: Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:26 pm  

andyed-wiganrl wrote:

how exactly?.....noble played tonight the team the majority of fans on here wanted..our best two players this season MUST play next week IMO sheerly as they are one of a small number of players who have actually performed this season!! so how is that idiotic?

I have my own opinion about hock that im sure most of the hock lovers on here do not agree with! , and so im not going to even go into that part save to say that, yes feel free to disagree with what im saying, that is one thing, but to suggest that dropping our biggest error maker and most indisciplined player in the team is 'idiotic' is ludicrous

Because fans don't always know the ins and outs of a team; say, for example, if a player was carrying a slight knock and was not 100% fit or if there had been disciplinary issues off the pitch. This ain't a Chinese Parliament.

Re Hock - He's also one of our best game-breakers, line-breakers and off-loaders (if he had some support).

Of course, all of this is opinion-based and I strongly defend your entitlement to be wrong

: Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:29 pm  

andyed-wiganrl wrote:

how exactly?.....noble played tonight the team the majority of fans on here wanted..our best two players this season MUST play next week IMO sheerly as they are one of a small number of players who have actually performed this season!! so how is that idiotic?

I have my own opinion about hock that im sure most of the hock lovers on here do not agree with! , and so im not going to even go into that part save to say that, yes feel free to disagree with what im saying, that is one thing, but to suggest that dropping our biggest error maker and most indisciplined player in the team is 'idiotic' is ludicrous

Hock is a live hand grenade waiting to go off, I'm not too sure if he is addicted to offloading or just has brain explosions. But when the boy has the ball and is in the mood he is world class. In my xvii every game, he is also the one man who all the opposition are poop scared of, when he has the ball. (Maybe Feka for 10mins every match )

[DaveO]

: Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:39 am  

I am stuck here in Milwaukee and it is VERY cold. -7 at the warmest today (-12 tonight and forecast -9 tomorrow in the day) but seeing Noble didn't drop Ainscough and gave S Tomkins a game has brought a nice warm glow!

The fact I have read on here that Tomkins was solid in defence is even better as he was supposedly going to get walked all over due to his relatively small stature.

OK it was "only" Quins but it sounds like he handled it well and took it all in his stride.

As to the post that started this thread about Nobby doubters, my doubts remain. His hand has been forced IMO either by the previous three results, the chairman or simply the weight of public (fans) opinion. To do as he did last season and religiously stick with his favourites was simply not an option any more IMO. The pressure was on and it was his only option to play these lads IMO. It is what he does next that will be very interesting.

Dave

: Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:34 am  

Spurry wrote:

Riddell was too slow and we could have more ground if he had distributed quicker

I agree as if you read the last bit of my post I said his fitness needs to improve.

But I did think he showed signs of improvement and had his best game in a Wigan shirt so far (eventhough it didn't take much )

Re: Nobby Doubters? : Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:33 am  

TrentBarrett wrote:

It only takes one win to shut them up, I’m sure Noble will build on this win and we will gather momentum. If I’m wrong fair play Noble out! But I’m sure we are going up from this match onwards even though it wasn’t a stellar performance.

5 minutes away from another disaster. Quins threw the game away, literally. He is still on borrowed time, Bradford and Leeds next up, could be one win in 6. Im sure if it is you will even be calling for his head.

Re: Nobby Doubters? : Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:39 am  

TheJudge wrote:

5 minutes away from another disaster. Quins threw the game away, literally. He is still on borrowed time, Bradford and Leeds next up, could be one win in 6. Im sure if it is you will even be calling for his head.

The only thing that'll save him for me is if the passion that Ainscough and Tomkins showed spreads and other players start showing some pride in the shirt.

The Wigan fans will accept defeat if the team try their very hardest and show some pride in the badge.

Re: Nobby Doubters? : Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:40 pm  

WigansForeignLegion wrote:

The Wigan fans will accept defeat if the team try their very hardest and show some pride in the badge.

Spot on.

I've been a harsh (but fair I think) critic on this board of the way standards have slipped at Wigan recently, particularly in terms of the lack of commitment and the failure of many associated with the club to understand what Wigan stands for and what it means to wear the cherry and white.

In the after match interview though you could exactly see what playing for Wigan means to Ainscough, he looked like he was ready to burst with pride. That's what we need at Wigan. Fantastic stuff.

We know young players like Ainscough are going to make mistakes from time to time but they MUST be given a chance over more established players that simply aren't working hard enough in training or on the field of play.

It was also great to see Tomkins do well - what potential this lad has, working out how to ensure he develops into a world class player should be BN's top priority not "protecting" underperforming established players.

If BN and Wigan get things right with Tomkins - as I'm sure the coaches and backroom staff would have done 15-20 years ago, Edwards, Faz and Robinson were brought into the great Wigan sides at young ages - we could well have a player who will play a massive role at the club, we could build a team around this lad.

Seeing the pride Ainscough had in his performance and watching Tomkins do well gives me hope and makes me proud to be a Wigan fan again after the shameful Wakefield performance and the ridiculous bleating by BN in the press.

Well done lads for showing the way and giving us hope again - there is a lot of work to be done at the club but if the underperformers and BN can reach your standards of desire, passion and commitment then maybe this season won't be a complete write-off.

: Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:46 pm  

The result yesterday was excellent, however, the performance was far from it.

We can't simply forget the previous three games. Before the start of the season we all felt we could go unbeaten until Leeds away, and what we all really wanted to see was some good, attacking rugby.

We simply haven't seen that in either the three losses, or last night. We have looked clueless in attack; one man rugby, too many basic errors and no kicking game what so ever.

The result last night was as good as it could have been i.e. a win, however, the performances and start to the season in general has been woeful, and I saw nothing last night bar good performances from the youngsters to suggest to me that we are anywhere near competing with the best in the competition.

Noble must go.

: Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:55 pm  

Panda Antics wrote:

The result yesterday was excellent, however, the performance was far from it.

We can't simply forget the previous three games. Before the start of the season we all felt we could go unbeaten until Leeds away, and what we all really wanted to see was some good, attacking rugby.

We simply haven't seen that in either the three losses, or last night. We have looked clueless in attack; one man rugby, too many basic errors and no kicking game what so ever.

The result last night was as good as it could have been i.e. a win, however, the performances and start to the season in general has been woeful, and I saw nothing last night bar good performances from the youngsters to suggest to me that we are anywhere near competing with the best in the competition.

Noble must go.

Is this the new buzz phrase? How did we look 'clueless in attack' last night? All our tries were excellent including a contender for 'try of the season'!!! I'll accept the criticism of defensive lapses but please stop regurgitating the stock phrases because you thought they sounded good when someone else used them in the context of some other game where it was actually applicable!

: Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:14 pm  

Phuzzy wrote:

Is this the new buzz phrase? How did we look 'clueless in attack' last night? All our tries were excellent including a contender for 'try of the season'!!!

Our tries came from good breaks, 3 or 4 breaks in a whole match constituted our entire attack.

We have a complete inability to build pressure and get a number of sets of six on the bounce or even a number of sets of six in the opponents half.

As I said, in general there is very little support play, we play '5 drives and a kick' rugby, we attempt to offload in impossible positions because there's b*gger all else on, we take the ball standing still, our attacking line is as flat as a pancake, we have no kicking game (which contributes to the fact we can't get one set of 6 after another), we make basic mistakes i.e. silly handling errors, our half backs fail to control the game, our pack is getting dominated and I don't think I've seen a set move, even as something as simple as a scissors all season.

I could go on, but I think it's safe to conclude we are in fact clueless in attack. It is entirely predictable what we are going to do.

but please stop regurgitating the stock phrases because you thought they sounded good when someone else used them in the context of some other game where it was actually applicable!

I haven't read any other comments on here for quite a while but the phrase 'clueless in attack' has been applicable to Noble's entire Wigan reign.