Where do I start on the game?

Well I'll start with that I'm pretty certain that I've just seen one of the two sides that will be at Old Trafford on the 8th of October, a side who were absolutely disciplined from the word go and defended like a side that carries the favourites tag.

Despite the score it's very misleading as for long periods in both halfs we had consecutive sets of six on the Wigan line as we either forced the error from the kick or the kick it's self being perfectly timed and weighted to force one of the three Wigan goal line drop outs.

We came up against a very disciplined and determined Wigan defence that scrambled back superbly for which the ebst example being the first half where Kearney had broke the Wigan line only for Tomkins to turn and scramble back to haul Kearney down just millimetres from the Wigan try line and even go on better in making Kearney lose possession, giving Wigan the ball back.

In attack we were very lackluster and naive at times which I'm not going to blame too much on injuries but when you have Sykes at stand off and Kearney who isn't used to playing scrum half then we were always going to be lacking in the attacking flare department, which was pretty much evident from the word go with the scootd from dummy half and the basic one man Rugby League up the middle of the field, which was never going to unlock the holes in a well drilled and committed Wigan backline.

Yes Shad Royston had a try chalked off by the officials after only 90 seconds with referee Bentham saying that Walker amongst others being inside the 10m from the Kearney bomb.

I have no qualms about the above incident or the disallowed Nick Scruton try on 33 minutes where following another Kearney bomb into the freezing Odsal air saw Royston palm the ball forward as he competed with Sam Tomkins for the ball before the forward trajectory landed the ball into Scruton's hands.

Another day and with a bit more luck we would have had three tries in that first half, but went in at half time 26-0 down, which was very frustrating.

The opening ten minutes of the second half saw what we can do against the top sides as we had the forward momentum and were slowly pegging Wigan back inside there own half as the link up play between Sykes and Kearney started to work but after the two quickfire tries from Elliot Whitehead and Patrick Ah Van (great kick to the corner from Sykes and an equally great take by Ah Van) we seemed to lose the momentum that we had built up (no doubt helped by Mick Potters half time team talk).

This failure to convert possession into points in both halfs ultimately cost us the game, as did the fitness at the end of the game as Darrell Goulding, Amos Roberts and the MOM of the game for mine Sam Tomkins ran riot out wide and more so down that left hand channel, exposing the defensive weaknesses of Patrick Ah Van as Wigan scored 18 points in the final ten minutes.

So on the face of it not much expansive and entertaining play coming from this 2011 Bradford side but we did have our moments and the score really doesn't show a true reflection of how close it was at times.

Wigan win only there 6th game at Odsal in the summer era since 1996 and out of all the games where they have been the victors, I think this one was bar far the most impressive.

The try of the game has to be the Liam Farrell score just before half time. Some truly amazing keep the bay alive in the tackle play that from my Rugby League supporting view was a sublime a try as they come.

Well done Wigan and I'll be cheering you on next Sunday at the DW in the World Club Challenge.

P.S You brought around 2,000/2,300 which is nothing short of amazing when you think that the game was in doubt this morning and they certainly made themselves heard.

pretty fair assesment



fair play to bardford to , the fans turned out and he club tried to put the show on as usual

Shows how good we were today when even the oppostion fans can accept we made them look poor.

You have great passion for the game Mick I enjoy reading your posts. Can't argue with any of it either, good luck for the rest of the season.

Thank you for your comments.

And I hope that you will be with us in Manchester come October.

I do have one issue with you, though.

I think our following today was [umuch[/u[u more[/u than the 2000/2300 you gave us credit for.

Or do you really believe that there were really 12,000 Bulls fans in attendance?

"Forward!"

Sorry, I still have that ringing in my head. Great review and the Bradford fans do seem a decent lot. You'll do well this year I think.

Cheers

I'm not wanting to start a argument about who had what % of the 15,300 gate so I'll say this.

Your supporters were a credit to your club today and I really doubt any other club would have travelled as well today despite the possibility that the game could be off.

No team travels as well as us. Fact.

Fair enough.

It was a great crowd - the best of the weekend by far.

Great turnout by both sets of fans.

We only just made it there in time for kick off so we rushed in to get a spot then i looked down and was like "fook me! where have all these people come from!"

Too true. All the Bradford speccies near us were moaning at Bentham early doors, but you could later hear them appreciating our play.

What were everyone's thought's on McIlorum today? I thought he went well. Mixed the play up well, and defensively was as hard as nail's. With more game time under his belt I'm sure he'll be a standout. Also I'd like to see him do a little more field kicking, as it something he's quite good at. The thing he has to work on is being careful not to throw forward passes, something he was guilty of today and in the past.

Bradford flattered us, their attack was awful
Our support has always been the best

Same as usual. Tough defence, good distribution and he ran at the right times and even won a few pens. Played really well. I would love to see him take on the line and draw the marker a bit more though.

Had an excellent game, I thought. Defensively, he's always good, but his decision making in attack gets better every game, and he usually picks the right time to scoot.

Forward passes seem to creeping into all hookers games these days, maybe because refs are letting them go? Diskin gave at least as many, as did the hookers in the two televised games over the weekend.

He's a tough little bug*er isn't he and his game is coming on leaps and bounds. He's always needed just a run of games clear of injury to further his career and touch wood he should get that this season.

On the point of his kicking game it's better then either Leuluai's or Sams and he should be doing it more often. It also helps when a linesman misses the ball bouncing out on the full off one of your kicks

I was impressed with the turnout considering the weather. I think it was the most full I've seen it when I've visited Odsal.

Impressed with the boys today, they played well. The forwards for me were so impressive in standing up to quite a big Bradford team in whole, and letting the backs get the plaudits with the scoring.

But its so good to no that there is so much yet to come from them, and we are only going to get stronger this year.

Seemed to thin out a bit towards the end...

(can't blame them, to be fair, it was a tad chilly)

Highlights from the game due on sky sports news soon.

9.30pm??

Just been on. Will probably be in the loop now though.
EDIT Offiah is on at 9-30 reviewing the weekends action too.

The passing looked very slick close up and Tommys try was superb.

Thanks