Easy to say in hindsight but did anybody at the time think that was the right decision?

No. When you look at the time and factor in the better field position and time ticking down, it was the only decision that gave Saints a realistic chance of a win at that point.

Kick to touch, time runs down and we have a few tackles to kick the drop goal and win or miss and go to golden point. If kicking a penalty you should always factor in if you can kick it dead which presents another scenario where a lot has to go in Saints favour to get to the other end in less than a minute from their own drop out. The only chance Saints had to win the game from there was missing short and running to the other end (albeit with a fluke bounce thrown in too).

Not for me. I felt us kicking for touch, driving up field and kicking a drop goal was a much higher percentage than Hardaker kicking a penalty goal from there. Plus you eliminate any opportunity for Saints to get the ball back. That's not hindsight either, I called it at the time and was surprised his effort got as close as it did. A big reason Leeds won so many (IMO) was that they are great game managers. Look at our game management at the end:

- Taking a very difficult shot at goal rather than putting it in touch and driving it up for the DG
- Not chasing the penalty kick after we did decide to go for it
- Not holding down at the end so the hooter goes before Makinson is allowed to take his shot at goal (6 again would be no punishment to us)
- I presume no real chase back once they did kick for the DG. How did Welsby get there before any of our lads could chase back? If anyone gets shoulder to shoulder with him chasing that ball then they either beat him to the ball or at least slow him down enough to let French deal with it.

Edit - Yep, just brought myself to watch it back, Leuluai and Bibby stood around watching, whereas every Saints player chases. Resulting in three of them getting to the vicinity and no Wigan player except French who was already there at full back. Leuluai in particular had plenty head start to get there before Welsby.

None of those four things required anything magical from our guys, just being switched on and putting the last bit of effort in when you're knackered like Welsby did.

I said watching it at the time, "no he won't go for goal he's too far out, he won't even get it dead!"

Did I blame him for going for goal? No I didn't. If Zac felt he could kick it and win the game then I'd never criticise him for it. I was sat in my lounge drinking coffee when I said that what I did, Zac was out there. A whole world between the two.

There are a number of reasons we lost but they are not for today or next week. Those reasons have to be overcome if we are to win finals. Some were unavoidable, most notably injuries, others with one being Saints good fortune and luck.

Yes. He kicks it we win the game. He had to go for it.
Had he not gone for two people would have been going nuts on here. Probably the same ones now saying it was the wrong decision.

The penalty was given on 78 minutes and the kick taken just after 79 minutes so he did use up the full minute. I think it was the correct decision to go for it.

Kick to touch. Four drives take us 20 yards from their line. Drop goal attempt with seconds to go.

Score and we win. Miss and the hooter goes and we go to golden point.

This option doesnt give Saints a sniff of winning it in regulation time as they wont have the ball.

The option taken gave them a minute with the ball to go 100m. Which they did,

Bad bad call by whoever made it. Its ruined our season.

Right or wrong it's done. On to next season please

up the Cherry and Whites!!

Absolutely wrong decision which I called at the time. If you have a kicker that has a track record of flapping kicks in big games you can't go for it. Even if the kicker wants to go for it, somebody with a cooler head needs to say no.

Tbh, with this clown in charge, I'm not surprised that the wrong decision was made, he has a habit of not learning.

At the time, I thought it was the wrong decision. Yes, it was kickable but the safer option, for me, would have been to get field position, use up more time and go for the drop goal.

You could also argue that either of the two options available would have been correct but because of the distance to the sticks with the penalty, the drop goal possibility would have given us the better chance to win the game.

On a point of logic, surely the fact that the kick was missed, deems it to have been the wrong decision.

Clock wasn't stopped again which it would have been.

Used about 50 seconds I believe.

They sound like little things and almost "pointless" but they are all things that someone like Kevin Sinfield used to nail every single time. We seem to get it wrong every single time.

Not for me. I screamed at the tv when i saw him getting ready for it. Nearly woke the wife up!

Wrong decision for me at the time and I called it there and then, Hardaker just isn't a good enough goal kicker to take on that sort of pressure kick from that range. As a percentage play it was the wrong call - would have been a difficult call even with a better kicker.

I would have been fine with Pat taking that kick but certainly.not hardaker

78th minute, you're shattered, with the angle it was probably close to 50m, as a minimum you need the ball to go dead so now you're talking 55m+, fair play to him for saying he could do it but it was a very low percentage play for us and gave Saints their only hope of winning in 80 mins.
Water under the bridge now but IMO it was the wrong call.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if it goes over we more than likely won the game.

I was personally though shocked to see us take it on rather than going for the corner to set up field position for the drop goal.

Had we a reliable kicker like Faz or Richards I’d have said it was the right call but we don’t and it wasn’t.

Do I think it lost us the game? Honestly no.

I know that sounds daft given what happened next but I felt we had enough chances to score more tries than we did had we not snatched at a few good chances on the flanks.

In reality I think the occasion and pressure got to us a little which showed when we would normally have been more clinical.

Congratulations to Saints and also Wigan for both playing their part in a wonderful game of rugby.

I cannot wait for 2021 and the mouthwatering prospect of what it will bring on the rugby field

Even Paddy missed one in a similar scenario against Leeds in 2010 after the Danny McGuire "Rugby God" moment

I think that when they do the video review of the game it'll all be about that last two minutes. To me it looked as though we were preparing for extra time. There was virtually no chase on the Hardaker penalty which gave Lomax an easy thirty meters on tackle one. He shouldn't really have got more than twenty metres had the chase been good.

Anyway it's all done now and a great game to end the season even if we're not happy with the result. I just hope next season we see more games played with that intensity from all teams.

That is the key point whether the decision was correct or not. We switched off after 78 minutes during which we were superb.



After a defeat like that I just want the next game and I presume the players will be the same. We don't need any motivation now, it's all there. Bring it on.

Right decision for me. I didn’t expect him to get it but had we kicked to the corner and knocked on or missed a drop goal attempt and ended up losing I bet half the people complaining would be saying we should have gone for 2. It’s fine margins in sport and we got very unlucky last night, hitting the bar on the conversion, Hastings high shot which I thought came off the shoulder, and the bounce from the drop goal attempt.

Wrong decision. Kick to touch, head in field go for DG. Win.

It’s that simple.

I understand the rationale for going for it, waste the clock etc but it was a huge, huge unnecessary risk to take when the DG had a far better chance of success.

Our game management when it comes to decisions like that is poor IMO. But it’s done.

Do I blame Zak for the loss? Absolutely not. Do I blame French? Absolutely not.

lack of specialists cost in the end....a full back would have booted the ball out......a winger would have scored.......a kicker would have converted.......lack of money told in the end

Bit harsh there i think French expected ball to come back off the post but it bounced the other way giving Welsby a chance to get in front of him and shepherd him off the ball

No it isn't that simple at all. Going for goal was the right call as it is all in your control,BUT you have to kick it dead if you miss. If you go for touch then every play up to the drop goal has to be perfect,there are so many chances to knock on or forward pass. Then when it comes to the kick there is a chance you can still miss due to kick pressure. So it isn't as simple as you make out at all.

Right or wrong, it is no use anyone making a big issue about it it would not have affected the result of the game.

The game was lost as a result of the decision by the referee to award a harsh penalty against Hastings for a "high tackle" and the mistake by French in not dealing with a situation from a high kick.