Paul Cullen called it "Wigan Week"...being a Wire he knew the gravity of this encounter.
Steve Price is going to get his best lesson of SL rivalry at the weekend.
The biggest game of the season so far in SL?....easily.

I can't wait.

Wigan flying back from having had 2 tough games in Australia and having to recover from the time zone probably means they will see this game about squad management and making sure key players are not risking burn out or injury.

Should be a good chance for us to get another win, but there will be tougher games with Wigan ahead down the line.

Looking at various links on jetlag.... "You need about one day per hour of time difference to fully recover from jetlag. So physiologically it will take 11 or so days before you are fully acclimatised though you will probably feel ok after fewer days than that."

So it should be an interesting game.

i think we are going to struggle against wigan on friday, we came off a tough encounter at Widnes, i wish the fixture was later in the season

I went over for the World cup and felt like i was moon walking for a week. A very odd sensation, not tired by the time difference, that only affected me when i got back.

Odd, I was there for three weeks last year for Origin. Flew Manchester to Dubai. Stopped for an hour and half in airport and then back on the plane to Melbourne. Straight off the plane into a hire car and off exploring. No jet lag whatsoever, same coming back. No stopover in Dubai just hopped from one plane to the next.

Is this what it's come to? Praying the opposition will be so spaced out that we'll have a prayer? What are we hoping for against Saints? That their training ground is hit by earthquake?

We need to kick on from the Widnes game, individually and colectively move up several gears and beat them by virtue of performing better 1-17. They can make their excuses, they always will, we just need to focus on us.

Our confidence from Friday and Wigans quick turn around from their trip gives us a chance to give our season an early boost. The coaches, players and fans will benefit from a hard fought win, but Mr Wane will know this also and will expect his players to run themselves into the ground to prevent us winning. Should be a great game.

Tbh. I don't like it when Wigan has diversity.
Everytime they were flooded with injuries, Waney turns it into, 'we're they underdogs but my boys will be ready' booster, and the Pies end up spanking us.

I'd rather have played them when they have no moral boosting odds.

The dance troupe?

Correct I prefer the regular troop.

Pies tend to attack with the left flank over the right...an admission they are pretty week with the right, having Bateman cover 3/4 can't be their best option.

That brings us right back to Ratty Muscle again, this could break him or be his finest hour...and half!

Wigan will attack that right flank of ours all night long.

Not sure Matty Russell has it in him to have one of those "finest hour" moments. I do know he has it in him to implode because it has happened before.

Be sure Wane will have them well up for this one, jet lag or no jet lag.

The best motivator in the league. It will be very tough.

It's never easy against Wigan unless you have sandow ripping them apart for the first 19 minutes.

I think we can expect a tough game, we will do alright defensively if we play like Friday but I don't think we are a team that scores enough points and we also have a very charitable side in gifting soft scores to the opposition. Worryingly Marshall was not played against the rabbits, I hope he wasn't rested to run in another 4 against us. Either a tight win for us or a comfortable win for Wigan, I doubt we will get to 20 points, apologies for the pessimism. I'm looking forward to it anyway, I always like the wigan matches.

And we will target Sarginson. He cost Wigan 2 tries at the weekend.

Pretty sure Marshall played against the Rabbitohs didn’t he? Or was that the Hull game I’m thinking of?

Careful, the "pc brigade" will be after you speaking like that, apparently it's not allowed to put your own culture first these days.

Local pies for local gobs is my motto.

These days we have the likes of Morgan Escare. He probably likes to eat "Escargots de Bourgogne" and drinks "Cabernet Sauvignon".

What happened to a meat and potato pie barm with a pint of lager and a pack of Uncle Joe's for the way home.

You're quite right he did play I must have looked at the lineups when he was binned or something. He'll still score at least 2 if he plays Friday.

Pie fans on their board are saying they only ever attack with their left and that their right edge is usless. I'd be putting Lineham & Goodwin on the right edge to face up against Marshall. At least Lineham has some pace about him, he's got more chance of catching him than Russell does.

The gene pool isn’t that big to have that much diversity there

Warrington Guardian reporting that Steve Price has a full squad to choose from on Friday. The only doubt is Joe Philbin.

I wouldn't drop Patton for a semi fit Roberts.

I would...He just doesn't get involved enough at the moment. I think that Price withdrew Roberts from the front line for a couple of weeks to work on his fitness. He was blowing after 10 minutes in that game, he still did enough for me.

I'd play Roberts on one leg that any of our halfbacks.

Twice the player of any.