Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:22 pm  

Well at least we still haven’t conceded a try in SL in god knows how long

Defence was solid enough but with the ball we were poor and brainfarts from Farrell and Keighran (again) didn’t help.

Smith had at least 2 decent attempts at a DG but didn’t bother. Instead he tried one from about 45 metres out

Also the in-goals are too short, can’t we make them longer?

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:38 pm  

I know it was game 1 of the year but I'd have liked to have seen them throw the ball about a bit more than that once it became clear that plan A of taking one out drives and waiting for an error or penalty wasn't going to get it done. Waste of Field and French's talents. Daft ways for Farrell and Keighran to get binned, not what you want in a war of attrition.

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:45 pm  

Harvey Hill is not up to standard

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:46 pm  

You dust yourself down after that and just focus on attack for a few weeks. Bit disappointed with some lazy tackles in the game and the lack of options on the bench lacked a spark that we don’t get from Forber. How many minutes did Hill/Mago/Dupree do compared to Thompson. That unit is going to need to step up big time this year. Also thought our attack was miles too deep and Leigh just holding a line stopped any space for French to do anything. Having said all that, Field passes the ball instead of holding on and we win that game earlier.

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:46 pm  

Thought we played a pretty good attritional game tonight. A little dull to watch at times but you could see what Wigan were trying to do. Ultimately it came down to a few poor decisions at key moments - two sin bins, a silly captain's challenge, Dupree and Field not releasing the ball with a couple of the few chances we had and not going for the drop goal with a couple of minutes to go.

But Leigh were good - well done to them. Might not be a bad thing for Wigan in the longer term.

One other thing - the Wigan fanbase deserve a bit of criticism tonight for me. I know it was cold but it's the first time I can remember having a 21k+ crowd in that stadium and it be that quiet. You could have heard a pin drop.

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:58 pm  

It had to happen at some point but disappointing non the less.
All of the Aussie lads looked undercooked and underperformed compared to their usual high standards.
We got everything right on the night apart from the team delivering.
Full credit to Leyth the further the game went the more likely they would probably win. At the 20 minute mark I thought that we were going to get turned over.
We’ve had poor starts before and we will have them again. Defensively pretty sound but attack clunky and pedestrian.
Will be interesting to see how we react next week at Hull. Another loss would really put the pressure on us in Vegas.
Interesting times.

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 11:13 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

I know it was game 1 of the year but I'd have liked to have seen them throw the ball about a bit more than that once it became clear that plan A of taking one out drives and waiting for an error or penalty wasn't going to get it done. Waste of Field and French's talents. Daft ways for Farrell and Keighran to get binned, not what you want in a war of attrition.

Cant work out what Farrell was SB for to be honest , Keighran was fair but pretty stupid . We didnt look like scoring , so i guess this was the only way it was going to happen . I wouldn't have been upset had it gone the other way , just glad it wasnt 20-40 points victory by wigan

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 11:15 pm  

Thought it was an advert for how short and disjointed an English pre season is compared to the one in Australia. Both sides looked jiggered and a few weeks off being fit and ready for the start of a season. We've got lads who were playing internationals up until November and have been back training for about 4/5 weeks only. You compare that to some lads in Oz who get a couple of months to put their feet up and then about 4 months to work on their fitness.

We'll be better for the slog and certainly don't have anything to panic about. Longer term though, the sport has to find a way to lengthen pre seasons and lessen the amount of games being played because I think we need better than that on a night like this, when eyes are on the sport.

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 11:17 pm  

doc999 wrote:

Cant work out what Farrell was SB for to be honest , Keighran was fair but pretty stupid . We didnt look like scoring , so i guess this was the only way it was going to happen . I wouldn't have been upset had it gone the other way , just glad it wasnt 20-40 points victory by wigan

He kicked the ball away which denied Leigh a quick restart. It was not deliberate he was frustrated not getting a penalty which to be fair he should have got and would have done had you had not already lost the captain’s challenge.

Re: Leigh (h) : Thu Feb 13, 2025 11:18 pm  

Thought it was a decent watch that game, despite the clunky attack from both sides. Actually enjoyed it more than the GF, weirdly.

Anyone else bored senseless of Vegas? I’m sure those who’re going are loving it & will have a great time. But it feels like it’s all we see & hear at the moment and all for the sake of 2 SL points. You wonder if conditioning is for a little peak there, ala the WCC last year.
Wake me up when it’s all over & we can crack on with the churn of the season.