yeah he tried but due to the speed of play he couldnt get there, sometimes it just good play

You could say that about every single try that is scored. The whole point of the game is to force defensive errors or misreads (admittedly some errors are worse than others).

I thought Smithies was unlucky not to get more of a look in for the Lance Todd at the time. Having watched it back, he impressed me even more (one swinging arm aside, the other wasn't that bad imo).

He always managed to put in an amazing shift in defence in terms of effort and tackle count. The difference is now that he's offering far more going forward, definitely in metres but even occasional pieces of skill like the offload to Smith for the first try.

Still a baby for a forward too, he could be some player in 2-3 years when still in his early/mid twenties.

Smithies has been great this year (and was great on Sat) but just needs to keep his discipline in check, particularly in the big games when emotions run high. In the last final we played prior to Saturday he cost us two vital points and if it wasn't for Lolihea's miss and Child's leniency then we could have been having a different conversation about him.

Fair comment on Smithies. If you take away the swinging arm he was superb. Oppo fans are predictably focusing on the high shot but the irony is he's pretty much cut all that out of his game this year but let the old Smithies resurface when, had he not done, people would be seeing the player he's become.

The reason I put Smith way above either him or McQueen can be best illustrated by that last play. Can you imagine the stick he'd have received had he not executed that perfectly? Had it been even a fraction off everyone would have been slating him. The fact that, as a young half who wasn't even first choice a few games ago, he had the courage to do that in the 77th minute of a Challenge Cup final is next level to anything Smithies or McQueen did.

You're also going overboard on his mistakes too in my opinion. Halves don't have mistake free games. If they do they aren't trying hard enough.

Once the emotion of the game has worn off, along with the numerous alcoholic beverages and I’ve had chance to watch it back, I agree that he needs to be careful. I love his passion, desire and energy and he had a superb game, which is a continuation of a great season but in the biggest games, he still has that bit of a disciplinary meltdown in him. In the main his discipline is hugely improved, so he can do it. You don’t want to take that edge away from him but just manage it better. He will probably have a few games to rest now and just think about things, as I expect he’ll pick up a few games.

Smithies is starting to look like the player he was built up to be and Smith is starting to show himself as that kid that took the Aussies apart.

Every single player has improved massively already this season and Peet and the rest of the staff deserve all the credit they are getting and will continue to get.

Remember when everyone laughed at the appointments, including some of our own fans?

61 tackles from Smithies.

Outstanding effort and as others have said has added to his attacking play this year.

Yes he has an edge to him and to be honest I don’t mind him giving away a few penalties as long as he does it in the right areas of the field.

I honestly didn’t think there was too much in the Lolohea tackle on the day, rewatching it probably worthy of a penalty nothing more.

I do know it was a tackle that needed making.

I think a team can accommodate one “grub” and I use that term with respect as I think he plays a role for us in that capacity.

He irritates the opposition and gets in their faces and under their skin. I’m not sure you can carry 2 in the squad which may be the reason Partington rumours to Wire are seeming to grow.

Smithies plays with high levels of emotion and passion, the danger is that they occasionally spiral out of control however if you try to temper it too much I fear you could harm his game.

Hopefully as he matures he learns how to maintain a state of clarity whilst being emotionally charged. That would see the best version of Smithies in my opinion.

I agree it was good play and the fullback was not fast enough to read the play

Now that I’ve finished celebrating, I can post a few reflections. Firstly, and most importantly, we got the win and the 20th cup win. I’ve been wanting that for a long time, so that is good. The stadium was terrific and, while we all miss the days of 80’000+ at the cup final I think we should be celebrating bringing 51’000 to London in the middle of a cost of living crisis and following a pandemic that’s hit our sport pretty hard. It was a great atmosphere and I would be happy to go back to the stadium, although the train journey afterwards was a bit of a mare.
Pre-match entertainment gets lazier and lazier. I’m always glad to see Lizzie Jones there but, apart from that it was very poor. I wish we could have the schoolkids playing again, rather than wasting time with a dj.
The match itself was not a classic but it was certainly exciting and absorbing throughout. We knew it would be tough and it was. I had no problem with McQueen getting the Lance Todd, I thought he went very well but Smithies was probably the pick of the bunch for me. He is having a fantastic season and I hope we can keep him for years to come. Leuluai was huge for us, especially following Cust’s injury. If he wasn’t fit for this match I don’t think we would have won. Hill going off had a big impact as well, not just for messing with Huddersfield’s rotation but also the leadership and experience he brings.
I thought that Child had a good game and, honestly, I don’t think referees get a fair shake at all from fans these days. I’d have him over Ganson every day of the week. I can see Huddersfield fans would have a fair point regarding Smithies not getting at least a yellow, based on the season so far but, equally, I think it is generally expected that referees show a little more latitude in finals and, on previous seasons, I don’t see Smithies walking for that. It could have gone either way.
I feel for Huddersfield and their fans – they should have won with the possession and territory that they had but, in my opinion, they didn’t make it pay. As others have said, their tactic of dying with the ball on the last with just a two point lead was over cautious to the extreme. I think they were too concerned about the possibility of turning the ball over to Field or French, but they should have been looking for repeat sets to turn the screw and potentially get the match-winning score. The whole performance screamed “you have to lose one to win one” for me, and I think they will be better for this if they can keep their heads up.
Wigan, on the other hand, stuck at it and we took our chances when we needed to. Being critical, we were sloppy with high tackles a few too many times, giving Huddersfield easy yards that they did not need. We failed to complete sets after both of our first two tries, which really hurts us, particularly after the second try when I felt we had an opportunity to put Huddersfield under real pressure but let them off the hook instantly. Made up for Marshall, especially since I am a Wigan Marshall! I don’t know if I am actually related to Liam and David but, asking my Dad, he said that he knows there was another branch of the family that our lot weren’t in touch with, so it could well be. Either way, I’m claiming them!
All in all, I am really happy with that. It was far from a perfect performance but a lot of that is down to the performance of Huddersfield. I am not going to get bogged down in being critical of our errors and shortcomings when we lifted the trophy. Obviously, I want to see the team push on from here and have a real dig at the Grand Final. However, I will be reminding myself for the rest of the season that most of us were not really expecting silverware this season, so we are already ahead of my initial expectations.

What Smithies has got rid of this season which used to infuriate me about him was the soft penalties he was giving away, the hand on the ball or the ankle grab, he's a much better player for it, he's probably going to get a couple of games for the high shot but we should be lauding him for that off-load in very heavy traffic, brilliant piece of play

Smithies has gone to a different level this year.

What he was doing as a 18 year old rookie in 2019was amazing but he stagnated in the 2 years since (he admitted this himself).

This year his tackles and carries have much more impact and he comfortably wrestled the loose forward role away from Isa.

With regards high shots, if you are playing 80 minutes in the middle of the field in and intense game and making 61 tackles you’d bound to get the odd one wrong. He’s improved his discipline this year.


I genuinely can’t remember him ever offloading but that one on Saturday is one to remember. Would be a nice additional to his game if he can do it more consistently.

A nice little read of Redvee and boy was it worth it.

According to the sad one we are still “horrendous”

They still can’t get they head round the fact sooper doooper “best team of all time” got smoked by us in the semi.

Its really funny.

And we’re just getting going with this coaching staff.

My favourite quote is "Was there a game this weekend?". They really are an embarrassment

There was if you were good enough to get through to the final

Banging on about Smithies but no mention of Yates who's also been banned, strong is the bitterness over there, personally I'll be very disappointed if they beat us again this season, the most one dimensional team in the league

How good does it feel to just think how sick some of those guys on Red Vee would’ve been as Marshall caught that ball? Imagine their faces and their reactions. It’s a feeling you’d love to bottle. Simply Lovely!

It was an amazing way to win a final. I wouldn’t be against a comfortable afternoon instead but you don’t get many moments like that Marshall try in Rugby League. Absolute chaos in that Wigan end!

Great wasn't it. I ended up hugging a random guy and his son who were sat next to me. Funnily enough he had one of the old blue and white, long sleeve shirts that got done via this site (think it was Pemps who did them). Pandemonium in the end with beer flying around.

I was sat next to a guy watching his first RL game (was a Tottenham regular so decided to pop down). He left after 75 minutes. He'd surely have been converted to the sport for life being in the Wigan end if he stayed a few more minutes.

No idea how to upload an image on here but the picture of the chairman lifting the cup on the challenge cup twitter page is a good un. Chuffed for you Ian - congrats!

I have a good one,a friend (I call him a friend after the semi he prob wont call me that).
Him being a Stains fan went to London not to the game but to Harry Potter land and on his way back yesterday he pulled into a service station having some food with his misses and kid when walked in Halsall,he knows him so said hello and then the rest of the team walked in my "friend" said you couldnt make it up he has had a crap weekend and then the warriors walked in.his words .Halsall didnt let on that he was a St Helens fan .

I'm quite enjoying the meltdown from other fans about Smithies, Hudds being the better side, us being lucky etc.

All lends itself to reminding us that Wigan are back.

Yup. It defies any reason which is a great indicator that we're on the right tracks.

In no way, shape or form were Hudds the better team on the day.

I thought they were but not through playing particularly well but more because we just didn’t perform at all in terms of our basics with the ball. They’ve had a lot of praise Huddersfield and I get it but they were so safety first and it ending up costing them. Watching the replay you would think we were scrambling all day long but we defended our stupid errors quite comfortably most of the time. Huddersfield were very workmanlike but I get the feeling if they could play the game again, they’d try and chance their arm a bit more. Turning the ball over on our line twice in that last 10 minutes, without even looking like they were thinking of scoring was something I think a Wigan or Saints would be getting heat for.

Oh they executed a very simple game plan, very well. Does that make them the better side tho?

Two crash over tries (well executed they may be) Vs us scoring two fantastic ones, or their lack of line breaks Vs 4/5 for us (in one half alone).

I think Cruncher pointed out that our match winning play had been tried a couple of times before. When it doesn't come off, then it's an error, but when it does come off - it's a match winning play etc. Fine lines and all depends on which way you wanna look at it.

Ultimately, one team went for it and tried to work the ball - yeah they coughed up possession off the back of it, but that's what won us the game in the end.