I think we'll do well come the end of the season. I'm hoping our pack will carry us through the early stages while new players settle in and players acclimatise to the new structures.

Pack is key. If we're making good yards and the defence tightens up, we'll always have a chance, even if we fluff a few moves and look a bit clunky early doors.

I know many of us say this each season with optimism, but I'm genuinely excited and hopeful the big changes will pay off. If they don't, we're going to be a bit stuck as we can't do another large overhaul such as this again.

We have the pack now to challenge. We have exciting and well balanced pivots in Williams, Drinkwater, Clark (if he regains some of his old form) and Dufty. 3/4 is so so, but we have genuine pace and I'm hoping Powell will utilise this in combination with our other fortes.

2 months to go; can't wait.

I’m hoping that this has been a very considered decision unlike some of the “he has had a good start let’s offer him a 10 year contract in case someone else tries to sign him” extension.
You KNOW who I mean.

Correction. We weren't great with Cooper in being honest.

What’s the difference between prop and 13?

Wigan have had decades of class loose forwards. I’m extremely envious, I’d have put none of them in the front row.
Wire on the other hand haven’t had such a class luxury since Mike Gregory.
Grix was so close but riddled with rotten luck with injuries. Paul Cullen knew the importance of a loose, but signed and over the hill, and over rated Forshaw, unfortunately there was no decent loose forward anywhere but Wigan, and Sculthorpe.

I do wish Mike Wainwright was about in pnb now, pour lad got so much stick for trying everything he could in a shat team.

Harrison is injured again.

They are used as an extra prop these days of course, but I'd say you're still looing for a bit more ball playing from your 13, in at first receiver etc at times plus a better engine generally.

Yep, unless you have an Andy Farrell, O’Loughlin, Scullthorpe even Westerman type 13 you might as well have another prop there.

The only difference I see is the 13 don’t take the first carries off kick off and drop outs.

Philbins best asset is he is kick off returns, leave him at prop I reckon.

Going a wee bit off the Harrison thread now, but as NSW has mentioned Philbin, I'll say that this could be a make or break season for him. At his best, he's a very valuable player for us, and he had some excellent seasons before going off the boil over the past couple of years, for whatever reason. Now he's coming back off a major injury and has big competition for those front row places. Let's hope we see a revitalised Philbin in 2023.

I do remember the excitement in Jonathon Davies (Challenge Cup) when he saw Philbin coming on after about 25 minutes followed shortly by Sitaleki Akauola. They had a spell (a few years back) where they were both very physical lively boys.

Bumped into him last night at a 'do' he's in training and planning on being in the mix in March and said that he and the squad are in good spirits, looking forward to making amends for last year and that this group of Aussies were the best we've had.

I'm a bit on the grumpy side (think Larry David meets Alf Garnett) but after a very brief chat with Joe and Ben Currie, you know what, I think the players and the club know what is at stake and it more than whetted my appetite for next season.

NTW .

Ironically, Philbin was looking to be back to his best in the game where he picked up his last injury.

That transported me back to Thrum Hall for a particular match with Halifax. Davies was mercurially brilliant that afternoon.

Back on the Harrison thread, I was surprised at the two year extension, as I was left wanting more from him, as he was good for his first couple of games, but dropped off after that. However, he was amongst a good number that dropped off, as last season went on, but Bullock is in front of him for a jersey in my opinion.

Those two were by far our best props, and there was a drop in our go forward, and a swing to the oppositions go forward when they were replaced. In 2023, a lot hinges on the performance of Maguire and Vaughn, as I'm not a huge fan of either Dudson, or Kasiano. Having said that, I'm hopeful that they will be better than what we previously had. Apologies for bringing up the unbalanced squad, again, but there's Bullock, Mikaele, Philbin and Harrison who will be getting game time on loan in the championship.

i used to be pretty much the lone voice about this, philbin and site off the bench were a very very good pairing, when sita fell out of favour that was when philbin became less effective

the usual suspects were more concerned with banging on about game time, and lack of hit ups or whatever, ignoring what was happening in front of them

I remember this too as I travelled on one of the club buses. Those 2 Davies tries were absolute class and changed the game in our favour and got us through.

That's really encouraging to hear as well Uncle Rico, really encouraging.

More than happy with the contract extension for Harrison. Harsh to be too critical to date after recovering from serious injury, no pre-season and little go forward from the rest of the pack. To his credit, he has a good engine and will play more minutes and make more tackles than Kasiano, Mikaele and Bullock. He is also is younger than most and can cover most pack positions…ideal for the bench.

Were you disappointed when Sita left?