I know that French has rightly got his own thread but there was a lot about that game to be pleased about as well as a few niggles. A good start for young Harry but we still seem a bit confused on last tackle plays.

I thought Navarrete was the second best ‘French’ player on the pitch (see what I did there) as well. He had a beltin game when he came on, tackling and running the ball with real purpose.

It was a real positive for me and a real statement by him to try and keep his place for next week and beyond as others return.

Sarginson was my MOM based on overall contribution
(Obviously French caught the eye and was always going to get it for a couple of absolute belters).

Tommy at one point told Sarge to slow it down a bit, he wa like a man possessed.

He’ll be a miss next year. It’s a player like Sarginson that sets a standard when it comes to effort, desire and bravery.

Loved his kick chase in the second half to pin Sam Tomkins in his 10m zone.

Sarg isn't always the most skilful player, but in terms of his workrate and bravery he's second to none.

Completely agree re the Sarginson comments. He always gives nothing less than 100%. I think he’ll be missed much more than some would have you believe, mainly because I’m not sure Bibby is as good as him.

But I digress; gritty first 20 and we did well to keep Catalans at bay when they were bombarding our line. I think they had something like 6/7 consecutive sets? The turning point was the Liam sin bin and they still couldn’t get over. Their heads went and we just went to work on them.

Navarette went well, but my issue is that he isn’t consistent with those performances. I like him but a little more consistency please. Partington was fantastic, a proper Warrior. Just throws himself with everything he has in whatever he does on the pitch. He’s one to watch for certain! Smithies and Byrne went well too. Greenwood looked good for his stint.

I don’t think any player had a bad day, I thought we were pretty good across the board. Just guilty of trying to be a little too flash when we ought to have been more conservative in that situation. The one that sticks in my mind is when Gildart threw the ball into touch 10mtrs out.

Harry has a decent run out, didn’t get long enough to make a real mark on the game but he took his try brilliantly. He’ll certainly grow as a player and we’ll see more and more of his talent and promise the more he plays SL.

Hardaker outshined Tomkins as well, he put in another fantastic performance and I just for the life of me can’t figure out how he’s not in the GB performance squad.

Navarrette was responsible for coming out of the defensive line to allow Micky mac to score

One of the most pleasing points of the game was keeping Catalans scoreless despite them being camped in our twenty for over ten minutes. To keep them out after wave and wave of pressure was impressive.

Even more so when we went down to twelve men went up the other end and scored.

What i don't like with catalans and Greg bird in particular is there was nowt up with him when Farrell tackled him without the ball i thought it was more to do with self preservation on Farrell's part but he went down like jesus on the cross yet i know we got an 8 point try when Simon went in with the knees i would personally prefer just the 6 points and them getting sin binned for what was a 3-4 feet knee slide into his ribs and then he ends up in the advertising boards,for me Hicks never had any control over the game and it was only through our players showing restraint that there wasn't a brawl

Debatable who’s fault that was. Looking at it again Navarrete rushes out and stopped the halfback getting the ball and Smithies should do better on Micky Mac (along with the markers).

Navarrete was excellent IMO. He made 25 tackles and 123 metres last night and that’s a great effort in what wasn’t a load of minutes on the field. I think somebody on here commented previously that it’s a shame he can’t play against a French team every week.

One thing I noted was Hardaker‘ body language and how he was always the first over to celebrate when someone had scored, he’s probably the most passionate Wigan player atm and seems to be really be enjoying his time with us, I genuinely believe next year he’ll be MOS next year playing off the back of Hastings as his attack will only get better

I noticed that too, practically the first man in on the scorer every time...

Don’t want to jinx it but Zak has been outstanding for us, better than expected even. Safe as houses under the high ball and returns the ball hard every time. If he can just add a bit more attacking threat he is literally the complete fullback, never mind his excellent goal kicking!

And the first over to young Harry Smith when he threw that bad ball. Seems to be a great team player.

Very impressed with Smith's speed of pass but he has to learn that just because he can get the ball away does not mean that he should.

I just watched the extended highlights back, and thought, just as I did when I left the stadium, that much as I enjoyed The French Show, we will need to improve a lot on that to reach and win the GF.

If we put our selves in the position where we are forced to defend for twenty minutes we will struggle. I cannot see Warrington or Saints heads going down and letting us back in.

You sure about that





They have both got themselves a bit of a reputation

On the subject of Sarginson. I will admit i am not a fan, i got bored of 'the step' after about 6 games and he never passes, however i wholly agree about his work rate and endeavour, there aren't many in the team with that sort of work ethic it's just a pity he can't combine the 4. Bibby is a very underrated player. He scores every week, Salford are 3rd so he must have something about him. He is younger and has a lot more scope for improvement than Sarge. We needed Sarge out to help with the signings of French, Hastings and Burgess and if sacrificing Sarge for Bibby is part of that process then i will take it.

OK, we defended well, but the other thing that concerns me is, and I don't want to sound churlish saying this, most of the tries we have scored in recent weeks have largely been the results either of gifts from the opposition, or, more commonly, some something-out-of-nothing piece of individual play. Which is great to watch, but there was little sign of building pressure, getting repeat sets. etc, which is the surest recipe against top opponents.

I would agree with that. However I've not really seen it from any of our immediate challengers in recent weeks either and I'll gladly take the ability to defend and have the individuals who can make something out of nothing right now. That gives us more than a chance in a final. With Flower and O'Loughlin (and possibly Bullock) I think we have a chance to better the parts of the game where we're currently falling a bit short.

I think that this is pretty spot on.
We have very little options in our kicking to cause too many issues with well drilled defences.
I'm just enjoying the ride at the moment.
For the first time in a while I jumped out for seat to cheer the second try from French which was a little cameo in itself.
The Cas game I think will be a tough one and for me Cas could be the dark horse in the playoffs.

One word Mr Chairman Jarrod Sammut.

Honestly believe his kicking game would be the difference between us having a dig and being genuine contenders.
I think we look a much more balanced team with him in it.

Can he play in a "moon boot"?
And if he can who would you drop?

He was at the fanzone before the match on Friday Brian, no boot on. Didn't notice any limping either, hopefully his injury was only minor.