Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 10:37 am  

Any news on injuries? I'm assuming Leeming is out for a few weeks, but just hoping that isn't the same knee that he's just recovered from that Cooper had strapped up

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 10:44 am  

Leeming will definitely be out for a while, Cooper will have to wait and see. I think Byrne also may be misisng for a bit - looked like he took a head knock late on.Wouldn't be surprised if one or two others are missing next game as a few looked ot be a bit sore (hardly surprising).

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 11:28 am  

Definitely will be battered and bruised but it's a squad competition so should be okay.

Thompson should be back, hopefully Byrne, Cooper and Leeming only knocks. A week's rest would probably do them good.

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 11:59 am  

One criticism you can put on Peet is him picking injured players, Leeming was nowhere near ready for that match, you could see he was limping in the warm up, dead last in the final sprint, same as Havard at OT.
He looked like he'd done some real damage to his ankle last night.

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:09 pm  

Many congratulations to Wigan on a superb performance. Do we have any news on Mike Cooper yet? He didn’t look to be running at all well when he came back on.

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:22 pm  

I hate the rule of where the ref thinks its a try and then there isn no proof of a try and then the video ref agrees!

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:32 pm  

CobraCraig wrote:

Social media is focussing on the officiating and calling Moore bent but for me there was only really 3 bad calls. The Wardle try which I think should have been double movement but that’s more one that just highlights the on field soft call being too important, the 1 on 1 strip which in real time I thought was the right call, and the high shot from I think Peachy on Miski that probably should have been a penalty and a sin bin (potentially red in Superleague going off the first 2 weekends)
Wigans second try the passes went forward on momentum imo and the no try at the end was tough to conclusively say but I thought Wigan had hands under before it went down and iv seen some stills online that back this up and considering 95% of people on social media are against Wigan and all saying it’s a robbery I haven’t seen one that shows the ball down.
Controversy aside I thought last night was probably the best defensive performance I have ever seen from Wigan, Penrith were bigger and stronger and dominated from the go almost, my wife who has only just started getting into the game couldn’t believe the physical dominance the Panthers had both with and without the ball, it did feel to me almost like men and boys at times but we just stuck at it and under that much pressure tackled like machines, they barely had any sniffs of breaking the line and one of their 2 tries was a bit of a gift from us. The whole side played their part but I thought Ellis was brilliant for us, maybe slightly at fault for their second try but I think he was just knackered after playing the full first half. Smith was very good with the platform he was given and outplayed Cleary who if I’m being honest was poor imo, scored a try that was gifted to him but bombed another and with the platform Penrith set he should have caused us a lot more trouble, I thought Yeo was the main threat with cutting us open and was very impressed by him, also thought the kick returns from To’o were really impressive and threatening but we just managed to keep him under wraps.
Brilliant night and brilliant for Superleague just unfortunate that it seems the majority of opposing fans are trying to make out it was some sort of robbery.

That seems a fair summary to me. I checked in the paper this morning and it said we had won, that's good enough Whatever the result had been, I thought it was a fantastic game of rugby league.

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:33 pm  

Gazwire wrote:

There's something in the water up Wigan way that breeds the best and toughest of rugby players. Well played and huge congratulations.

Thank you.

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:34 pm  

MR FRISK wrote:

I hate the rule of where the ref thinks its a try and then there isn no proof of a try and then the video ref agrees!

Do you mean the rule that if the VR can't find conclusive proof to disprove the referee's thoughts, then he goes back to the original, on-field decision?

That one?

Re: World Club Challenge - Wigan v Penrith : Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:34 pm  

Wonderful win - really brilliant. So much bravery and courage on display. Up against it all game territory wise and kept hanging in there. Was clear from the start we wouldn't have many chances but thankfully we took them when they came.

Thought Liam Byrne was strong from the start, Kaide Ellis and Liam Marshall prominent throughout. Harvie Hill had a real dig. Bevan French drifts in and out of games sometimes but when he pops up its all quality. The tackle from Field towards the end was one of the best ever seen at the stadium. There was a crucial second or two when he put his foot right down on the accelerator (which he doesn't often do as he doesn't need to) - looked like an Olympic sprinter.

The Wardle try shouldn't have been given but I think we all knew we'd need that bit of luck somewhere to have a chance. Thought the French try was fine looking at the replays - it was only after the different rules were explained regarding both feet that it made sense. Thought they got away with a clear high tackle on Jai Field late on. The decision at the end was perfectly correct.

But here's the thing - think about the huge disparity in resource between the competitions - salary cap, depth of player pool, intensity of games etc. Think of how Australians clearly look down on the English sides, understandably to some extent. Given all this, why is it that they are so dependent on one refereeing decision to get a result? Why are English sides so competitive against Australian sides, be it last night or Saints last year or England against Australia in the 2017 WC final? Is it England or Australia that are underperforming more given the relative resources available? Penrith had plenty of chances to win the game and ultimately couldn't covert - in no small part due to Wigan's resilience. Credit to Cleary for acknowledging that post match.

Should also be noted that Wigan's pack was riddled with injury by the end with Havard, Walters and Thompson already out and Cooper, Leeming and Byrne all needing to be replaced during the game. To hang in there the way we did was outstanding. We'll likely be down to the bare bones over the next couple of months - I don't think it really matters though. We'll hopefully still be able to stay in contention for the top 2, if not and we end up in the top 4 or even top 6 I'm sure most would happily take that in exchange for a win last night.