: Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:43 pm  

wiganstu wrote:

to be honest , im struggling to find something to really complain about after that performance

Paul Prescott not being included.

There is always something to complain about!

Re: rl : Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:44 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

Everyone around me was commenting on the quality of Rugby played.
Very fast thinking and passing with few dropped.
The quality has improved as has the team. Also it isn't freezing cold anymore.Already looking forward to next week.

Dont speak to soon, forecast bad.

: Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:02 pm  

No idea where that performance came from. The lack of quality from Bardford helped, but we haven't seen attacking rugby of that quality in years, it was a million times better than what we saw vs Quins.

Piggy's distribution, and the fact that we are so strong down the left hand side meant we were able to run over Bradford last night.

If we play that like every week, I'd be happy even if we lost, though that said, if we do play like that every week we won't lose many.

Attacking rugby; love it!

: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:02 am  

To be fair, we have seen glimpses of a more expansive style of play in the past 3 matches, but only in very short spells.

Last night was the first time we combined that with an aggressive defence and applied it throughout the game.

Nobby said in post match that we stuck to the game plan last night which seems to indicate that this is how he has been coaching them to play - and not in fact the one out 5 drives and a poor kick we've been seeing.

Key factors last night:

1) Dummy runners & support - In the past 5 years, I have never seen wigan play with so much off the ball support.

2) attitude: Aggressive and positive from start to finish.

3) Defence: Moved up much quicker, agressive and no obvious weak spots out wide - unlike the first 3 matches.

4) Kicking Game: Far better kicking game, Pat put in some good long kicks, Piggy some nice kicks for Ainscough to chase and Sam, all kicked well. First time in a very long time.

5) Pace - we finally seem to have pace all over the team and can break from deep. Amos is fast and runs in hard - no going sideways from him, he always runs straight and tries to break teh tackle.

: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:07 am  

Big Steve wrote:

To be fair, we have seen glimpses of a more expansive style of play in the past 3 matches, but only in very short spells.

Last night was the first time we combined that with an aggressive defence and applied it throughout the game.

Nobby said in post match that we stuck to the game plan last night which seems to indicate that this is how he has been coaching them to play - and not in fact the one out 5 drives and a poor kick we've been seeing.

Key factors last night:

1) Dummy runners & support - In the past 5 years, I have never seen wigan play with so much off the ball support.

2) attitude: Aggressive and positive from start to finish.

3) Defence: Moved up much quicker, agressive and no obvious weak spots out wide - unlike the first 3 matches.

4) Kicking Game: Far better kicking game, Pat put in some good long kicks, Piggy some nice kicks for Ainscough to chase and Sam, all kicked well. First time in a very long time.

5) Pace - we finally seem to have pace all over the team and can break from deep. Amos is fast and runs in hard - no going sideways from him, he always runs straight and tries to break teh tackle.

Spot on!

: Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:14 pm  

Good performance and nice to see.

I only hope it is not another false dawn, there have been occasional games in the last couple of season where the team has suddenly clicked and played a great one off game - the real challange will be performaing to that level week in week out - something the team have not been able to do previously.

They can do it....they just have to repeat it.

: Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:21 pm  

After bashing Riddell after the first few games I thought when he was on the field he was awesome.
Now we finally have a balance of creative players, hard tacklers and strong runners.

I also think Tommy deserves a mention, he was top quality tonight...

It's always a good night when no one has to mention a certain Trent Barrett!

: Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:54 pm  

Ever since my little girl started school in September, I have had stick from the lollipop man. What happened to your lot etc!!

This morning I got there and to my amazement he said, "What the blo0dy hell happened to your lot on Saturday," I was gobsmacked and then he went on to say they were absolutely amazing, I don't think I have ever enjoyed a match as much in absolute years.

: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:21 am  

Best performance in the noble era.The performance was far better than the result i now want to see this on a regular basis

: Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:09 am  

Panda Antics wrote:

No idea where that performance came from

Im certain it came from having a proper 6 & 9 in place and the players sticking to the gameplan.

Dropping a "bad egg" may also have helped some of our more senior players realise they need to shape up, or they might be the next player to be dropped.