Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:36 pm  

Didn't see Saints winning that TBH

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:41 pm  

Saints were excellent tonight - well done to them. But Warrington lost their heads completely. Maybe the key difference was that Saints backed their squad depth and continued to play their game whereas Warrington had no faith in theirs and decided to try and play laterally all game. Buckled under the pressure defensively as well. They'll be in the mix with a full squad but some of the old frailties from last year won't disappear overnight.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:45 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

Saints were excellent tonight - well done to them. But Warrington lost their heads completely. Maybe the key difference was that Saints backed their squad depth and continued to play their game whereas Warrington had no faith in theirs and decided to try and play laterally all game. Buckled under the pressure defensively as well. They'll be in the mix with a full squad but some of the old frailties from last year won't disappear overnight.

Powell and youth development don’t mix. That young prop played about 5 minutes last week and not much tonight. He’s got other young forwards in the squad (second rowers though I think but you could get Nicholson playing 13 like he did here for the reserves at times) but has preferred to put 2 wingers on the bench last week and another winger tonight. Wire have one of the best academies around currently but I don’t see Powell ever being the man to get the most from it. He’s always been a man to fill his side with experience.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Apr 21, 2023 4:50 am  

Well deserved win by St Helens,I did think Wire would have won.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Apr 21, 2023 6:48 pm  

Egg Chasing wrote:

Didn't see Saints winning that TBH

Not the only one !! None of my fellow saints fans did either!! Must admit I enjoy beating that lot

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Sat Apr 22, 2023 12:26 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Delaney was excellent. He has a good burst of speed off the mark and makes ground on every carry. Lees needs to find that form more often. He stood up when Walmsley was missing last season and again tonight, so he can make ground with the ball but seems to leave it to others when Walmsley and Paasi are in the side.

As for Wire, it’s been a sobering 2 weeks. I look back to that Catalans game and maybe people should’ve seen it coming. They played a vastly weakened Catalans team that day, including a number of French juniors and were fortunate to get the 2 points. The reaction at the end of that game felt OTT for what realistically was a poor performance.

They were crap against Salford too and very lucky to win that game due to some dubious refereeing.
Realistically I don't think they've looked too good all season. Their defence has looked soft every time I've watched them play. Obviously their attack is really good when they are all on form, but I don't think they're well set up to win big knockout games. They've had the benefit of a relatively "easy" start to the season and have rode a bit of luck and think they've been found out a bit now. Still expect them to finish in the top 4 comfortably, but I really don't see them doing much in the play offs. Think its largely going to be down to us, you and if Catalan can sneak a top 2 finish and get a home semi, them too.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Sat Apr 22, 2023 11:00 pm  

The Reaper wrote:

They were crap against Salford too and very lucky to win that game due to some dubious refereeing.
Realistically I don't think they've looked too good all season. Their defence has looked soft every time I've watched them play. Obviously their attack is really good when they are all on form, but I don't think they're well set up to win big knockout games. They've had the benefit of a relatively "easy" start to the season and have rode a bit of luck and think they've been found out a bit now. Still expect them to finish in the top 4 comfortably, but I really don't see them doing much in the play offs. Think its largely going to be down to us, you and if Catalan can sneak a top 2 finish and get a home semi, them too.

They’re a chance but it’s been made pretty clear this past 2 weeks that it’s still an outside one. Once they’ve got Vaughan plus 3 other props available, they’ll be able to play more like the team Powell wants but they’ve still got real question marks against their mentality.

I’m going to give Saints real credit now in regards to how we now play. We’ve been conditioned to play at an unbelievable intensity when we need to, simply because Saints have made us go to those levels to compete. It’s took us feeling plenty of pain against Saints between 2019-2021, to give us a bar we had to reach. We still didn’t quite have it in us in the first Derby of 2022 but since then we’ve gone toe to toe and it now feels like we’re fully aware of the level we need to be at to stick in the battle and we’ve done it in every Derby game since. Wire were so far off that bar these past two weeks and will need to raise a number of levels to win a big game against Wigan but even more so, against Saints.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:06 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

They’re a chance but it’s been made pretty clear this past 2 weeks that it’s still an outside one. Once they’ve got Vaughan plus 3 other props available, they’ll be able to play more like the team Powell wants but they’ve still got real question marks against their mentality.

I’m going to give Saints real credit now in regards to how we now play. We’ve been conditioned to play at an unbelievable intensity when we need to, simply because Saints have made us go to those levels to compete. It’s took us feeling plenty of pain against Saints between 2019-2021, to give us a bar we had to reach. We still didn’t quite have it in us in the first Derby of 2022 but since then we’ve gone toe to toe and it now feels like we’re fully aware of the level we need to be at to stick in the battle and we’ve done it in every Derby game since. Wire were so far off that bar these past two weeks and will need to raise a number of levels to win a big game against Wigan but even more so, against Saints.

Yeah and I've noticed that you guys are playing a lot like Saints of 2022 this year in the couple of games I have watched, at least in terms of gameplan. I was a bit worried that we didn't have the energy to do it this year, but the Wire game has given me a lot more confidence now that we will be able to do it when it matters. I thought we were 2nd best against you in most areas, but the fact that we managed to stick in that game despite that was a cause for optimism as well. I do think this year has the potential to be the most interesting set of play offs for a number of years. Especially if Salford and Hull KR can keep up their form. Don't see any of those two getting to a grand final but as a wildcard, I could quite easily see them getting a big scalp on their way. It already looks unlikely we will finish in the top 2 due to the ground we've lost and the bodies we still have out, so we may well have to play one of them, then travel to a you/wire/catalan in a semi before getting to a possible final! Definitely more jeopardy than we've been in for any of the past 4 years

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:31 am  

The Reaper wrote:

Yeah and I've noticed that you guys are playing a lot like Saints of 2022 this year in the couple of games I have watched, at least in terms of gameplan. I was a bit worried that we didn't have the energy to do it this year, but the Wire game has given me a lot more confidence now that we will be able to do it when it matters. I thought we were 2nd best against you in most areas, but the fact that we managed to stick in that game despite that was a cause for optimism as well. I do think this year has the potential to be the most interesting set of play offs for a number of years. Especially if Salford and Hull KR can keep up their form. Don't see any of those two getting to a grand final but as a wildcard, I could quite easily see them getting a big scalp on their way. It already looks unlikely we will finish in the top 2 due to the ground we've lost and the bodies we still have out, so we may well have to play one of them, then travel to a you/wire/catalan in a semi before getting to a possible final! Definitely more jeopardy than we've been in for any of the past 4 years

There is a long way to go yet, much will change.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Sun Apr 23, 2023 12:08 pm  

The Reaper wrote:

Yeah and I've noticed that you guys are playing a lot like Saints of 2022 this year in the couple of games I have watched, at least in terms of gameplan. I was a bit worried that we didn't have the energy to do it this year, but the Wire game has given me a lot more confidence now that we will be able to do it when it matters. I thought we were 2nd best against you in most areas, but the fact that we managed to stick in that game despite that was a cause for optimism as well. I do think this year has the potential to be the most interesting set of play offs for a number of years. Especially if Salford and Hull KR can keep up their form. Don't see any of those two getting to a grand final but as a wildcard, I could quite easily see them getting a big scalp on their way. It already looks unlikely we will finish in the top 2 due to the ground we've lost and the bodies we still have out, so we may well have to play one of them, then travel to a you/wire/catalan in a semi before getting to a possible final! Definitely more jeopardy than we've been in for any of the past 4 years

I think the game plan in the games against Saints and Wire was quite conservative and all based around the effort areas, a bit like Saints of the Woolf era but maybe due to necessity as much as anything. When you’ve got a forward at 6, you’re not going to be too expansive and Wigan knew both clubs would watch French like a hawk. I’m looking forward to Field being back and seeing how we play with him and French at 1 and 6. If they keep that same intensity in the forwards and defensively, they’ll give themselves every chance of success. Saints have woke anybody up who thought they were on the slide though and they’ll still take some beating.