Still don't see where Drinkwater fits into the grand plan. Looked like Williams was doing the work of two men tonight.

That most unpalatable of outcomes - out-enthused on our own midden and needing a big advantage to get home.

Even in the opening salvoes the forwards looked strangely muted; on paper the packs looked like Tyson v Buster Douglas and it pretty much played out that way.

Drinkwater has been OK so far but we really need a player to control territory with an effective kicking game and so far his kicking has been pretty poor. Kicking to corners rather than putting in a shorter kick that can be challenged and more likely force an error or 2. Its all a little predictable and easy to defend against.

I couldn't go but it sounds like the same old Warrington.
The same one that's been around for decades.

There is no way you'd get Saints or Wigan being out-enthused.
Saints could put Jonny Vegas in and he'd do a job and die for the shirt.

We'd put Kerry Katona in and she'd spend her time snorting c instead....

I despair at times with our mentality.

I guess on reflection we are 9/11 and top of the league again with lots of room for improvement. But that performance today was forgettable.

Drinkwater was bloody good up until thr catalans game then his form dropped off a cliff.

His kicking game was great, then it seemed like he points his body towards the touch line and tries to slice it off the outside of his boot infield

He’s the least of our worries. Mata’utia and Ratchford are truely awful centres and we badly need a new one, forget about signing a prop.

Ratch ed me right off tonight, pass the bloody ball to Ashton.

The other thing that's bothering me, is where are all these on field leaders we got told were in this side? This year?

Wigan & Saints both lose. We win to reestablish our 2 point lead at the top and yet we still just want to moan?







Call me cynical, but I reckon even if we did ever win a GF, there would still be some of us saying that we should have won the game more convincingly...

I thought our big names in the pack were lazy tonight, letting the backs to all the hard graft. Our pack should be leaving the opposition scattered like ten pins.

We’re going through a bad patch no doubt, but as others have said, 11 rounds in and we’re top of the league with the best points difference. I’d rather this happen now and peak at the business end of the season.

Just for clarity… Saints lost tonight along with Hudds and Leeds. All sit in the bottom half of the table. Our main rival for league leader lost at the team third from bottom. Whilst tonight is a bit of a disappointment, life really isn’t too bad is it? Before the season, who wouldn’t have taken top spot with the best points difference by round 11?

Wind yer necks in Wires.

This was an easy two points without getting out of first gear.

A sensible option to save our real effort for in form Hull KR next week.

Very true. Just an uncomfortable feeling though that
1. We havent played well since Mikaele left
2. We have looked out enthused in the last 3 games.

Time will tell.

Should've been raring to go tonight, but looked really lacklustre. Hope the absence of Vaughan for a big chunk of the 2nd half shows intent to prepare for next week? Unless I didn't notice him doing other spells he didn't seem to come on for quite a while.

We lose against any other team with that performance. But we weren't playing any other team, and we won.

Back winning, back to the top of the league. Can't grumble too much.

Next week's game will be very interesting. Need to step it up massively.

Really? Aside from saints v Wire, are you aware of stains form this year. Even Man City, favourites for the treble are allowed a number of off games and it's to be expected.

A bad game now isn't necessarily a bad thing either as a bounce back will be handy against a very good Hull KR side next game.

As I said elsewhere, we've got to remember this is Wire we're talking about.
We make the straightforward complex and the complex straightforward.
It's in our DNA.
We shouldn't have expected anything different.

I'm not talking about the performance as such, but about the 'enthusiasm' and desire / pride in the shirt.

TBH i was talking about that match in isolation and in fairness he did step up a little in second half.

I was thinking the same about Ratch. You want the ball in your most dangerous players hands, one of them being Ashton.

It felt like Ratch was trying to play for both his and Ashton where that last try showed the latter can fashion opportunities out of very little.

It would be useful if Warrington signed Dean whare until the end of the season... He is a winger's centre ... Ashton needs as many opportunities as he can get

Mcguire last night, first 15 minutes, was a bit more impressive, showing some hands, bumping and riding tackles making himself evasive, then he and the team relaxed after we went two scores up.

The thing is we are top of the league for a reason. We must have performed better (marginally) than any other side in the league ... so far. But we could obviously lose to anybody. The fact that we are top does not mean we should thrash the bottom club or that we shouldn't take two points when they are available. It doesn't mean that our forwards should trample all over the bottom club & win by fifty points. One or two on here are simply reverting to type & being very negative & others are simply expecting too much.
We ought to stop taking a pop at individuals, enjoy the current occasion & look forward to our next tough challenge v HKR.

I'd imagine I'm one of the negative types you are referring to, and if the hat fits. Bottom line, 11 games in, yes we are top but its who finishes first on GF day that counts and so far we have failed 2 of our 3 big tests.

We've been here on these discussions before. But I maintain, anyone who settles for second best will get it. Serial winners aim high, have meticulous self-analysis and don't accept anything less than their very best.

We were well off it last night against a team with 11 straight defeats, and some navel gazing is expected, and healthy.

I know, thats why I highlighted that aspect in your post I quoted.

I'm reasonably certain that most grand final winning sides have blips in their season. In addition to this, virtually all our props were out for those 2 games, so I'm not sure what you were expecting - for us to win those two? When all our players are back and we regain some cohesion, it'll be a better time to judge.