It was a good game. Home advantage played a big part but overall I think the teams were evenly matched. My man of the match was Forber, the lad continues to improve - he could turn out to be our best hooker since Martin Dermott.

You can see why the club signed Hampshire. I know they are only kids, but I've not seen much spark from either of the 6's that have played so far this preseason.

Not sure what game you watched. Barrow were the the better side. Their forwards carried them well. The wind seem to play a big part at times in the game. Still happy with the result some good youngsters puting strong performances in. Nsemba looked better in this game. Mago isn’t blowing out his ar$e as much and did two decent 20 min stints. Shorrocks needs to look over his shoulder as one of them younger lads will be taking his position

Was thinking the same in regards Hampshire Isa and Thornley who have been criticised one way or another for being part of the squad in 2023.

The young lads really struggled with the physicality of playing against men.

It is very rare that a young lad comes straight in from the junior pathway and stays in the 17 week in week out without dropping out. Obviously from time to time it happens but that tend to be a bit special.

After a good run out last week some of the same lads really struggled with the physicality against Barrow. It’s a huge step up playing against 17-18 year olds to playing against men and generally we do a good job of nurturing that talent with loan spells so the lads can bridge that gap.

Thornley, Rocky and Isa have proven that they can cope with that level of physicality over a sustained period.

Isa due to the Bateman situation is the one that we will rely on maybe a bit more than we should.

In regards the game itself we lost the small battles due to the aggressive nature and physicality of Barrow.

Nsemba again showed cameos of his potential but probably not enough.

Eckersley again I felt showed a few moments of real quality.

Ellis went well and looked to have adopted a more aggressive attitude and certainly put him self about and was busy whilst he was on. Mago, more minutes but reduced impact. Could potentially be a tough year for him I think but only his first game. Switched off on defence once badly which would have been punished by a SL team not filling in on the inside.

I felt we looked a little sluggish out of 9 until the introduction of Forber.

Shorrocks took on the linking 13 role and I hope he finds his feet there but I’m not convinced about him, just seems to be something missing, but not sure what.

A good preseason game the coaches will have learned more from that than they did last week.

Forber, Hill and Eckserley looked good. Other than that no-one really got me excited about their first team prospects going forward. That's not to say there's anything to worry about - it just wasn't a very exciting performance generally (the weather will have had an impact).

Mago at least looked a little slimmer and fitter. Ellis was solid but no real stand out moments (story of his Wigan career so far). Shorrocks worked hard but again with limited impact.

Nsemba doesn't look a realistic first team contender yet which leaves a bit of concern for 2nd row depth.

Echo what’s been said really. Over these 2 games I think Eckersley, Hill and Forber have done the most to push their cases for first teams games. I really like what I saw from Forber today in particular, so much so that I’d be tempted to give him a bench spot early in the season and let him have a crack.

I wasn’t aware that I had said that Barrow weren’t the best side, perhaps you can point me in the right direction?

It was a good game. Home advantage played a big part but overall I think the teams were evenly matched.

Last time I checked evenly matched means both sides were the same. An seem to suggest it was because they were at home that they won. They were the better side but doesn’t take anything away from the performance the lads put in

Barrow looked very solid and were much the better side.

Expected a bit more from Wigan today. Forber looked sharper than O’Neill.

I continue to be unimpressed by Miski. Decent carry but slow for a winger.

Looking forward to next week!

The last time I checked teams can be evenly matched even before they play. Playing at home was a big advantage for Barrow but that is not the reason they won. I thought both teams played quite well. Barrow played the conditions better than Wigan and deserved their victory.

He’s a decent squad player Miski but we shouldn’t be using a quota spot on a decent squad player, especially now we cannot replace Bateman. We can’t just bin players off though, so unless something works itself out over the season, it’s going to be tough to get anybody in and that could hurt us. The ideal scenario may well be that Miski is with us for the spell up until Thornley and Hampshire are fit and by that point maybe a deal opens up for an overseas forward and they can work something out. Looking at Zak Eckersley, I’d have no concerns with him getting some games if needed.

Certainly BArrow used the wind better than we did, I did hear that it got stronger in the 2nd half?

Looking at Barrow, their sub Archer looked a decent prospect and turned the game.

We have 2 games this weekend to assess the potentials - looking forwards to it already

Looking at who played yesterday, it looks pretty clear 16 names are pencilled in for week one, with only who starts at right second row, the make up of the props and who takes the last bench spot being open to debate IMO.

It looks like-

Field
French King Wardle Marshall
Cust Smith
Singleton Powell Byrne
Pearce-Paul Farrell Smithies

Subs
Cooper Havard Isa ?

It’s possibly knee jerk but I’d be extremely tempted to go with Forber as a wildcard on the bench. He could really catch teams by surprise early in the season. I expect we’ll probably see the extra prop or Shorrocks in there however. We’ll possibly know a bit more after the weekend.

Signed from Saints. I was surprised at that as I saw him a couple of times last season and he looked a much better prospect than Moss (who we have kept on)

I think though that he is a Cumbrian lad anyway so may well have just wanted to play nearer to home. He's certainly young enough to get another go back in the SL

Is Farrell fit for start of season?

Looking at his stats from last year and how highly the coaching staff seem to rate him I don’t see any way Ellis if fit doesn’t get in the match day 17.

The big red flag for me in that team is the secondrow.

I love how KPP plays, but he is far from the finished article and having to rely on Isa as back up at his age is a worry.

Nsemba been talked about but he’s a year off at least in my opinion. A spell in on loan would do him the World of good but I don’t think we have the luxury of being able to do that unless we recruit mid season.

Have to disagree about the second row. I worry about the depth but not the starters.

Not sure if there’s a better backrow in partnership in SL than Farrell and KPP. Both England internationals.

Give KPP a run of games starting and right second row and not switching to centre and he’ll start to build defensive combinations.

Genuinely don’t think 2023 KPP will be a big downgrade from 2021/2 Bateman.

Just checked, latest report suggests he will be fit.

Yes he’s good to go mate. There was a plan in place to roll him out for the GF if we made it.

He was fully fit around Christmas.

I was going to say hopefully nothing major with Liam Byrne but thinking on, I think he’s banned isn’t he? He got a ban during the World Cup iirc.

The only other player missing that is a minor concern is Harvie Hill. Maybe he’s being loaned out like Silva or has a knock.

Yes re. Byrne, pretty sure it was just one match so he should be available for HKR

I believe the plan is to loan Hill out for a month given that the Reserves don't play for that long.

That would be a wise move. He’s probably not going to play here in the first month or two of this season but if he can go and smash it elsewhere, a chance may not be far down the track.

Byrne’s ban was farcical given what others got away with. Why did he not serve his ban in one of the other pre-season friendlies?