what gets me is that one Saints trys was from a forward pass - only just forward, but forward none-the-less... So even stevens. Further on, i reckon when 2000 eyes see a forward pass (again for saints), it's kinda a given that the touch has missed something.

Never on side. Graham with a cowardly shoulder tackle almost breaking one of our guys (Leuluai?) neck, taking Pat out when he'd already kicked the ball (and there was no committal there, it was malicious)... plus many more infringments all ignored. Sure enough, Wigan beat up a 14 man Saints Squad.

Saints can harp on all they want about this injury and that injury, Wigan have a low injury rate because every single member of the squad is properly looked after and our Sports Conditioner is second to none, period. Conditioning is responsible for these Saints injuries, and conditioning is the responsibility of the club. Saints lost because the players and the backroom staff don't put enough into it.

Wind yer neck in, get back in yer box, you lost. End of.

It's also yet more bollox from the most aply named Saints fan on these boards.

Richards has only just returned to the team, and Wigan have still won most of their matches, so that point is totally spurious. And, good player though he is, no-one who is even vaguely bright would seriously try to assert that Sam Tomkins is the only reason why Wigan win games.

Back on topic...
I was saying to my mates yesterday...not once did I feel any nastiness in the air as we do when Wire come to town. In the bars before and after there was nothing but friendly banter between fans.
Sure there was plenty of passion in the stands during the game but that didnt transfer into aggression after the game as it usually does with a Wire game.
A top top day out, just wished it was like that every week..

Well there was at least three.

I said the exact same several times. There was a really good atmosphere, everybody was happy and getting along with everyone just fine with no animosity. Had it been Warrington I would have felt intimidated and wouldn't have hung around before and after the game.

I 100% echo this, i spoke to/drank with numerous groups of Saints fans and it kind of dissapoints me that theyre all nice people and are willing to have a laugh



Such a contrast to when we play Warrington and the air is filled with nastiness from their horrible fans.

Great Great day out all round!

They were smiling at you because they couldn't understand a word you and Jaybee were saying.

Im thinking of enrolling for Lancastrian lessons to combat such problems

If you're desperate to make a point after as gutting a defeat as yesterday at the very least don't try to make things up. I'm sure you'll be able to link to posts that say that "Graham is crap" - but I bet you can't. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't want him in their team, because he's one of the very few world class British players, which is why he'll be missed so much next season by Stains and will effect Roby's game as well.

Surely this can't be right. I only ever hear about the injuries that the opposition have...........

The fact is that these days the main players are the ones that have the best and most flexible overall squad and can deal with injuries in a way that least disrupts the team. Its not all about the starting 13 or even the 17 that take to the field for a particular match, its about the whole of the first team squad. We didn't assemble a good enough overall squad for years and ended up as nearly (and not so nearly) men for years because of it. Every team gets injuries but i find it amusing that the same people bleating about having a half fit squad of players were quick to point to the fact that this wasn't a good enough excuse for a loss when we were going through the horrors a couple of years ago and that we should have managed the squad better.

Boots on the other foot now.

This is so true . We were always told it was a squad game and to shut up and get on with it.

The boot is definitely on the other foot.

Saints came to Wigan with six first team players out. They lost!
Wigan went to Huddersfield with seven players out and won.
It is a part of the game that injuries occur and the test is how a squad overcomes these problems.
Some times a team can other times it can't.
Yesterday Saints couldn't.

If the game told Saints anything it is that they are wasting their money on Pryce and Eastmond.
Lomax will be a far better payer than Eastmond and I reckon far more committed to their club as well.
Wheeler and Gaskell are both talented lads who will do well for Saints for the next 10 years. Saints just have to keep them fit!

As much as we are heated rivals there has always been respect between both set of fans.

I mean after all it is the biggest Derby in RL no matter what the Hull clubs and Leeds/Bradford might say.

As a season ticket holder at Ewood who has been coming to Wigan for eleven years, the Wigan - Saints fixture is the equivalent of Rovers - Burnley and the contrast couldn't be any different.

One is like a war zone with riot police everywhere, fighting fans, stabbings, helicopters overhead, police outside every pub, away fans having to be bussed in (no bus ticket, no match ticket) and so on.

The other is what it should be - a keenly fought local derby with good banter between both sets of supporters and, by and large, no bother.

I've been to the Saints fixture, home and away, many times and never seen any trouble or felt threatened in any way. Yesterday was no different. Walking past the North Stand before the game to collect my ticket at the ticket office, no comments directed my way because of my Wigan shirt and a few Wigan & Saints fans could be seen chatting to each other. The same after the match - it must have been hard to take, losing it in the final seconds, but walking to the car park, both sets of supporters side by side, no goading from wigan fans and no looking for trouble from Saints.

Yes, driving up the M6 and along the M65 with Iron Maiden blaring out at 10 million decibels, I had a smile on my face, but I couldn't help thinking that there wouldn't have been a cat in hells chance of the fans behaving that way at the East Lancs Derby.

Very refreshing.

But did you lose a halfback and your fullback during the first half [ias well[/i? No. THAT was the difference for us. With Wheeler and Wellens on the pitch, we wouldn't be having this conversation because you would be crying in your beer instead of us. We were all over you until Wheeler was dispatched by Hoffman and we lost Wello to an ankle injury. All over you. We were totally in charge. You couldn't live with us. And any Wigan fan with half a brain knows just how lucky you were to win yesterday. By a try from a forward pass.

I saw some mixed families near where i was sat and the atmosphere was a bit frosty between them at full time



I saw one little lad with a Saints shirt on crying his eyes out walking out with his mum consoling him and then his brother with a Wigan shirt on tried holding his hand but he tells him to get lost



Saw a few neutral fans there too and they enjoyed the game hugely. Saw some great banter all through game and on the way out of the stadium but no trouble at all. The derbies are the greatest games in a season by a mile for me. Its the intensity, the nerves and the all or nothing nature of the games that you just cannot beat.

I hope its Wigan vs Saints GF again this year with a similar result to last year obviously

Speaking to two lads on Anvil before game, this was their first Wigan Saints match they've been to. They were from Walsall and are football fans only to watch their first rugby game on tv last year only to get hooked.

But, but, but, if, if, if...........



Here's what a Stains fan thinks of this bollox:

nasty nasty wire! lets tar them all with the same brush! i have numerous freinds who support the pie, never hit them or tried to scare them or anyone who supports them in my life! sweeping generalisations strike again! well played.

Met a very nice Saints fan at the theatre of dreams this afternoon who was also an Everton fan - he spotted the ancient & loyal crest on my polo shirt, and said his weekend wasn't going too well so far



However, despite loosing to us in the derby we both agreed Fridays game was a spectacular (less said about todays football the better....John Kear would have enjoyed it)

Perfect example that if the RFL got of their as much as the RFU do, our game could be huge.

yet you scored a grand total of 10 points in that half? congratulations on your domination.

They are becoming a regular occurrence and Brent Webb at Leeds is throwing more forward passes than passes back!

I think it does need the RFL to have a word with the refs to try and stop it.

Points don't always reflect the domination, though, do they? Wello dropped the ball on the way to the tryline clear ahead, so that could have been six more. Would 16 have been dominant enough for you? You only scored 4, and that was from a forward pass.

We were all over you until Hoffman took out Wheeler. You were nowhere in that game. We were fantastic.