Or alternatively we were excellent in the first half and outclassed you, had a dip for 15 minutes in the second half when we let you back into it through our own errors and penalties but quite rightly won it in the end as we were much the better team over the 80 minutes



The trouble with Saints fans is their team is never beaten by a better side. Other teams only win because Saints were poor. Similarly Saints never win (or have a good spell second half) because the other team is poor but because of how well they're playing. It's wearisome. You were beaten by a better side on the day and you will be again on Saturday. Of course, should that happen, it'll be because of Saints' injuries and not because our team of plodders and average Joes plays better than yours.

Not sure I agree with that. As good as you have looked in attack, your defence hasn't been all that impressive. You've conceded 323 points all season not much better than Castleford and Hull and more than Saints, Catalans and Huddersfield. Whilst there was an element of cue on the rack against Wakefield, they still scored 22 points with a depleted side.

Sides are scoring at least 2-3 tries against you per game bar the odd game.

Our defence has been weaker this season than it was under Wane & even Lam's first season, no doubt.

I'm thinking more about how the tries were conceded, rather than the number. I'd like to think Roby wouldn't be able to force himself through two defenders quite as easily as he found it in the CC Semi, and that we won't make as many errors defending the high ball as we did either.

I suppose in a roundabout way my point is that it's having it both ways to think to think:

a) the first forty minutes where Wigan were the better team was totally atypical due to a combination of injuries, Wigan playing at our maximum and Saints playing as bad a half as they have in years, and at the same time, b) The twenty minutes in the second half where Saints scored off near enough every chance they had off the back off the back of some poor Wigan errors simply reflects normal service being resumed.

Not saying that this is how you see things! But I definitely got a sense of this view from a few Saints fans at the time.

If we had a referee that used his video referee then it would have been two.

Our defence doesn’t worry me in the slightest tbh. I’ll go all Saints fan here and say we’ve been disrupted and we’re constantly shuffling things around, especially in the spine positions, with bans for huge defenders for us like Powell and Smithies and that’s not helping but it’s mainly just a concentration issue IMO. In the knock out games this season in the cup we conceded 0,6,18 and 14, so never over 20 points and an average 9.5 points per game (plus one of Saints try’s was offside

).

All teams have that group of fans who have those types of opinion, especially when successful and their fan base grows with glory hunters that think they have a divine right to win every game. You know the sort, the referee never gives them a single penalty/decision and everyone is against them. Typical of what we're reading from Saints fans currently, but like I say it comes off the back of the success they've had. They won't point to a poor level of competition in 2019, luck in 2020 and a few decisions/covid tactics in 2021 - they will simply say they're the greatest side in the history of the game.

I hope we're hearing all the excuses again on Saturday night.

Plus Tommy.

Indeed. Tommy, Smithies and Powell could well be our best 3 defenders and then you’ve had the centres changing constantly and Field and French moving between full back and stand off or wing and fullback. Even so we should’ve defended better at times but when the time is right and the big games come around, I’m confident we’ll be switched on and ready.

And I presume when Wigan won all those leagues in the 80s that the competition was higher than ever? Everyone else was spending £400k on wingers like Offiah...

Funny that since the salary cap has been in existence, Wigan's leagues have dried up somewhat.

What an awful lucky team we are. Should probably strip us of our last 3 titles to be fair based on your statement.

Squads named. No Percival or Makinson for Saints, so if we can give them a game upfront we’ll be a chance. Cust back for us but I’d probably use him from the bench.

I’d go-

French
Miski Bibby Pearce-Paul Marshall
Field Smith
Singleton Powell Ellis
Bateman Farrell Smithies

Subs
Byrne Havard
Mago Cust

Looking forward to the weekend.

Makinson is out for 3-5 weeks so not sure why you seem surprised he's not playing.

Quote ="Stu M"icon_lol.gif And I presume when Wigan won all those leagues in the 80s that the competition was higher than ever? Everyone else was spending £400k on wingers like Offiah... Funny that since the salary cap has been in existence, Wigan's leagues have dried up somewhat. What an awful lucky team we are. Should probably strip us of our last 3 titles to be fair based on your statement.'" Wigan didn't sign Martin Offiah in the 1980's, but we did have Mark Preston and Jason Robinson coming through. Watch the Leeds v Saints cup tie in 1992 and see all those Saints part time players!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Pc6kv ... l=Andy1adL

Quote ="Stu M"icon_lol.gif And I presume when Wigan won all those leagues in the 80s that the competition was higher than ever? Everyone else was spending £400k on wingers like Offiah... Funny that since the salary cap has been in existence, Wigan's leagues have dried up somewhat. What an awful lucky team we are. Should probably strip us of our last 3 titles to be fair based on your statement.'" Wigan didn't sign Martin Offiah in the 1980's, but we did have Mark Preston and Jason Robinson coming through. Watch the Leeds v Saints cup tie in 1992 and see all those Saints part time players!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Pc6kv ... l=Andy1adL

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Wigan didn't sign Martin Offiah in the 1980's, but we did have Mark Preston and Jason Robinson coming through. Watch the Leeds v Saints cup tie in 1992 and see all those Saints part time players!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Pc6kv ... l=Andy1adL'" Don’t quote facts to the man. It doesn’t fit with the agenda

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Wigan didn't sign Martin Offiah in the 1980's, but we did have Mark Preston and Jason Robinson coming through. Watch the Leeds v Saints cup tie in 1992 and see all those Saints part time players!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Pc6kv ... l=Andy1adL'" Don’t quote facts to the man. It doesn’t fit with the agenda

Where have I noted my surprise? Simply pointing it out as being confirmed now for anybody not aware.

Saints are extremely honest, lead by the honest as the day is long Mr Woolf, so I never expected any game playing

I rest my case your honour.

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Wigan didn't sign Martin Offiah in the 1980's, but we did have Mark Preston and Jason Robinson coming through. Watch the Leeds v Saints cup tie in 1992 and see all those Saints part time players!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Pc6kv ... l=Andy1adL'" Not to mention winning the league by 1 point, 2 points and on PD a number of times. History seems to have been re-written and we won the league by 30 and 40 points a season.

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Wigan didn't sign Martin Offiah in the 1980's, but we did have Mark Preston and Jason Robinson coming through. Watch the Leeds v Saints cup tie in 1992 and see all those Saints part time players!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Pc6kv ... l=Andy1adL'" Not to mention winning the league by 1 point, 2 points and on PD a number of times. History seems to have been re-written and we won the league by 30 and 40 points a season.

Stu is one of the good Saints fans, always up for a discussion, never nasty or petty, just misinformed.

So St Helens only won back to back to back titles and a challenge cup due to luck? Lmao ok.

Could you get any more bitter lol

I mean, Welsby couldn't have been much luckier that night...

Would be great to get the win to stay ahead in the top 2 race and maybe to give ourselves a chance of the shield. I know it's a minor trophy but when there are only 3 you can win why not get invested in all of them? Not happy that Catalans have a clear advantage here in playing a team running 10th in the table when we play the team that is top (Saints could feel equally aggrieved). The imbalances in the fixture list really aren't great.

I feel a bit cautious about this one though - in reality we've had one game where we got the better of them and they definitely werent on form that day. We're playing well but our last three fixtures have been against bottom 4 teams and we could have defended better last week. One thing we really want to avoid over everything else is taking a step backwards. On Good Friday we were beaten comprehensively in the end and the two games in 2021 were non contests. Hopefully its a very competitive game at least which can give us more reason to believe we're in with a chance at the end of the year and in 2023/beyond.

Not what I said, but again......thanks for proving the point.

I'll put it into basic English:

Fans of winning teams will never say anything apart from they're the best and they always win because they deserve to and that every other team and player is crap. Fans of other clubs will point out perceivee poor decisions that went their way, bits of luck etc etc to make it look like their success is flawed. Wigan being full time for the whole period of our dominance for example.

All fans of successful clubs therefore come across as arrogant, especially those that have only ever seen the success because they jumped on the glory bus.

As Saints are currently the successful club, their fans are coming across as arrogant. Leeds fans did 2007-2009 and no doubt we have done in the past.

Sky Sports are showing the Wigan -Saints game scheduled to start at 6.00pm on Main Event. Obviously not correct, anyone else noticed this?

That's just highlights. The full game is on Sky Sports Mix.

Biggest game in the sport and shoved to Sky Sports Mix.

Don't understand having us on before Leeds and Cas. Big crowd at 4.30, everyone gone home for 6.00

Agreed re: the scheduling - very disappointing to be on SSM.