Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 6:38 pm  

Madderzahatter wrote:

Let's be honest, a few questionable decisions went both ways today. Powell should have been penalised for his tackle (he didn't hit the hips and slide down. Mcilorum passed after being tackled in the set before our second try and Burgess, to me, looked like he lost control of the ball before the line so i don't have an issue with that one either. I'd worry less about the refs and the fact we brought Salford back into it with stupid penalties, Clubb's backchat and Gelling's idiocy. We were lucky Carney went off when he did (courtesy of what Salford could argue was a late shot) because we were in for a rocky final 10 minutes. We played well in parts but we'll have to improve massively to beat Hull. Easily Sam's best game since he came back and possibly Micky Mac's best game of the season so far.

That's a generous assessment, in my view.

Wigan played 20 minutes with 12 men (and let's not pretend the Sam yellow card wasn't ridiculous), and had three tries disallowed (one of which, the Budgie one, the video ref had no real right to interfere with because as he said himself, he was unsighted). So I'm not so sure about it cutting both ways equally.

Salford gave it a good punt, but if we watch it again, I think there'll be no argument that the better team won.

However, I am in no doubt that Hull in the final will be a much, much tougher prospect, and yes, Wigan will need to improve across the park.

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 6:51 pm  

Madderzahatter wrote:

Let's be honest, a few questionable decisions went both ways today. Powell should have been penalised for his tackle (he didn't hit the hips and slide down.

Yes he should have, but it wasn't as malicious as some are making it out. When Powell committed he was facing the back of his knees, by the time he made contact he'd turned and made contact. Glad Tasi has come out of it seemingly unscathed.

Madderzahatter wrote:

Gelling's idiocy

At the ground I actually thought he'd tried to duck under the ball. After seeing it on TV I'm not so sure. I don't understand why you would do something like that?

Madderzahatter wrote:

We were lucky Carney went off when he did (courtesy of what Salford could argue was a late shot) because we were in for a rocky final 10 minutes. We played well in parts but we'll have to improve massively to beat Hull. Easily Sam's best game since he came back and possibly Micky Mac's best game of the season so far.

Carney stayed down to milk a penalty - he was back on his feet once play stopped with no grogginess. It bit him on the backside as he had to go for an assessment which took him out of the game.

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 7:30 pm  

I was never really worried, even at 14-12 down. I always thought we had another gear to step up, after that lazy 15 minutes when they scored their tries. We were so close to being out of sight, barring some fractional decisions, to say the least. Burgess must have been carrying an injury, though, for him to be caught like that.

MM for MoM, for me, though can't really argue against Sam getting it, both had excellent games.

I do wish we'd learn to close out a game better though - some of those daft offloads/mistakes in the last 10 mins or so were ridiculous, when all we had to do was play out the clock with the classic 5 drives and a kick.

Need to be a lot better against Hull, though!

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:00 pm  

Sam and MM were back to their best today, both sensational and it was great to see but I'd give the biggest pat on the back to young Tom Davies! He was incredible coming out of our end and really got us on the front foot time and again. He deserved to not have a 50/50 forward pass given against him early doors because he deserved a score.

What a talent.

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:12 pm  

Congrats on reaching Wembley, easily the best team today and thats the best I've seen you play all season.

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:17 pm  

Apart from a couple of good moments I thought Burgess was very poor - loose handling, poor tackling technique and poor decisions. I actually think his handling has been poor all year. Marshall and Manfredi will be tempting options in the next few weeks for Shaun Wane I would have thought.

Heart-warming to see Tomkins roll back the years. Davies was exceptional. Mcilorum was great, I suggested Powell should be dropped on here earlier in the week when we thought Farrell would play - surely that has to be a consideration in the coming weeks if all stay fit(particularly for Wembley).

Bar the Tomkins yellow card, I didn't think on reflection the ref was too bad. Gelling deserved his yellow - another stupid and arrogant decision from him.

Lama Tasi is one of the very worst players I have ever seen on a rugby field. Crap for Salford in his first stint, terrible for Saints last year and worse than ever this year. The amount of penalties and cheap ball he gave us was unreal.

Overall, one of the best games and atmospheres I have been at in a good while - really enjoyed it. Top weekend for the sport.

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:36 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Sam and MM were back to their best today, both sensational and it was great to see but I'd give the biggest pat on the back to young Tom Davies! He was incredible coming out of our end and really got us on the front foot time and again. He deserved to not have a 50/50 forward pass given against him early doors because he deserved a score.

What a talent.

Yes he was great, wasn't he? Made the thankless metres every time he got the ball (as did Gildart with his runs out of dummy-half), and that 'forward' pass looked harsh to me, it looked backwards out of the hands and certainly fell into the 'seen plenty of them let go' category.

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 8:50 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

. Mcilorum was great, I suggested Powell should be dropped on here earlier in the week when we thought Farrell would play - surely that has to be a consideration in the coming weeks if all stay fit(particularly for Wembley

Overall, one of the best games and atmospheres I have been at in a good while - really enjoyed it. Top weekend for the sport.

But would MM's second stint have been as good if he hadn't had that break to recharge?

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 9:03 pm  

For me Powell will get matches for that, he got his contact wrong. Should have been a yellow which I suppose was balanced by the binning of Sam which was ludicrous at best. I was glad to see that Tasi came back on.

I don't understand the Burgess no try. I said to the wife at the time that I thought he lost it but there was certainly no conclusive proof to overrule the refs decision which is what the VR needs.

Re: Semi Final v Salford : Sun Jul 30, 2017 9:19 pm  

Does anyone remember a few months back the suggestion that anybody could play centre and that a specialist centre is of no value in the modern game? How much more of a threat are we with Gildart on the pitch?