Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:39 am  

Itchy Arsenal wrote:

I agree it is a little difficult however, Smith from the start in Toulouse seems the obvious chance to give Tommy a breather.
Powell looked knackered at the end of the game so for me a chance for young O’Neil to play 80 for the first time for us.

Mago needs to play every week. Potentially a nugget there but 15 minute cameos isn’t what is required for us even if I love his offloads.

It was worrying to see Field strapped up, it didn't seem to affect him he was still heavily involved. You would look at next week if you want to rotate the squad, but I can imagine Toulouse being up for their first home game against one of the big names in RL.

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:39 am  

Itchy Arsenal wrote:

I agree it is a little difficult however, Smith from the start in Toulouse seems the obvious chance to give Tommy a breather.
Powell looked knackered at the end of the game so for me a chance for young O’Neil to play 80 for the first time for us.

Mago needs to play every week. Potentially a nugget there but 15 minute cameos isn’t what is required for us even if I love his offloads.

It was worrying to see Field strapped up, it didn't seem to affect him he was still heavily involved. You would look at next week if you want to rotate the squad, but I can imagine Toulouse being up for their first home game against one of the big names in RL.

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 8:36 am  

stpatricks wrote:

It was worrying to see Field strapped up, it didn't seem to affect him he was still heavily involved. You would look at next week if you want to rotate the squad, but I can imagine Toulouse being up for their first home game against one of the big names in RL.

I agree they’ll be up for this but their side is really thin and lacking fitness. If we can create a big margin in the first half I’d take fields off and possibly bring Hanley in

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 8:42 am  

Three games in and the talk on here is of "resting" players?. That is the way to lose momentum and matches. At this stage of the season we play our best available team whoever is the opposition, unless someone is carrying a knock.

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 9:03 am  

stpatricks wrote:

their first home game against one of the big names in RL.

I see what you did there

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 9:11 am  

A pleasing win last night albeit not a stellar display (not helped by the officials who were awful for both sides) but I'm not too concerned about that at this stage of the season. New coach, new ideas and new players, I'm more interested in seeing improvements and ticking a few boxes and so far we are steadily doing that.

I'm not saying our pack is going to be dominant, but the fact that we're not being bullied is a massive tick. Not sure we have got our rotation just right yet in terms of minutes (the longer Ellis is on the field the better IMO) but we don't look like the bunch of schoolkids that we did last season.

The effort in defence has always been there since the Madge days, but it looks to have gone up a notch on last season (where let's face it it kept us in games we shouldn't have been in) and you can see the will to get stuck in and help one another out. We will be tough to beat if we defend like that all season.

Most pleasing so far though has been the ideas in attack. My two favourite tries last night were Farrell's first and Batty's. The short ball to KPP from Tommy was excellent. Finally someone on the halfbacks shoulder so they don't have to take the line on themselves (the reason Hastings was tackled so often last season) and can actually create something. The play didn't end there though because we followed up and Tommy took the offload (impressed with our desire to promote the ball) but then he also had support once the break was made.

Follow that up with the Batty try and again, an offload (they only work if there is support) and when the break is made there were options right AND left. We haven't re-written the rule book here, it's simple basic rugby league but after the dross we have seen (surprisingly from a coach that as a player loved that sort of thing) it was so refreshing to see.

Very happy with our progress so far.

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 9:30 am  

I thought Bateman was excellent in week one but he did get some heat for his statistics from one or two people, in terms of the ground he’d made. Well if we want statistical proof he’s back to his best, we’ve had it for a couple of games now. He ran 140 metres from 17 carries last night and made 31 tackles and that was on the back of 40 odd tackles and over 100 metres last week.

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:20 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

I thought Bateman was excellent in week one but he did get some heat for his statistics from one or two people, in terms of the ground he’d made. Well if we want statistical proof he’s back to his best, we’ve had it for a couple of games now. He ran 140 metres from 17 carries last night and made 31 tackles and that was on the back of 40 odd tackles and over 100 metres last week.

Wasn't it 150+ mtrs last week?

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:22 am  

Can someone show me the link for the stats? All I ever seem to find are the YTD totals.

Re: Wigan Vs Huddersfield : Fri Feb 25, 2022 11:01 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

Is that what we did? Wow! There has to be an easier answer than all that shuffling around.

That utility back on the bench is a very handy option. We used it after 10 mins at HKR and didn’t have it as an option after a couple of minutes tonight. He might not be a back but Shorrocks is extremely versatile and is surely a better bench option than Partington.

I haven't seen the quote from Peet - But a Leeds fan posted this on a different thread talking about Leeds issues

Wigan look a different side under a new coach as well, and not just because they have some players back. They lost a halfback early and their coach commented how the team adjusted quickly themselves without him needing to input. That sounds like a team that has a plan and knows what to do in difficult circumstances. The opposite of Leeds

My comment at the time was that it seemed well co-ordinated even though there were a lot of switches, and 10mins after they;d switched one way, they switched KPP & Smithies before Cust came back

Player empowerment for me - and it's a good thing if managed correctly