Re: THE Derby : Fri Apr 03, 2015 10:14 pm  

St. Rughead wrote:

He's no definite position, which has probably worked against him playing time wise these last few seasons. Forwards did alright today, but we had nothing on the end of it, which is understandable with the players we're missing. Today proved that Wigan aren't up to much to me, if we had a full team it would have been very different as they were only missing O'Loughlin who would have contributed to a better Wigan side.

Surely that's about the quality of squad depth? I'm not saying you would have won or otherwise but you can't discount Charnley's absence because Manfredi had a decent game or discount Powell because Logan Tomkins did ok. Bowen hasn't played well so far this season but it doesn't mean he would have been poor today and Flower is arguably Wigans best prop.

I'd say all of the above are capable of contributing to a better Wigan side as well as O'Loughlin and although he's had 12 months out, Thornley was one of the in-form centres before his injuries!

I'd say that Saints have much more to offer but I'd also argue that so have Wigan. Roll on the next meeting eh chaps?

Re: THE Derby : Fri Apr 03, 2015 10:19 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Last year Saints lost Walsh halfway through the season and also played without a recognised #6. Shouldn't the question be raised as to why the likes of Charnock and Hewitt weren't given some game time. If you compare that to Wigan they would have used Powell, Williams and Hampshire.

And if you assess the performances of the above that played today you'll perhaps understand why Saints have a different approach. Your 3 messiahs look decidedly average this year when I have seen them.

Re: THE Derby : Fri Apr 03, 2015 10:20 pm  

St. Rughead wrote:

He's no definite position, which has probably worked against him playing time wise these last few seasons. Forwards did alright today, but we had nothing on the end of it, which is understandable with the players we're missing. Today proved that Wigan aren't up to much to me, if we had a full team it would have been very different as they were only missing O'Loughlin who would have contributed to a better Wigan side.

Really? So you don't think that our best and most consistent prop (Flower) would have added to that side? You must really rate Patrick in that case! Or what about regular England International and top try scorer for 2 of the last 3 seasons, Charnley? Obviously I accept he isn't as good as any of your own backs who can muster a grand total of 0 caps between them but even so! Surely he'd add something? No? Fair enough...you must be right.

Re: THE Derby : Fri Apr 03, 2015 10:21 pm  

Allez wrote:

And if you assess the performances of the above that played today you'll perhaps understand why Saints have a different approach. Your 3 messiahs look decidedly average this year when I have seen them.

Williams was MoM mate.

Re: THE Derby : Fri Apr 03, 2015 10:26 pm  

Bigredwarrior wrote:

Williams was MoM mate.

Might be bias when watching the game but I don't think he stood out at all other than the kick for Burgess' try.

Re: THE Derby : Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:42 pm  

SecondRowSaint wrote:

Might be bias when watching the game but I don't think he stood out at all other than the kick for Burgess' try.

I thought it was LMS personally. Even though Wigan won I didn't think anyone really stood out, and it seemed they just picked Williams' name from a hat.

Re: THE Derby : Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:48 pm  

Charlie Sheen wrote:

I thought it was LMS personally. Even though Wigan won I didn't think anyone really stood out, and it seemed they just picked Williams' name from a hat.

Definitely. I loved the 'analysis' they did on his performance after the game. They suggested he controlled things and came up with several key plays, then showed the one kick. Good kick mind, but plenty ahead of him for MOM, even just for Wigan.

Re: THE Derby : Sat Apr 04, 2015 1:47 am  

Charlie Sheen wrote:

I thought it was LMS personally. Even though Wigan won I didn't think anyone really stood out, and it seemed they just picked Williams' name from a hat.

This was pretty much what I thought. I didn't think anyone stood out for them, but didn't state it the first time because i'd have expected a barrage of abuse from their fans. If it had to be a Wigan player i'd have said Mossop or Clubb personally, as I noticed them a few times when they were on the field. Definitely agree that LMS was our best player.

Re: THE Derby : Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:44 am  

On the issue of the offsides and charge down, here is the pic of the Wigan defensive line at the play the ball just before the charge down. Mossop (red) got to Turner, Manfredi (yellow) scored the try. They were both clearly infront of the ref (blue) and nobody on the commentary team picked up on it. More worryingly, alarm bells didn't ring with Bentham when a prop isn't at marker but manages to charge down a kicker.

Re: THE Derby : Sat Apr 04, 2015 7:13 am  

The Chief wrote:

On the issue of the offsides and charge down, here is the pic of the Wigan defensive line at the play the ball just before the charge down. Mossop (red) got to Turner, Manfredi (yellow) scored the try. They were both clearly infront of the ref (blue) and nobody on the commentary team picked up on it. More worryingly, alarm bells didn't ring with Bentham when a prop isn't at marker but manages to charge down a kicker.

Bentham didn't police the 10 metres well for both teams all game. He could have blown for 20-30 penalties yesterday as both teams abused the offsides but he tried to keep the game flowing.