I haven't watched ANY of the world cup yet, I have just lost total interest in the game over the last 12/18 months due to the boring turgid nature of our play

And yet, the worst game of rugby league is still more exciting to watch than any game of football or union.

I enjoyed the England v Australia game and the Ireland v Italy game. I've also enjoyed the games involving Fiji, Tonga and PNG. Can't wait for the NZ v Tonga game this weekend.

Yet you're still posting on a rugby league forum? Why bother if you've no interest at the moment?

I agree with the last poster - the England v Australia game was good and the games involving Pacific Island nations have been entertaining. There's obviously some really poor teams in there - Wales, USA, Scotland, Lebanon. Would have expected a bit more from France as well but I wish they could get a full side out there for once - put Escare, Duport, Casty and Springer in there and it would help them out a lot.

As for Tomkins, wherever he plays I'm quite hopeful that he'll have a much better year in 2018 if he gets through a full pre-season unscathed.

We played well on the opening day at Salford (a Salford team who after that day up until the super 8's would go on and have a top season) and put in a huge performance against Cronulla then it went west.

I think a combination of the effects of the Cronulla game and some injuries killed the bit of momentum we had a few weeks after Cronulla and it never got going again. We may have to deal with a similar energy sapper (both physically and mentally) next season with us travelling down under. Once the bright lights, beaches and sunshine haze has faded, I just hope the players have it in them to switch on for games against Wakefield, Huddersfield, Widnes etc in the cold of England. They seemed to find it very difficult to raise themselves at times last year and they can't let that happen again.

I watched Part 1 of the season review on Wigan TV last night, and it struck me, we actually were playing some decent stuff at the start of the season! Even FPN looked like he could be d for a few games.

[url=https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby-league/wigan-warriors/wane-excited-to-try-out-new-combinations-1-8862884Maybe he isn't completely stuck in his ways after all.[/url This sounds really promising to me that he appears to have acknowledged the issue and be willing to look at ways to solve it.

This fills me with hope for next season. If we can keep them all fit. Personally I am still quietly confident Sam will impress with a full pre-season. He's not had one now for what 4 years? Maybe more?

1. Escaré
6/7. Williams
6/7. Tomkins
9. Mickey/Leuluai

That looks pretty formidable to me, not forgetting about Powell and what will Shorrocks bring to the table? Is Tomkins' long kicking game strong enough for a starting half position? Lots of questions I'm looking forward to finding out the answers to.

We basically just need to try every combination and go with the one that works best.

A few clubs have used halves off the bench recently with decent success so like Wane says Escaré off the bench could be interesting.

Another area we need to have a clean slate with is prop. I don't have a great deal of confidence in any of them tbh but we'll need to pick four so the friendlies should be an open audition. If Wells, Hamlin, Field etc out perform Nuuausala, Tautai and co then get them in the team.

If nothing else comes from a poor season last year then I hope it's taught Wane that you can't always have this attitude that X, Y or Z have done well for me in the past so they'll get selected. I can only think of Tom Davies, Gildart, Farrell and Bateman who I'd personally say earned their shirts for next season based on this years performances. The rest should start afresh. If Marshall outplays Burgess in pre season then get him in, if Forsyth outshines Gelling then pick him. Make players earn their shirts and fight to keep them. Our pre season should be one big audition.

The change of view by Waney is good that he's thinking of moving players positions who were previously unmovable.
We can have a top class spine of the team and remove the predictability that has restricted the team for some time now.

You don't think O'Loughlin earned his shirt NK?

I obviously meant that it goes without saying



It does though.

I was at a sportsman's dinner on Friday and Shaun Wane was guest speaker. He was asked this very question about fitting Sam and Escare in the team and said that they were looking at the different combinations for them, mentioning that Escare had in the past played at #1, #6, #7 and #9.

Probably all talk from Wane. There’s no precedent for him to change the style of play or players in certain positions. What have we heard from some player interviews recently, things like ‘not happy with how we’ve played for a couple of years’ etc. He’s stale and lacks the coaching staff around him or the brains himself to move us in a different direction.

Reading the aortic;es there does seem to be an element of saying what he and no doubt the club think we fans want to hear,the proof is in the pudding of course so at this point we will have to take him at his word that things will change.

Haha... .I thought that's what you must mean!

I've been a critic of Wane, but I don't think he's wired that way. For example, the perception that they spend all the training sessions wrestling rather than practicing attacking moves is deeply unpopular with the fans, yet he has still been talking about those in his pre-season interviews.

Waney is quoted there as saying Escare has played those positions. That's ok, but he has to move more players around than Morgan.
IMO Sam has to be moved from fb position during a game. Start him at fb then move him to the halves as an option when attacking the opposition's line. If Escare played 6 or 7 with George in the halves then we've two running half backs and no play maker. Should Lockers be off the field then we're stuck and will look as clueless next year as last season. Move Sam up to the halves when on attack and that will confuse the opposition no end. Add Lockers into that with Escare fb and the threat to the opposition line is massive.
Do that and we will see entertaining rugby and I'll bet our points scored tally would increase massively.

The more time I spend thinking about this question, the more I think it's not our biggest question.

The biggest problem/question is what do we do when SOL goes off the field during a game. Not only do we fall apart defensively, but all out attacking structures look terrible without a top class ball playing 13 on the field. Maybe Hamlin is a good ball player, but if he isn't it's just another season of dreading SOL being interchanged.

Some other clubs leave a hooker on the field and move them to loose to keep 2 good ball players in the pack during interchange periods. You lose some size, yes, but it seems our attacking play is so heavily reliant on having a good passer at loose forward that the trade off may be worth it.

Cas did it with Milner, and I've seen Widnes keep white and Heremaia on the field at the same time.

The scouting report suggests not. He seems to be lacking in ball handling skills and has no offload to his game either. He runs hard and has a decent step and he tackles hard. So he isn't going to be a replacement for SOL.

However there are very few in the world game who are ball handling 13s in any case. Joel Tomkins would seem to be the best suited amongst our squad but injuries seem to be his constant issue these days. John Bateman is rather proving in this World Cup that passing isn't his forte either.

Remember that SOL was a Stand Off who was converted rather like Ellery Hanley (who I think started on the wing then moved to centre then Stand Off). The like of Gene Miles and Dean Bell were very good 13s too. It may be more fruitful to consider who amongst the backs could be converted. I know Waney had his eyes on Sutcliffe at Leeds but he seems to be happy there now. Someone like Jordan Abdul may make a decent 13 in time.

I have floated this idea before and I would still like to see it tried out.
Sam Tomkins to loose forward.
He can tackle, he can read the game, he has excellent ball handling skills.
It would solve many problems if it worked.

I think that takes the lack of size argument to a whole new level.

I wouldnt mind seeing McIlorum or Powell put there for 20 minute spell until SOL is ready to come back on.
But it was painfully clear last year that having Isa, or Tomkins or Flower (the year before) at 13 just completely breaks down any attacking structure we have.

That was one of the main reasons I was sad to see Gregson go. Because he's decent size and speed, and can also play stand off (like O'Loughlin), and had a decent passing game. At least he would have been able to provide the link up play that we need from our loose forward.

The vast majority of teams, though, both here and in the NRL, manage perfectly well without this mythical ball-playing 13 (who are like hen's teeth these days). Why can't Wigan?

Simples - because we don't have ball playing 6 & 7 either and 9 for that matter.

Spot on. Nor another leader