v. Kick off 3 p.m. https://tv.wiganwarriors.com/ Worth subbing to wigan tv now anyway if you don't plan on attending any of the friendlies or only 1. £5.99 for the month and get all 3 friendlies is good value.

Re: Pre-season chat : Sun Jan 22, 2023 3:40 pm  

Getting bullied by the bigger more experienced Whitehaven team.

Eckersley gone well.

Nsemba looks dangerous but needs to get involved much more looks to be hiding in the first 30.

Re: Pre-season chat : Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:49 pm  

Much better second half.

Astley, Hill, Forber, Butterfield, Eckersley and Nsemba (second half performance) were a cut above.

Great game for them against a physical Whitehaven side who were not there to make up the numbers.

Probably as close to a perfect friendly as you could get for the youngsters.

Re: Pre-season chat : Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:50 pm  

22-14 final score my stand out players Astley ,Hill and Forber

Re: Pre-season chat : Sun Jan 22, 2023 5:01 pm  

Great result against men but fitness and speed paid off.

Comms were good with good insight from Jack Phillips

Logan Astley impressed me, faster than I thought he was. Always supporting the ball carrier. Kicked well and good tempo to his passing game. “Aiming to play 10 games this year”

Forber fast out of dummy half and tackled above his weight. Has he good a first team number this year?

Ekersly (spell) is a physically a lot bigger than I thought. “He’ll play a few games for us”

Hill was outstanding and Ellis and Mago should be looking over their shoulders.

Expected a little more from Sutton and Nsemba. Sutton seemed to lack skill in key moments and Nsemba only seemed to want good ball.

Silva won’t make it at Wigan.