About as good as we could've hoped for. Hopefully, it will have been a good experience for the young lads, and they now have an idea of what it really takes to make it at this level. I don't think any of them disgraced themselves, although some of them look nowhere near ready to make the step up.

Nope but if he demands more than others it's only right to expect more from him as he clearly views himself in that way by his wage demands.

Thats not it works. Thats not how any of it works.

More or less at training match to be fair but was quite looking forward to seeing how the young lads were doing at Leeds. Walker showed glimpses, Oledski has a bright future, think Smith and Whiteley showed glimpses too. Don't think Golding or Mullally will ever be good enough at this level and the jury is out on Ormondroyd and Baldwinson. Think Sutcliffe and Newman are light years away. Newman in particular. Great experience for them though. Will stand them in good stead.

The young lads struggled with the physicality of it, that's for sure

So players who command the higher transfer fees and higher wages should be judged exactky the same as others?

Kept working for each other and dug in. Lacked size in the middle and organisation in the halves. With 2 signings already and hopefully at least one more they look good for next season especially if 2 or 3 of these young lads can make the step up to SL.

Leeds could've decided not to offer Smith a big contract and let him go. Leeds obviously thought he was worth it. 12 months on and doesn't look to have been a good decision, but then again you don't expect an 18 year old who's spent a large portion of that time injured to be ready for SL yet. He needs to get his fitness sorted as frankly, he simply looks too fat, but he's got talent, and there's undoubted potential there, so hopefully the tough period he's had will provide him with the necessary motivation to come back stronger next season.

Mac decision to play so many youngsters is not just about giving us a better chance for CC so we can hopefully give Mags and Burrow a great send off..but to test which players he might want to use ahead of Super8s..if they on loan we can't then call them back if needed. Though agree perhaps if a few more seniors had been on pitch it would have given a better experience for youngsters.

On the match itself , think Golding coming in for harsh comments...he bailed out Walker quite a few times including saving two certain tries so scoreline would have been even higher...couple of tries they did score..Walker was out of position to stop them..not saying it his fault but as a FB should be more alert in defence ..not just about going on attack.

On the rest only on for short period but for me liked what I saw of Harvey Whiteley...has quick reactions , good tackler put in one very good hit...briefly started us going forward..Thought he was just getting into his stride when he was replaced by Jordan Roberts...He is an out right hooker so for me would have made sense to keep him on.

Look, its great experience for the young lads, we would likely have found it tough to win with a full team anyway which we couldnt get out for injuries so we had to protect our top players, so its harsh to give them coming in too much flak.

All will be forgotten if we can win at the weekend.

Mullally actually has been very good this season and deserves his place in the side, Ormondroyd not good enough and Baldwinson unfortunately hasnt really kicked on, unsure whether that is his fault or poor management by Mac but probably a mix of the two.

One thing that I think is a big difference between Wigan young players and ours is that even their backs seem to be very well built as they come into the side, whereas our always seem far too skinny and never look like busting a tackle, although tbf your young wingers are a couple of years older than those we debuted tonight.

Biggest worry about smith for me is that when he had a 4 on 3 overlap he chose to kick instead of going through the hands,nothing to do with fitness, just a dumb play and not what I would like to see from a ball playing 13.

I didn't see game as travelling, so can't comment on performance. But that comment on Smith I would add, is probably the half back in him that a lot in the game were calling for him to start, rather than the big forward the club coaching want him to be, and the big weight gain in short time. His body possibly not able to do what his mind thinks. Part of the difference he was over others in the game at junior level, were his reading of the game, and skills to come up with things not expected.

Looking st stats of the game, Baldwinson, Jordan Roberts, and Mullalley show absolutely excellent defensive stats, an area you wouldn't have expected from these players, in such a weakened line up. That tells me a lot about their ability to do a job when in a full line up.

I'd agree that in a free market that's not how wage negotiations work, but isn't the point of this whole argument about Walker that it's not a free market - there's a structure (certainly at that age) that players fit in to. You'd presume that to break that structure you need to promise to deliver more than your peers, so rightly those paying the wages will be expecting more.

Golding is only 20, a bit young to be written off just yet, hopefully he will develop over the next few years, he's also just returned from a hamstring injury.

Mullally has looked good this year. He's never going to be a world beater, but as 4th choice prop, probably on a small contract, we're doing alright with Mullally.

Yeah fair do's with Mullally, you guys see a lot more than i do. With Golding though, every time i see him there just seems to be something missing and i can't put my finger on it. I just don't see him as a long term no.1. I don't think he offers enough of whats required of a full back. he will get better naturally with age but i don't see him improving to a top level standard. Usually when full backs come onto the scene, instantly you can see a 'wow' factor that singles them out from the rest.

The main thing I've learned from last night's game was just how poor a ref Thaler has become. He had nothing to do with where the 2 points went, it was always going to be a cakewalk for Wigan, but I thought Thaler was atrocious. Teams that stick closer to the rules are always going to be disadvantaged under the officiating of Thaler, and the amount of yardage made by Wigan moving off the mark would run into hundreds of yards throughout the course of last night's game. The missed forward passes, or disregarded, depending on which way you look at it, are reaching epidemic proportions again. Thaler is a symptom of the RFL's green light in encouraging cheating, and l really hope we don't have him for the semi final, for our or Hull's sake. Because it's a flagship game being broadcast at peak time on terrestial TV, it's anyone's guess as to just how much the designated ref will be told to let go. Give me Child's poor eyesight over Thaler's dishonesty every time.

I would agree with you there. He really tries hard and looks to have talent but I also feel he is missing something. I don't want to write him off but Jack Walker has offered so much more in the minimal gametime he has had and he appears to have the WOW factor.

much as I like golding I agree. given leeds knew of walkers talents, and he was a full back, it makes the 5 year deal for golding look a little odd.
unless leeds have other plans for him of course.

I think McDermott will have learned a fair bit from the game. JJR, Oledzki and Whiteley showed that they can do a job if needed in the super 8s. Newman isn't ready for SL yet and Sutcliffe looked confident in defence but struggled against Wigan' s quick line speed.

Do have to say that I was disappointed with Golding last night, he rarely looked to pass and was caught out in defence quite often.

Warriors Nil Young Rhinos to go Seventh A vastly weakened Leeds Rhinos side with one eye on next weekend’s Challenge Cup final against Hull FC made the trip over the Pennines to take on a strong looking Wigan Warriors side who are also in Cup action against Salford Red Devils a week on Sunday. The bookies gave the second placed Rhinos absolutely no chance of taking the two points, and handed them a twenty point start on the coupon, despite the Rhinos winning the game at Headingley earlier in the season by 26-18. A win for the Rhinos would come close to killing off and aspirations that eighth placed Wigan might have of a top four finish, but a home victory would put them right in the mix. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Warriors Nil Young Rhinos to go Seventh A vastly weakened Leeds Rhinos side with one eye on next weekend’s Challenge Cup final against Hull FC made the trip over the Pennines to take on a strong looking Wigan Warriors side who are also in Cup action against Salford Red Devils a week on Sunday. The bookies gave the second placed Rhinos absolutely no chance of taking the two points, and handed them a twenty point start on the coupon, despite the Rhinos winning the game at Headingley earlier in the season by 26-18. A win for the Rhinos would come close to killing off and aspirations that eighth placed Wigan might have of a top four finish, but a home victory would put them right in the mix. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Agree with your first comment on retaining some of youngsters been retained for Super 8s ,especially Whiteley given that Burrow is injured we need another out right hooker. to take pressure off Parcell.

As for the second comment don't agree. ...maybe I was watching a different match to everyone else , but comments seem same on all forums. He just returned from injury, was playing at stand off which is not his usual position. He tracked back to save at least two tries, which should have been Walker's job so the score would have been higher....he also bailed Walker out on a few other occasions. Two of Wigan's tries were as a result of Walker not been there to stop them..which is his job as FB...one which was a very soft try. Yes he is good on attack but it no good if he letting tries be shipped in. Ok would be different if more seniors were playing.. Other criticism of Golding was he dropped ball..He knocked on from a poor pass in second half which had also deflected off a players arm but you could tell Golding was annoyed with himself for it happening..which to me shows signs that he is dedicated and know he will work on errors..Also baring in mind second match not playing in usual position last time on wing. I would also add no his performance not the best, but would not say he was worst on pitch either.

I'd love to see Golding pass more. The way he comes at the line he looks more like a 6/7 than a fullback, but he then doesn't pass enough.

I appreciate he was not playing in his usual position (though he spent time in his junior games at half back) and he is still returning from injury but he was far too reluctant to pass. It's the only part of his game he's really been struggling with this year and I was hoping that a game in the halves would allow him to at least show that he is capable of passing but it didn't happen. Golding has got a mature head on his shoulders and I'm sure he will look back at the video this week and realise that he failed in his main role as a pivot and will take steps to rectify it.

At least that's out of the way! Looking forward to Super 8s now