As an onlooker Johnson looks the better prospect

So what was the score??

26-16 Our new recruits really impressed me.

I agree but I'd like to see him under his first bomb before I'm certain

Difficult to glean too much from tonight's game as the weather was rank and lots of dropped ball from both sides! Agree that Johnson looks very dangerous and could be a big danger when the pitches firm up (where have we heard that before?

). Seeing the team on the field tonight it's frightening to think how big our set of forwards are going to be this season. I'm excited to see how much the young lads come on as a result of having that greater protection. I believe our academy lads plus the likes of Dixon and Ashurst will really step up and if injuries do hit they will do more than a job. I just pray for decent weather against Wire so we can get a better idea of where we're at. I think it'll take us 6-8 games to really hit our straps but if we can grind a few wins out early doors we could go really well.

As for Leigh and the LSV, cracking ground (it was my first visit). Had the misfortune of standing in front of their numpty section but I guess we all have them!

Really hope Leigh go well this season as they seem to have a decent squad and the set-up at the LSV deserves top-flight rugby.

Oh, and to add my two penneth on the "best chippy" debate, I thought Chau's was pretty decent.... I'll pass comment on the other eateries after my next visit!

Thought Smith was very good tonight - all over the pitch and two unreadable passes, one of which Puletua scored from. Very much looking forward to watching him this season as well as so many of the others....! Unprecedented riches!!!

Thought Johnson was superb.Very dangerous going forward and always seemed to make yards coming out of defence.Wasnt tested at all under the bomb so still a question mark over that but overall we could have a real diamond in this lad.
Tasi was fantastic in the forwards.He will be a real handful this year.With the likes of Hock,Hansen,Rapira and Sau still to come into the team things are looking very promising.There is a lot more strength in depth than a lot of other fans think.

Tasi was the biggest plus,although there were a few very good first impressions

Tasi in my opinion looked very strong,however I hope and believe that the two Walne brothers will make a noticeable impact this year. Theo looked tonight that he has ' aged a bit more' and again hopefully will make a telling contribution this season. I was really impressed with Mullaney at full back,he did look a much better bet than that non tackling Aussie that we had called Patten. Sorry to say That Danny Williams looks short of pace in this team,and defensively he has shortcomings.
My main hope is that the wealth of class and experience that we now have enables our younger lads to improve,and win games for The Red Devils.

I thought Adrian Morley demonstrated that he is the consummate professional by putting in that level of performance,in those conditions,against that opposition,when there was no need to bearing in mkind his standing and experience in the game.I do hope he is allowed to come from the bench,against Wakefield,at home,to receive the tumultuous applause and reception he should receive - Wakefield may not be at full strength,nor have they sold that many season tickets as suggested earlier,elsewhere [url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/rugby-league-wildcats-set-without-new-boys-174815185--spt.htmlSource[/url - They don't seem to have high aspirations and they play Bradford the following Thursday.
Impressed with 'Slammer' Lama,Greg Johnson and others already mentioned but especially impressed by Mullaney.
I thought the ball an' all tackle by Niall Evalds,late in the game,was a masterful piece of play.
The better and harder these so-called young 'uns train and play the better the rest will have to be.

Looks as though the forward passes are here to stay for 2014.I am not part of the Leigh love-in.

Think you are being harsh there on Meli who looks THE big centre we have been looking for since Junior Langi

Interesting take. I thought Morley was solid but nothing more. Was much better forwards in both teams

i dont expect Morley to be ripping up trees this season needs to be the figure head / leader and help nurture the young kids coming though

Thought Tasi was head and shoulders best player on park. Can't really judge after one game but think he will prove to be our main meter maker this season. Johnson looked good, did he jump over someone in that try, I couldn't really see as people were getting to there feet. Thought Leigh roughed him up abit with the high shots, maybe some previous from last season? Our left dude defence looked ok with Meli / Johnson, bit worried by our right side both Gleeson and Williams looked off the pace as well as Walton later on, it was obvious Leigh were attacking that side. As I say won't judge as rust is expected with first game and appalling conditions. Mullaney did ok for me, would of like to see him attack more rather than drop offs, also seems slow getting to the 40/20 attempt in 1st half. Smith done ok too, couple passes were class, think one led to a TP try? TP also impresses for me. Excited for the season.

Forgot to add, what were people's opinions off the referee? Seemed to kill us on the penalty count. We didn't received the ball for first 3 sets on the back of them. They seem to get told start of each season which area to clamp down on. Most our penalties against were for round the ruck, interference and holding down?

What confused me he gave a penalty against Meli for a push on Littler then when Littler returned the favour we got nothing? Leigh fans didn't seem happy with Williams try in far corner, impossible for us to see if he grounded it. The interception off the scrum too, how far offside must of he been to get up there that quickly.

Looked to be a try either side from forward passes. Think he was poor but it was probably even

Just to make myself a bit more clear.It wasn't the performance that won my admiration;it was the fact that he was demonstrating such enthusiasm for such a game in such conditions against opponents from a lower division.
For example,last season Sam Tomkins did not participate in any pre-season games.His first game was the first Super League fixture,against Salford,where he scored a hat trick.
Jamie Peacock has not started a pre-season game this year,either against Super League opposition or against lower league opposition.
That was the point I was trying to get across.

He got it down mate, it just squirted out when it hit the deck. I was stood 20 odd yards away and got a really good view of it.

FWIW, Leigh fans down tend to be happy about anything!

Apologies, 100% agree with that

The last statement was as clear as mud , you should become a Clown .

.

Another thing as clear as mud is the legitimacy and decency for your club to charge Salford followers twice the entrance fee that they will be charging Warrington followers when they turn up for their pre-season game.
Not a nice trick to retain tickets for a lengthy period of time and charge for seating,and not the cheaper standing area,and only allow Salford to sell the tickets much closer to the date of the game.



I'm still not part of the Leigh love-in.

Ridyard read the play brilliantly Salford movement at the scrum was slow motion and Ridyard was well onside when the ball came out seen it several times since on the DVD...

Regarding last Fridays game the admission was set because Salford and Leigh where fielding their strongest teams the Warrington and Leigh fixture is a mixture of up and coming young players from both clubs with a cople of first teamers included thus a reduced admission was set for that game.. Personally I think both the Salford and Wigan games Leigh played where great but I also think the admission could have been a little less expensive for a pre season hit up

I took a lot out of fridays game at LSV.

Think the movement was good in parts and the options with ball inhand was good at times. Its good to have a go forward hooker in Tommy Lee, and having a 3rd option of a kick from dummy half will prove to be a good option if struggling to get out of our half during the season.

Think Tim Smith is going to be brilliant this year.

The only problem I could see (dont forget this is the first hit out) is from long range tries, but with Hock and Hansen to come into the team this should plug the holes round the edge.

I am looking forward to what this team can put together and vaguey optamistic in what the future has for us.

I wouldn't look into too much though as the weather was so bad, and you can see why we have switched to summer rugby (if you can call it summer lol).

Think the line defensive was very good as well and Greg Johnson impressed in such bad weather.

Bring on the wire to see what tricks rangi and smith up their sleeves to unlock their defence!

Friendlies are about polishing and refining, so I don't worry too much about scorelines. Scorelines mean nothing at this point. Wire probably wont put out a full strength side, and both teams will want to make sure that the potential for injury this close to the start of the season is minimized. Under the conditions, the lads blew-out the cobwebs and a few really impressed. The Wire game should be more of the same, tightening it all up and working on what Noble has put into place in the off-season.