pettybourne can do 40 minutes if needs be try asking Masoe to do that and you better have the oxygen ready. Pettybourne played fair amount of minutes for USA and he was basically injured all last season i wouldn't read into the interchanges in a friendly it was hardly like he was blowing when he came off.

The other thing about masoe is if a back catches him flat footed or rushed out the line you know he is going to skip around him. Just hope that he doesn't catch you on the blind side or you will more than likely be crunched.



EDIT***

Also i was far from impressed with your forwards other than Sia and Amor. Amor had a strong game and just kept running hard but he also got smashed and picked up a lot i was more impressed with Crosby than Amor. I hope for your sake that Walmsley isn't going to have 2nd season syndrome he didn't look a shell of the player of last season. LMS is better off playing Prop that way he will play less minutes be more effective and give away less penalties, but thought he was close to being terrible.
Overall i think you better hope beaumont and Masoe offer something huge.

Enjoyed the match and don't think people can just write that off as a friendly, alright maybe as 1st team goes but it was more of a test to compare squads if anything. Even in the last 25-30 minutes wigan had all the kids in the backs and still held on to and then scored two tries. More than happy with the game and i think a lot of saints fans might realize wigan won't be walk overs and will stop writing us off now.

Pettybourne wouldn't be in the same category as Masoe. On Friday night he only had a brief impact because like all the props he was only on for a brief time. In the world cup Pettybourne played plenty of minutes and was a workhorse forward. In fact he was one of the most effective in the competition. He made plenty of carries, gained lots of metres and worked hard in defence and that's the sort of prop we need with Mossop leaving.

Saints do perhaps have a lack of aggression in the pack although LMS is hardly an angel. He's also flattered to deceive given the initial hype and seems more of a liability, although he does get through a lot of work in a game.
Manu offers some aggression though and I think Mose Masoe will add a bit of nastiness.

Still, I don't quite seen how Ben Flower is the 'archetypal horrible prop'. He's never been banned, rarely does anything untoward and his only brush with the disciplinary was a scrap with Perry while playing for Crusaders nearly 3 years ago. You're obviously thinking of the wrong guy. Dudson might fit that category as he's had a couple of bans previously for some sneaky things.

All things considered though Wigan don't really have a 'nasty' enforcer type forward, despite what Nathan Brown might think. In fact it's been a regular criticism of the pack. Closest we've come is Hock but he was just daft as a brush.

I think you have misunderstood my comments about Flower. It was meant as a positive thing. You can tell with the way he plays that he wants to hurt the opposition. I didn't say anything about him doing that illegally. I am not thinking of the wrong guy. I really rate Flower and like how he plays the game.

Back to Pettybourne, playing big minutes for USA against the likes of Cook Islands and Wales is one thing, but it's a big step up doing that against some of the packs in Super League. Again, I don't mean this as a negative against him, I just feel he'll be used in short bursts, similar to how we use Masoe.

I've not read any comments from a Saints fan writing you off or suggesting you'll be walkovers. Only an idiot would do that.

Sorry, I did misunderstand. He is similar to Harrison Hansen in the way that his defence is very aggressive and when players get tackled they really feel it. I'd put Sia Soliola in the same category though based on what I've seen of him.

It's definitely easier to play big minutes against the smaller nations but he also did the same against Australia. That was probably the best game he had in the competition considering the standard of opposition. Having played second row more often in his career his fitness levels should be fairly good.

He strikes me as a player who could be used in both ways, depending on the nature of the game and which player accompanies him in the front row. Alongside someone like Crosby he might be able to offer more impact and do a little less defending but playing alongside Taylor or Dudson he'd probably need to do more grunt work, which I think he's more than capable of doing.

I think Taylor and Flower will predominantly be your starting pair with Pettybourne and Dudson/Crosby from the bench. Either way you've definitely got a variety of options in the pack, as have we.

I'm certainly looking forward to Masoe and Pettybourne launching themselves at each other on Good Friday!

Cheers for that. I did think Pete's views a little off the mark (and he's generally an astute poster) and was wondering if it was a case of the Wigan fans being far more 'au fait' with the individuals in our pack or perhaps just wishful thinking on Pete's part. I don't think there's many on the Wigan board that consider the likes of Pettybourne, Taylor, Flower and Crosby as 'weak links'. I'd go as far as to say the pack looks stronger this year than last and not many teams got the better of that one! With all due respect to Luaki and Powell, they aren't really a loss and even Moose was little more than steady last year. The only real loss, on form, is Hansen but even there we have added better options in attack with the likes of Bateman and Clubb and also have several superb youngsters chomping at the bit. Given that Saints pack is reckoned to be the strong suit over at Langtree Park I was just interested to see if opinions were any different now the Saints fans had had a chance to see the to respective packs up against each other.

I see Masoe being a handful with the ball in hand, but teams will 'spot' him in the defensive line as his lack of mobility (similar to Feka when with us) is a weakness.

I haven't seen anything from him playing for Penrith or Samoa to suggest he'll be a weakness as such but I understand what you mean about teams targeting him to try and tire him quickly. They may come off worse running at him though!

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I think teams will try to make him involved with 'doubles' or even 3 tackles in a set to take petrol out of his tank, he's a big lad to have to keep up that workrate and then have to drive the ball up, I know teams tried this tactic against Feka, and to a certain extent it worked.

Banned off the Saints board for suggesting they've gone soft and are spineless which isn't helped with Nathan Brown's mard reputation.

Is that valid opinion or against the AUP? No wonder Redvee.net is so popular

really you got banned for that post? I read it and it didn't seem offensive. What was the reason given for being banned?

I think you got banned because you didn't make any attempt to engage in conversation. You basically just came on and called Saints spineless cowards, which just looks like trolling.

Go have a look.

I even asked the moderator which parts of the AUP have a violated.

I've stopped posting on RLFANS over the last 4/5 years compared the good old days - Sadly this is why!

And I justified why I have that opinion. Just because people don't agree with it doesn't mean I'm a troll nor warrants a ban.

'Since when did Saints turn into a bunch of cowards? It was a repercussion from a tough attempted tackle, that's all.

Spineless. You wish you was as ruthless as Wigan.'


Doesn't seem off topic or really trolling more offering his opinion. who moderates the moderators? surely you can't just ban somebody because you don't agree with his opinion. And if you can all of a sudden somebody please ban gutter fax and william eve from posting on the vt.

All very strange when one of their own moderators posts.

By the way everybody will be happy to hear Luke walsh is fine to play this weekend… Who would of guessed that?

Stop making things up we all know having seen the statements from Mrs Brown (or was it his boys) that he is currently in intensive care having had his head sewn back on....

It's very easy to get banned from the stains board..

I didn't ban you. Just telling you why it happened. You did come across like all you wanted to do was be provocative and argumentative though.

Well just looked at the stains board, can't see the fuss at all.... What a bunch of whining tarts...I can recall someone some time ago on these boards, saying to a stains fan when they were in their pomp "It will be interesting to see how you lot behave when your bubble has burst" or words to that effect.. Looks like they have turned into a bunch of spineless jellies..

Just for a bit of perspective on Friday. It was a great game of Rugby. Well worth the £12 or tenner or whatever you paid, going to a very worthy cause. As a game it was really competetive with both teams giving everything.

It's a shame that Brown said what he said and I put it down to worrying that Walsh was badly injured. In the cool light of day, I'll bet he regrets it, because it was stupid. (We suffered the loss of both our half backs for spells last season - did you hear SW complaining - no he just said it was a chance for someone else)

This time last year we were nilled by Wire in Westwoods testimonial and we were lucky to get nil. To me it shows how far we have come in a year. The young pack was immense and showed that the thread about 'power packs' was way off the mark.

Saints played well in parts with Amor showing up and I though Walsh looked class, so they will take a lot from the game. For us, all the new signings looked good (apart from Bowen, who obviously needs time).

The game served its' purpose with Saints providing a good test before the WCC. But just a thought - when players are granted a testimonial it seems that Wigan are the first pick, mainly because we are so well supported. It was a very decent turnout at the game. If we are to suffer moaning from Coach Brown then perhaps they should pick someone else in future.

Wigan are rough and tough in a rough and tough sport. The Saints and Wire fans (after the GF moaning) really need to take a long look at themselves - could I suggest watching professional football if they want to watch a non contact sport?

I got banned from there, no idea why. Asking one of their mods and they didn't know why either. They just seem to be ban happy over there.

Brown doesn't do himself or his club any favours with these outbursts.
He banged on no end about the Taylor/O/Brien incident but was very quiet when Meli belted Craig Hall, knocked him unconcious, got sent off and banned.
The difference in his attitude over both incidents was mentioned in SKY's Back Chat show where Rod Studd read out Browns comments after both games. It rather brought ridicule on the Saints coach.
BTW re last Friday, weren't the first three penalties against Saints all for head high tackles? The first two certainly were and I have a feeling the third was too.