A quieter game from both Byrne and Mago which is a complete turn around from the previous 2 games. It's actually good to see in a way as players won't be at their best every game but, rather than causing us problems, the slack was taken up by Singleton and Ellis who were both excellent. With Havard still to come I think the pack is already looking a more rounded unit than we've had for a while.

I listened to it last night and it sounded like Mago gave away a few silly pens on our line for high tackles. Not that it’s good to hear but some Props easily crumble in defence when having to do repeat sets. Seems like the lad and Byrne have the stamina to hold up the line

I think he gave away 1 penalty for a high tackle on our line? Might be forgetting one though.

I only remember the one and he seemed to get wrong footed and threw an arm out rather than it be malicious.

The starting partnership of Ellis/Singleton is for my money excellent. They both laid down the marker last night and within the first 10mins secured the win by outenthusing and dominating Huddersfield’s pack IMO. Mago was quiet but still good and I disagree with some posters re Byrne, I thought he put himself about a lot.

My disappointment comes in Partington. Honestly I didn’t even know he’d come on until it was announced he was off for Isa.

Partington isn’t ever going to be an impact player from the bench. The only way you’re going to get a good contribution from him imo is to start him and play him for 80 minutes and probably as a loose forward because he’ll not make the ground you want from a prop forward.

It’s unfair to say this (but I’ll say it anyway) in a way but he has summed up everything that has been wrong with this team in the last couple of years. He’s still a youngster even now but we’ve treated him and played him like he’s a senior prop forward for a few seasons now. It’s been a joke in many ways and unfair on Partington himself.

I’m not writing him off, I do think he’s a good player (when used correctly) but the competition looks too hot for him at the minute. He’d be my 6th choice prop (after the 4 in the side now and Havard) and at best 3rd choice loose forward (after Smithies and Isa and possibly lower if you shifted Ellis to loose and it would be close with Shorrocks), so it’s not going to be easy. Ultimately it shouldn’t be easy but it has been easy for too many seasons now for these young forwards fo get a place in the side.

Promising signs so far with both Mago and Ellis, Mago looks a handful and more exiting on the eye but Ellis is putting up good numbers on the quiet which is more impressive, maybe we’ve finally got a prop who can go about his business week in week out making around 100m

Totally agree

I'm sure Partington would have loved being a 1st choice over the last couple of seasons but, like for all the young players, in the long term it hasn't been beneficial. We often say that the increased game time when injury strikes will stand them in good stead down the line but in our case they've been overworked and not had to be at their best to make the side. They've been automatic choices. A busted up Harry Smith played every game last year. For me, that speaks volumes.

Partington has something to offer. At this stage of his career (or should I say the previous 2 years of his career) it isn't as a starting prop! Again I think it speaks volumes that, not only has he been exactly that, but he was also never in danger of being dropped no matter how well or how badly he played.

For me he is now down the order. That may be a good thing or bad thing for his career. Only time will tell but at least we know he needs to be at his absolute best to make the matchday squad. That's as it should be. It could be the making of him.

I thought Mago's contribution was disappointing. Brought on with 10 mins to half time, he was then subbed 8 minutes into the 2nd half - 18 mins on the field with a 15 minute break halfway. I'd expect at least 25-30 mins from an impact prop if it involved a 15 minute half-time break.

Is he the new Paleasina - 100% wages for 25% work?

Wow

Just


Wow

Yes or No - did you watch Wigan vs Hull and vs Leeds?

Regarding Partington, in my opinion he isn’t good enough and should be let go as soon as possible.

He’s a consequence of us letting too many forwards go at the same time, whilst bringing too many youngsters in at the same time.

Of all the players who have played in the league this year he’s the weakest and you cannot consider him a youngster anymore.

I didn't check the times, but at the game, he seemed to come on a fair few times, and I thought he did fine. I don't see the problem.

TBH I thought he'd come back on for a 2nd spell etc.
However
My comment is based around the critique of player playing only his 3rd game, and implying that he's lazy/not worth his wages and all the negative associations with Fekas time here which a lot was based around bad defence and lack of minutes.

Hes had 3 games well above average for me, 2 in particular were very good.

Last year after we signed him there were a few who were relaying stories about their mates watching him in a game saying he was blowing out his backside after 10mins etc in a particular game leading to IMO a stereotypical assessment of him as a player of that heritage. My mate watched the same game, and said he did 60mins (in fact he'd played the whole of the 1st half I believe) and that He will go "Just fine" for Wigan.

Here we are after his 3rd game and we have someone already associating certain traits to a player with no context being applied. Maybe his shorter game.time this week (if it actually was?) Was down to other issues, game plan etc?

And so the ball starts to roll, and I can see it now after a defeat at some point the, the same, old same old, Will start.

Without wishing to rake up old coals, we had a "Prop Forward" here who for the last 4 years couldn't do 15mins a game, or 15 games a season and contributed sod all but seemed to be invisible to that criticism (certainly until the last 12/15months of his time here).

I mentioned on our WhatsApp rugby group and may have impleod it on here, I'm not concerned about 1 player becoming a "Walmesley" or Chris Hill etc doing 80 mins, 200mtrs and a billion tackles each week.
I want a "Pack" that performs well, works well together, compliments each other etc.

TBH the other site had me shaking my head more than this the other day (I dont post, just read, and I need to stop doing that!).
Singletons now not good enough, Partington not good enough (and he's getting stick on here) etc. And don't even get me started I thebother sites appraisal of Sam Powell, they're like a dog with a bone.

After week 1 at HKR I knew we'd played well, and after week 2 I again knew we had, you know why?
Lack of posts/traffic on here and the other site.
I bet there weren't 50 posts on either site after the first 2 wins about the game/players.

1 defeat and all that will change

The Team have improved 5 x fold over the off season
Is it the finished article, No, and that's good as I think we will improve further in time.
Are we the best team in the comp, No, not yet, and it will take time, but we've made massive strides in the off season and imo are 80% of what we need to be after regressing alarmingly over the last 3 years.

But some people want to look at every tiny fragment and when it's perceived as a negative (without any context or background info or evidence) rip it open and disect it and blow it of all proportion into some kind of massive issue.

As I said in the WhatsApp group after the Friendlies and the HKR game

The new set up have achieved many things for me in such a short space of time but 2 stand out

1/ we don't look Soft anymore = Tick
2 we don't look amateurish = Tick

I'm going to add another, Fans of, and other clubs aren't laughing at us anymore and starting to concern themselves about us again.

That in itself is a remarkable achievement in such a short space of time.
The players also need a bit time to settle I to all this as well.
And currently every one of them seems to be doing so just fine IMO

Well said Jukesy.

Well said indeed. I've said the same before about Mago; I watch every NRL game, and have done for a number of years now, hence I've seen his entire NRL career (also true of French, Cust, Field, etc), and I always thought, and said, he would go just fine. As you say, people pick up on one passing phrase.

As for the anti-Powell stuff 'over there', much of originates from one source. And he's here too. Actually, on Powell, one other point; he seems t have got his kicking licence back this season, and no bad thing, because he can kick quite effectively, and another last-tackle kicking option is always handy.

That was me and in fairness after now watching him in the flesh, the assessment that he looks to be absolutely knackered during games is a fair one ‘but’ I’ve said on here last week that I now realise that’s ‘his look’ and he is so unique in that he looks ready to drop to the floor one second and the next he’s taking a ball up, carrying 3 defenders with him and slipping offloads left, right and centre and then just comes back and does it again and again. It’s unusual but unusually brilliant and I’ve been chuffed with him so far.

I think realistically it’s about balance in your side. Not everyone can be a steady grafter, and you need a varied prop rotation and we certainly look to have that this season. I think we could still add to that with one more front line starter over this next year or so but we’ve taken a big step in the right direction and Mago is playing a big part in that.

Irrelevent.

I was talking specifically about his first involvement in the game, which was 18 minutes with half time for a breather, and that I was disappointed that he couldnt manage more than that.

For an interchange, I'd expect him to come on at around 25 mins, give 15 minutes of big hits, have a 15 minute half time breather and be effective for 10 mins in the 2nd half, then have a 20 minute breather before knocking hell out of the opposition for the last 10 minutes. 35 minutes of full-on hits. His "opposite" can do 25 mins, have 40 mins break (inc half time) and then another 20 or so. (45 mins total)

Is that unreasonable?

Without getting into an argument about it, as it really doesn't matter what you and I think, that's exactly what he has done in the previous two games where he's been excellent! Moreover, in the 1st preseason game, he did an hour straight; the whole of the first half and the first 20 of the 2nd. He was also excellent from minute 1 to minute 60 with no dropoff in intensity whatsoever.

If he didn't in the 3rd game, there was presumably a reason for it. However, that reason isn't because he can't. Your description of 100% of the money for 25% of the work is so far removed from what we've seen in his start to the season as to be insulting. He's made a major contribution to our excellent start and has provided more entertainment in the 3 games he has played so far than most props do in an entire season.

Spot on.

He clearly didn’t watch Wigan vs Hull or Leeds.

The player doesn't get to pick and choose when they get game time that is up to the coaching staff, maybe, just maybe, they wanted to see if the player who he was going to replace could hold their own for a longer spell, or the stats/gps tracker was telling a different story about the other players on the pitch and the coaching staff wanted to reserve Mago for a bit longer, or maybe they just forgot he wasn't on the pitch.
But all joking aside, the coaching staff do the interchanges so you can't blame the player for when her gets onto the pitch, he may have been sat there with gritted teeth cursing the coaches for not getting on

The key to success at Wigan will be balance and Whilst it is great for Saints to have a Walmsley there is a really good balanced hardworking pack to complement him, however when he doesn't play it is noticeable.

We saw last year that despite having one of the best players in the comp in Hastings we struggled to create opportunities as there was no balance to our play. Deal with Hastings deal with Wigan.

In signing Ellis and Mago we brought in a good grafter and a bit of Xfactor/impact. Mago will have a defined role and be used as part of an everchanging strategy within a match as it evolves. I think our philosophy is slightly different to a good few of our coaches who have gone before recently who used to sub by the clock. I used to hate seeing a player go off who was having a good game simply because we have hit the 18th-20th minute of a match.

Mago will be used tactically and his game time will revolve around how others are performing and potentially what the scoreboard is looking like. More importantly if he is out we should hopefully be able to cope without him as we have other options and whilst they may be of a different style to Mago won't detract from performance.

For me we are a prop and a strike running secondrow away from having a very well balanced pack and I would expect to see that addressed in the coming offseason. There was simply too big a rebuild required over 1 offseason.

1 thing is for sure though our pack is significantly improved this year with the inclusion of Ellis and Mago.

Good posts earlier - sums up how I feel at the moment;

We are no longer an easy target from opposition fans ridiculing how pedestrian we are in our attack and how lightweight we are in our forwards.

Not the finished article, but a hell of a lot more balanced in the forwards, we are working off the ball in attack, hell we even had a choice of support runners for a number of the tries we scored v Hudds.

I still think we need to work on our line speed in defence.

Interested to see how some of the players waiting to come into the side will fit in when we change the side up a little - especially how Smith goes in a much more balanced team.

Mago looks done in from the first minute he's on the pitch but he always makes it back to the defensive line and when he carries the ball he really carries it.
Maybe that's the thing with Mago, he just "looks" like he's unfit, doing a great job so far IMO