Mago will bring X-factor but I do think he could have arrived at Wigan a little fitter. Harsh perhaps but Ellis doing half an hour of good quality in his first stint is as you say just what we need and pleases me more than a Feka-esque 10-12 minutes off the bench.

It’s hard because I do think we need to give Smith a go and keep him involved. Another option would be to bring Smith in and move Cust (or Tommy) to hooker for the night.

We’ll see what happens but whatever that may be, I think this next two weeks will be positive for the side and for the season. Aren’t they going to French now and staying there for the next 10-14 days? I could be dreaming that but I thought I’d read that and if so, it’ll be an excellent opportunity to build relationships and team spirit.

I'd echo all that;especially the praise for Tommy. I didn't think he still had it in him, but he was very good tonight. I guess it wasn't until I walked out if the stadium, and got completely drenched walking to the car, that I realised how bad the conditions must have been in that second half. I had to cancel my 'drive to pub after game' plans in favour of, straight home, light the stove, and straight into the shower! Decent win, and once again, although in the first half and start of the second, we had to do a fair bit of defending, we looking like we might score a try or two when we got to their red zone. And we did. 10000+ crowd not bad in the weather, considering Hudds hardly bring any, and Leeds brought a fair few.

I thought Hardaker to full back Isa to centre Smithies to LF and Field to scrum half is what happened .

Yeah it was bizarre, after about 5 minutes KPP went back to RC, Bateman to Right back row and Smithies to left back row which made more sense.

Shorrocks could have come on a done an okay job at 9 with Powell going into the halves.

Whereas Partington can only play prop.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Cust returned, seeing Hardaker at fullback was an awful sight and reminded me of last year.


Cust is going well, like that he’s run first and has a good kicking game. Feel he’s only going to get better too.

Agreed in that Tommy was mom.
I must admit I didn’t think he still had it in him.
He’s the epitome of a top class club man. Loyal, hard working, team comes first. He must be a coaches dream.

I omitted commenting on the positives of Ellis which was wrong on my part. I thought he could be the signing rather than say Cust or Mago and he seems to be quietly going about his business and hopefully will develop into a top class 60 minute prop we have been waiting for.

Huddersfield with their first choice half backs would have been even more dangerous and will be nobody’s mug this season.

Peet now needs to make the judgment on how we keep getting this form out of Tommy. Is it keep playing him and keeping him in rhythm? Or is it to rest him and keep him fresh?

I’m stumped, I do not know. I sense he’s probably a couple of years too old to keep going for 30+ games at this level but who knows.

I agree it is a little difficult however, Smith from the start in Toulouse seems the obvious chance to give Tommy a breather.
Powell looked knackered at the end of the game so for me a chance for young O’Neil to play 80 for the first time for us.

Mago needs to play every week. Potentially a nugget there but 15 minute cameos isn’t what is required for us even if I love his offloads.

Rest Tommy next week and give Smith a full game. Be interesting to see how he goes in this team.

I’d give O’Neill 40 mins at hooker too. Can’t flog Powell for 80 mins every week IMO

Possibly even squeeze Miski and Shorrocks in to get them involved.

I'm sure Peet will be finding room for the likes of Shorrocks and O'Neill to get involved. We need a squad used to first-team action.

It was worrying to see Field strapped up, it didn't seem to affect him he was still heavily involved. You would look at next week if you want to rotate the squad, but I can imagine Toulouse being up for their first home game against one of the big names in RL.

It was worrying to see Field strapped up, it didn't seem to affect him he was still heavily involved. You would look at next week if you want to rotate the squad, but I can imagine Toulouse being up for their first home game against one of the big names in RL.

I agree they’ll be up for this but their side is really thin and lacking fitness. If we can create a big margin in the first half I’d take fields off and possibly bring Hanley in

Three games in and the talk on here is of "resting" players?. That is the way to lose momentum and matches. At this stage of the season we play our best available team whoever is the opposition, unless someone is carrying a knock.

I see what you did there

A pleasing win last night albeit not a stellar display (not helped by the officials who were awful for both sides) but I'm not too concerned about that at this stage of the season. New coach, new ideas and new players, I'm more interested in seeing improvements and ticking a few boxes and so far we are steadily doing that.

I'm not saying our pack is going to be dominant, but the fact that we're not being bullied is a massive tick. Not sure we have got our rotation just right yet in terms of minutes (the longer Ellis is on the field the better IMO) but we don't look like the bunch of schoolkids that we did last season.

The effort in defence has always been there since the Madge days, but it looks to have gone up a notch on last season (where let's face it it kept us in games we shouldn't have been in) and you can see the will to get stuck in and help one another out. We will be tough to beat if we defend like that all season.

Most pleasing so far though has been the ideas in attack. My two favourite tries last night were Farrell's first and Batty's. The short ball to KPP from Tommy was excellent. Finally someone on the halfbacks shoulder so they don't have to take the line on themselves (the reason Hastings was tackled so often last season) and can actually create something. The play didn't end there though because we followed up and Tommy took the offload (impressed with our desire to promote the ball) but then he also had support once the break was made.

Follow that up with the Batty try and again, an offload (they only work if there is support) and when the break is made there were options right AND left. We haven't re-written the rule book here, it's simple basic rugby league but after the dross we have seen (surprisingly from a coach that as a player loved that sort of thing) it was so refreshing to see.

Very happy with our progress so far.

I thought Bateman was excellent in week one but he did get some heat for his statistics from one or two people, in terms of the ground he’d made. Well if we want statistical proof he’s back to his best, we’ve had it for a couple of games now. He ran 140 metres from 17 carries last night and made 31 tackles and that was on the back of 40 odd tackles and over 100 metres last week.

Wasn't it 150+ mtrs last week?

Can someone show me the link for the stats? All I ever seem to find are the YTD totals.

I haven't seen the quote from Peet - But a Leeds fan posted this on a different thread talking about Leeds issues

Wigan look a different side under a new coach as well, and not just because they have some players back. They lost a halfback early and their coach commented how the team adjusted quickly themselves without him needing to input. That sounds like a team that has a plan and knows what to do in difficult circumstances. The opposite of Leeds

My comment at the time was that it seemed well co-ordinated even though there were a lot of switches, and 10mins after they;d switched one way, they switched KPP & Smithies before Cust came back

Player empowerment for me - and it's a good thing if managed correctly

Quote ="sergeant pepper"Can someone show me the link for the stats? All I ever seem to find are the YTD totals.'" https://www.superleague.co.uk/match-centre/report/3591

Quote ="sergeant pepper"Can someone show me the link for the stats? All I ever seem to find are the YTD totals.'" https://www.superleague.co.uk/match-centre/report/3591

A tough game in tough conditions where we weren't at our best but many positives to take out of it. If that doesn't show the difference between this year and last, I don't know what does!

Positives:

Field's great tackle when Hudds broke through and were looking very dangerous. That's one more game nearer being able to rub FTVs nose in it



The fact that we were able to win a game with very little space and one not suited to our 'pace game'.

Ellis. Really starting to show the signs that he is the solid foundation to the pack that we've been crying out for. Not flashy, just quietly gets on with his business.

Singleton..don't know what his stats were but the improvement in him was marked. Ran with vigour and aggression coupled with his usual excellent defence. We even got a superb offload. I think it's catching!

Fantastic from the 2nd row again. Faz was....well, Faz! Nothing more needs to be said. Batty excellent. What a work rate and, at times, played like a 13 with some excellent link up play in the middle of the park. Much more the Batty we expected.

KPP. Turning out to be the find of the decade. Whoever spotted him needs a bonus in their paypacket! The offloads are the eye-catching part of his game but it's been his efforts in defence that have really caught my eye. That 'effort on effort' to snuff out a promising Huddersfield attack last night is becoming something of a trademark. Great to see.

Tommy rolling back the years! He's been excellent in all 3 games. As others have said, my MOM last night.

Negatives:

Seemed a bit sluggish compared to the first 2 games. Our line speed in particular seemed down. Whether that was as a result of repeatedly getting pinged for offside in the first 2 games or not, I'm not sure. Defence was still very mean though apart from their first try.

We expect free flowing, length of the field rugby now. We can't be grinding out wins like this!



Great team effort and good to see we have a 'plan B'. We won't win every game scoring 80 metre tries and games like this give a real confidence that we can find a way to win regardless of the type of game.

Hello , we made the trip to Wigan last night for the game, we went into the bar in the south stand for a drink before the game, had a great evening and were made welcome by the Wigan supporters in there, thanks very much. Enjoyed the game although the weather was pretty poor Wigan scored some lovely tries as well and we did OK and managed to stay in the game as well. All the best for the rest of the season its looking good for you the way you are playing at the moment.

Thank you

Great post, I agree with all that. KPP’s defence is outstanding.