Well we were short of attacking options and the youngsters seem to know nothing else but attack. So bad calls by Nobby !

because he is bein paid 100 grand a year plus thats why and the young lad just gets mugged about no matter how well he plays .no wonder the game is in this country the sooner all the 2 nd rate aussie takers of home the better

Get yourselves down to watch the reserves play at Orrell today against Hull KR... You can watch all the Wigan Stars there....



Sam Tomkins is Attacking threat with ball in hand and surely having a player who can score tries without needing to offload is the rain is a far better option than going with "No show Riddell"

Surely "our great leader" would have seen that in the rain Tim Smith's attacking(passing) ability would have been vastly reduced and having another option on the bench in case things weren't going our way, would have been "given" as far as I am concerned. I just couldn't believe it when I heard he was out of the team..

I knew a few weeks ago when we "just" beat Wakefield that Nobby would start getting some plaudits and his job would become safer, I still am of the opinion that this man is tactically poor and with this side is unable to take us any further in our quest for honours...

Inept decision from an Inept coach

Tomkins has already become a gamebreaker for us - evidenced by the try he scored against Wakefield.

For me the game was crying out for that kind of move close to the line all night - especially against the big men who at times were slipping in the defensive line.

The problem is Smith is a "robot" conditioned to play a certain way with ball distribution his forte - last night was not the conditions for that.

in which case the coach is even more palpably at fault.

we executed a game plan which was designed around a wet weather game of attrition. nobby must have known that with defences lining up across the field, and fancy handling at a minimum, then breaking the line was going to be hard. therefore playing as key playmaker, a man used to hot weather and hard pitches sounds even more nonsensical.


our tries were scored by people running at defenders at pace, with quick direction changes causing defenders to slip - sounds a bit like a sam t trademark that !

Is it too obvious a mistake for "Our great Leader" to be blamed for it?

A mate of mine was talking to Sam before the game. Sam explained he had been dropped and that he was absolutely gutted and had been desperate to play




Also, why the fook make the lad change into his shorts, boots & training top to kick a ball about for 20 minutes in the pi$$ing down rain if he has no chance of playing?

Because he was 18th man.
If someone had got injured during the warm up, he would have had to be ready.

Any reason given to Tomkins by noble for being dropped? MattyB

I does rain Australia you know.They don't like to tell you this but it does.....often.

None given.....other than. [iNot tonight son[/i.

Its no wonder that rumours coming from various posters, saying players are unhappy at being dropped/left out of the side, if that is the approach taken to tell players they are not playing.

Surely then nobby's "Duty of Care" doesn't lend itself to a proper explanation of his decisions.

What makes you assume he wasn't given one.

For me, he wasnt right.

To bring Piggy straight back in the team is daft, after everything Nobles said about players having to wait to get back in if the team is playing well etc.

Alright we won at Wakefield despite a bad start, but that 17 battled their way back in to the game, and we need another battling performance last night in them conditions.

Wigan had plenty of effort and Biff in the tackle which was great to see. But we need some balance. We were clueless near the line to breadk down what was a very well organised and resolute defence. Sam and Shaun give us that little bit of X factor. I don't think we whould be throwing them in the deep all the time especially against toough teams like HKR but I did think that operating Sam off the bench in the last few games has been a good option. Last night was a mistake especially putting Riddell in who offered nothing apart from knock-ons at the play the ball!

After accepting defeat I am sort of pleased that he dropped Sam and Shaun because ir proved an important point.

Because matty B said he wasn't...

Walking up to the game last night I was thinking that the lighter more fleet of foot player who can turn quickly and maintain balance would be a good option, e.g. Ainscough and Tomkins as it's much harder to react to a change in direction than start one.

We saw time and time again during the game the player running the angle had a significant advantage as they were able to get inside the defender who could not keep on their feet when turning.

Smith - waste of space tonight, didn't attack the line at all just passed the ball on to the next man.

He had a poor second half, but that pass for Lockers first try was as good as any you will see.
One thing though, he wasn't poor defensively as he has been, but that could have been helped by the conditions as it was very difficult for players to get motoring.

Smith plays RL like a pansy.

His poncy bouncing up and down is reminiscent of Richie Mathers.

However, I suppose if we are satisfied with Amos "1 tackle and a ball steal" Roberts, we should be delighted with Tim "One pass" Smith.

No, he got it wrong, AGAIN. Rest? The lads 20 years old, why would he need a rest? As for Smith, as a stand off he's nothing short of a joke, iv never seen him take the line on once.

Not that I'm defending Smith's overall performance - but not all 6s take on the line. His distribution on planned moves it outstanding, and luckily we have Tommy who, whilst isn't outstanding in terms of giving great balls, takes the line on successfully.

It's Smith's ability to think on his feet that I would criticise, not the fact that he doesn't take the line on.

Lockyer, Pryce, Mcguire..all the top class number 6's take on the line, your number 7 is your main organiser, we need a top class number 6 desperately.

6 and 7 are the same in todays game. All I was saying was that he isn't one to take on the line, but his ball distribution and organization in set plays is outstanding.

Where Smith fails is having to organize off the cuff - this is why we need a better stand off.

He was right to rest Sam last night it was always going to be a very hard hitting game and Sam could quite easily last night got hurt very badly and been put out for the rest of the season. The young lad from KR looked like he had broken his ankle when he came off for his sake i hope he has not. What would everyone on hear had been saying if Sam had broken his leg last night or worse everyone would have been saying he should not have played.
You have to ask do you save him for the wire game where he could cut them up and the 2 Salford games or risk him in a very hard game i know which i would do it was a good call last night.

We've got one he didn't select him