My assessment as a Wigan fan. I brought two mates with me, one a big both codes rugby fan who doesn't follow a team, and one who is a football fan who had never been to a rugby game before. They both very much enjoyed the day. It's interesting to me that while, as rugby league fans, we are seemingly all worrying about the optics of empty seats and what we need to do to fill the stadium and get a better atmosphere, their attitude was very positive. They thought the crowd was really impressive and the sense of occasion was very much part of the day for them. My football fan mate was very pleased that he could have a pint in his seat, and was pleasantly surprised that we had Warrington fans sat right in front of us, with no worries over segregation.

To the match itself, I think Burgess was probably right to focus on the fact that 12 of the 17 had not played in finals before. Wigan only had two where that was the case and I really thought it showed. I had a good chat with one of the Warrington fans at half-time and we both agreed that the big game experience was making a difference. The interesting there to me is that I think it was the players with finals experience that suffered. I wonder if they felt too much pressure to stand up and be the leaders today, rather than just playing their usual games. Williams, Powell and King all had unusually poor games. Warrington's last tackle options were poorer than usual, both in choice and execution. But the biggest factor, as several have mentioned, was in the forwards. Wigan got on top early there and never let go. Thompson and Cooper looked every inch the England veterans that they are and Vaughan and Harrison, both of whom I rate highly, looked as poor as I have seen them this season. Philbin was missed. He has looked much more like the player of 2019 this year, and his aggression may have helped out there.
French and Field had the Warrington defence rattled a lot of the time, hence why King shot out of the line when he shouldn't. They say you have to lose one to win one, and I wonder if this was your lose one. I still feel the Grand Final is going to be any two of Wigan, Warrington and Saints and it could easily go differently then. As for the officiating, I didn't have a problem with most of it, barring the obvious incredulity at the harsh yellow cards and the long deliberations over the French double movement. Ball carrying arm clearly hit the deck while the tackle was effected, and there was a clear second movement to lift the arm and ground the bball over the line. Not sure why it needed all that time, especially after being sent up as a no-try.
Thanks to the Warrington fan sat in front of me for welcoming my mate to his first rugby match and sportingly offering us a handshake at full-time. Rugby league fans are truly the best,

Nah banter's funny.

If there is momentum then its irrelevant about the ball carrying arm hitting the deck.

That being said, I am 50/50 on whether I think it was double movement. Probably was because of the unnatural movement of his arm.

The main problem in our game is sticking to a particular rule ,referees interpretations vary throughout the season ,any season, no wonder spectators are confused & accuse refs of being bent. I didn't see anything wrong with Dufty's ptb on Saturday & in the same game there was more than one "not playing the ball with foot " missed .

Spot on. If you go back on the disciplinary thread, I'm sure it would contain many players charged with this and that, in the first month or so, then it tailing off quite dramatically. Some misdemeanours do have a period when refs and the committee clamp down on them and take a hard line, only to be lenient after a short time, in comparison, even though the rule breaking continues.

well its funny you should say that, they say this stuff evens itself out over the season, that isn't case, as you've pointed out it DEFINITELY isn't the case with the various crackdowns this year, and its made slightly worse

Have you noted the bizarre fixture list this season? its almost like most of the big games between the bigger teams have been backloaded into the second half of the season. when cards/suspensions are much less likely to occur. and less negative attention and blame could be attributed to players being suspended and costing teams games.

its a bit tinfoil hat, but its suspicious...