Just been watching the first play off match from last weekend and the amount of times Roby found the space from a quick play of the ball was unreal Roby is at his most dangerous when he has space to work with IMO if we are too win on Saturday we have too suffocate his game and try not too let the saints forwards get on top of us.

I know Saints have quite a few strike players in there team with Gaskell and Lomax providing a good halfback combo and possibley a contender for an england partnership in the coming future but we need too stop Robys dangerous runs from halfback if we are serious contenders for retaining our crown back.

thoughts?.

Slow the ruck down and control the whole play the ball area, and Roby will be as ineffective as he has been in every other Wigan Saints encounter this year. Bar the last time we met, when we lost the ruck badly that day.

Roby and Lomax were brilliant at exploiting the gaps left by the Wigan forwards unwillingness to bend their backs and show some aggression. It was a lazy and mainly uninterested effort from our big guys and it allowed those 2 to take the Mick.

Our forwards will be much better this week and those gaps won't be as obvious. I'm not saying that means it's a nailed on Wigan win by any stretch but Saints will have to work far harder for their points this week.

Combination of our forwards dominating the tackle and MM starting at 9 and him and lockers tackling anything that moves around the ptb area.

That is pretty much Wigan's game plan. If you manage it we will be in trouble, however to do it you'll need to win the forwards battle.

I think its fairly obvious that we need to stop Roby. He is their main threat but a lot will depend on the referee and his interpretation of the rules and this seems to change week to week.

Get McIlorum/Lockers to smash him and Lomax everytime they recieve the ball and we will sail through. If we fail to do this we will struggle.

A good kicking game by making Wellens collect the ball on his own line (and making them play in their 40m area) would see us win. The same tactics we successfully played at Old Trafford and against them at Widnes.

That and not giving them silly penalties and making silly errors to give them field position.

Simply all we have to do to beat Saints is to cut out the silly errors. Saints, while still a good side, lack the strike power to attack us from deep in their own half....make them play down there and we have little to worry about, gift them field position and possession like we did last week and we create problems for ourselves.

Playing the way we can will beat St Helens.

If we play the same tactics as we did vs Catalans and obviousley crank up the quality a bit as I dont think Saints will give up as easy we should have a good chance imo. I think that Saints game highlighted the main weakness we had to Maguire hence why he changed it for Catalans.

IMO a full strength, fully fit Wigan pack will dominate.

Easier said than done im afraid OP. Thats like saying "All we need to do is stop them from passing the ball". IMHO its near impossible to stop Roby running from dummy half into space, what we need to do is make sure we shut down the offload game, and this part is important:
STOP THEM TAKING THE TACKLE ON THEIR OWN TERMS. We allowed this against Warrington and it allows them to set-up while being tackled for a quick PTB. We need to stop them without them letting us. If that makes sense.

Also, get the pack wound up like they were against Cats - we beat up a big Cats pack, lets do that and worse to Saints.

Mickey Mac smashed Roby all over the pitch at the Stobbart when we battered them, Roby is a top class player we just have to hope we can close him down and hurt him like earlier in the season.

Interesting. I'd say that has only been true in one of the five games played this year.

We'll certainly have a stronger bench than we had that day (Eastmond, Flannery, Ashurst, Magennis).

Most obvious statement ever! In other shock news, Saints need to stop Sam Tomkins to win

A fully fit pack of Coley, Mossop, Lima, Prescott, Hoffmann, Hansen and O Loughlin is still the best in SL IMO, if our forwards defence is as brutal as it was against Catalans the Saints pack is in for a horrible time. However if you can get away from the ruck and Lomax, Roby and Gaskell get space it could be a very interesting game indeed.

I know we have had the upper hand over saints this season but, This is a derby game out can happen and prob will.

I think it's far more even than you might think.

Coley - Graham
Mossop - LMS
Lima - Puletua
Prescott - Clough
Hoffman - Soliola
Hansen - Moore
O'Loughlin - Wilkin

Plus Roby playing 80 minutes to a very high standard.

Id say our pack edges it looking at that. More so in the second row. Everyone knows if we can slow down the PTB and close down Roby we will win the game, as I said though, if this doesnt happen and you get the space to throw the ball about we may be in trouble, our right side defence has been pretty poor this season with Joel and Charnley and you'll look to exploit us down that side. We need the forwards performance from the Stobbart earlier in the season and the cup quarter and semi.

Stop Roby and Stains are knackered its that simple.

He is one of the best hookers in the world at the moment

I would be inclined to agree. But there seems to be a consensus that the Saints pack won't be able to live with the Wigan pack if it turns up, which I think is rubbish. The Saints pack is more than capable of matching the Wigan pack.

One trick pony in a one man team.

Not at all, of course they are capable of matching us, but id say our pack on a good day can mix it with the best, the WCC for example.

I wasn't going to post as it is a very obvious point. Roby is very dangerous from dummy half and we need to be on our guard. Slowing the ptb down will help (legally of course).

Packs - I would put it Wigan 60%, Stains 40% on paper. But at the end of the day that slight advantage can easily be overcome by effort.

Wigan need to turn up and look interested. If we do that I believe we will win.

The only question in my mind is one of fatigue, can we switch on mentally?

I have to say though that atm, I expect Wigan to win.

Micky Mac has the chance to prove himself, his defence is a lot better than his attack and that is what he'll need to work on to slow the Stains ptb down.
Elsewhere, we need to cut out the penalties, and here I'm pinointing Coley who looked a little desparate and lacking in enthusiam against the Catalans.
Deacs on the bench, just incase we need to try something different, and/or any of the half backs or centres start to struggle with injuries.