I was surprised by the choice of MoM tonight.
Actually thought Field, Marshall and Johnstone were the contenders.

From the Fox Sports report:

"Wigan centre Jake Wardle was named player of the match but it was the kicking game of halfback Harry Smith that was the difference between the two sides."

Wardle made the eye catching moments
Harry Smith was very good and I was surprised he didn't get it
But I picked KPP - He was outstanding in everything he did

PS
They won't get much Credit, but Isa and Powell were very good again

Isa and Powell invariably tighten our defence and they were an important part in making our defence watertight last night. I like how they are both so down to earth lads.
Got to tip my hat to you Jukes. I didn’t think that we had a chance of winning the GF particularly after the Wakey loss but even then you were adamant that we could and would win the GF. Last night’s win comes pretty close in my opinion in matching the 2010 victory. I just wanted a win. Wasn’t bothered about the score or size of the crowd I just wanted a win. Once we scored the try we never looked like losing.
KPP I think has been our best player over the last 12 weeks or so. He will be missed. I hope that he has a fantastic career in the NRL.

Powell, if he goes, will be a bigger loss than most people think. Not only does the partnership with O'Neill work well, but he plays a big part in the positive culture at the club - he's a real leader and standard setter. He's also a top class bloke too.

Leeming might be a better player, he's certainly more flashy, which will give endear him to a certain section of the fan base, but is he as good culturally? Could you ever see Powell walking out on a club like Leeming did at Leeds?

I think you’ve probably nailed the answer to your own question in your first sentence. Their game plan to me is using their forward power to dominate opposition packs, turning the game into a slug fest which suits their style. They’re not the fittest side by a long stretch so playing that way helps conserve energy plus they use the Catalonian heat much to their advantage.

And we should add Ellis to that list, he played big minutes last evening.

That may be true but watching them they seemed to have no guile when near our line and no clear options a bit like we were a season or two ago.

Also as pointed out Powell and Isa made very positive contributions especailly second half, Isa was everywhere and tackling everyone - Cats must have been sick of him and some of his hits were brutal. I went with Wardle for MOM as he was the one breaking or almost breaking the line most - if anyone looked likely to make the decisive break it was him, but to be fair there were many candidates across the team, it was a very solid performance by everyone. Not one player can be said to have been poor at all, exactly what you need in a final.

Marshy-Wining try CC semi,CC final now GF give the lad a round of applause.
Harry-controlled the game and as pointed out dragged Marshy away from a situation with the ref.
KPP great game.
Ellis ran hard all game .
Wardle just about gets MOM.
Love the passion for the game from Willy,such a joy to watch.
Slugfest of a game but Wigan took it on tactics proven right by Peet (jobs for the boys,cheap option etc,etc).
I also did think we could win the GF as we have a fantastic club.
Great to see so many Wiganers.

One for the purest, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. The good news is that we can win by playing scintillating rugby or we can grind teams down. It was a very important win for our young team and I believe it will be the springboard to future success. Let’s wallow in this one though.

How many tickets did we sell? The whole ground seemed to have Wiganers in it.

Watching it back now, he’s taken some stick this year but Mago had a cracking game. Big carries and put in some cracking shots on.

I was about to say the same thing. He made a massive contribution on building the momentum that put us on top.

Mago busted a gut to pressure the kicker at one point as well (last contribution before being subbed), which is a great sign of how he’s turned things around.

I’ve just watched the game back for the first time and I think Wardle deserved the MOM. Harry Smith was excellent outside of a couple of poor kicks. Jai Field scared them to death. I thought Smithies was superb as well (55 tackles he made). It was a shame to see Havard go down again and hopefully it’s not too bad. A real shame to see him miss the England series now.

I thought Mago put in an awesome stint. Really put in 100% effort around marker tackles something he never used to do.

Field has gone under the radar a little bit in this game - watching from behind the sticks at the 'Catalan' end he scared them to death in the 2nd half - and without taking anything away from Wardle, he opened up the space for him to make those runs. Only some very good scramble from Catalan prevented him making a much bigger mark.

With the confidence boost this gives us and the new signings it sets us up nicely for next season.

i dont know Zig,but it was bouncing.
You could have said hello as I had ironed my shirt especially

Not a great game for the neutral but brutal defence by Wigan. Ironically it was the type of game that would've suited Saints. Not saying for one minute we'd have definitely won but it was just the type of arm wrestle we normally do well in.

I've said for a while now too that I think Old Trafford has had its day as a venue. Poor transport links in and out and the kick off time means rival fans drunk and arguing. I was sat next to two Warrington fans who were arguing with Wigan fans in front. At HT I defused a potential fight between two Wigan fans, and thats in the hospitality parts. Obviously all the non-Wigan fans in there were supporting Catalans so they had a healthy number of "fans"

Since the CC SF I think Wigan have been the best team in the comp so no complaints from me, they were worthy winners on the night and will definitely be favourites next year. Will be interesting where they play Penrith.

Its going to be a long season when the Internationals are over.

I'm really hoping that we play Penrith in Aus.

I'd prefer it at Wigan - could never make it to Australia, we'd have a better chance at home and it wouldn't disrupt the season as much.

How seriously do we take the WCC? I really like the idea of the best sides in each competition going head to head but do the NRL sides even play their best available 17 these days? If not then it loses its importance IMO and just becomes an interesting friendly.

It's not the be all and end all and it certainly doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

Just nice to play a different team and see some of our lads go against the best in the world. We rightly talk some of the Wigan lads up, but how will Faz do Vs Martin etc.

Penrith included it as part of the preseason challenge and rested 2 of their key players (Edwards and Martin) last week. Crowd was about 10k.

Hopefully they play a full team this year.

They were injured not rested, just as Batchelor was injured for us, so basically they had one more injury than us from playing a full team.

No doubt if its played in Australia and Wigan win it will be the greatest achievement in the history of British Sport. If Penrith win its because they've taken it "seriously"

Its a win win for Wigan.

Question for you Stu- Do you think Penrith took that Saints game as seriously as they did the Grand Final just gone against Brisbane?

I’ve no issue admitting that for us to beat them, we’ll need them to take the game lightly and be off their best. It would still be an immense achievement beating a team spending 4 times as much as us on players, just as it was for Saints.

Didn’t a challenge by Kierghan get put on report? If he gets banned we go in the season a player down for an incident that went against us.