Quote ="cas all the way"icon_lol.gif show me the proof? You guys were caught red handed.'" This article pretty much sums it up. You cheated to gain promotion in 2005 so whether or not we overspent in 06 should have had no relevance to you whatsoever as you should still have been in the division below. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/ ... ague.sport

Quote ="cas all the way"icon_lol.gif show me the proof? You guys were caught red handed.'" This article pretty much sums it up. You cheated to gain promotion in 2005 so whether or not we overspent in 06 should have had no relevance to you whatsoever as you should still have been in the division below. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/ ... ague.sport

Not to mention that we weren't actually charged with breaching the salary cap, but the spirit of the salary cap because we found a loophole that was perfectly legal.

Stop letting facts get in the way of some more Wigan bashing ha ha ha

Sorry

Exactly NK. The point regarding the playoffs is of particular interest as Lam has insisted that he would have done things differently had he knew he had more than one year at the start of last season and that they had addressed that this time around. I assumed that the way our forwards went about their business was one of those things as it has clearly become past it's sell by.

I don't want this to come across as Lam bashing though. It's really just about this one selection which I feel he has got wrong. I do, however, take on board the point about turning up late for training though, if that is true.

On that point, it would be really disappointing of Bullock were that the cause. It's not as though it's difficult to turn up on time. If he's a poor timekeeper just aim to arrive an hour earlier. It's not exactly rocket science, is it? It would be such a shame if he hamstrung his own career for such a trivial reason. I shudder to think just how stupid you'd have to be to allow that to happen.

As someone who's always had difficulty raising my head from the pillow in the morning, I have some sympathy!

Hardaker just referred to Bullock as ‘Mr Always late’ on a social media post. Either he’s being wound up over the rumour of his time keeping which is going about or it seems to have legs.

If it’s true and it’s hindering his chances of getting picked then Bullock really needs to have a word with himself. It’s a pitiful way of risking career progression.

If Bullock's always late then it's up to Lam to get it sorted. He's the coach so man manage!
Anyone who's been in management has had someone who's always late. You just have to handle it right and make sure that the individual still is able gives their very best to the job.
If Lam has a problem with Bullock over time keeping then Lam should get it sorted without it impacting on the team's performance.
If Lam is preventing Bullock from doing the job he can do then that is just not good enough.
IL/Rads need to have a word with Lam and tell him to get it sorted, and quick!

Morning? People get up in the morning? That's news to me!

Wane had a problem in that regard with Sam Hopkins when he signed from Leigh, Wane handled it by sending him back. Do you think Lam should do the same with Bullock IF it's true. None of us know if it is though do we?

Not sure how the finger gets pointed at Lam on this one? Quite simple really - you turn up on time or you don't play.

There's interesting articles flying around about the current LFC team and now they are all in an hour early for training as they are driving standards between each other.

I don’t know what more Lam could do than leaving him out of the first team if this is down to lateness. I’m sure if it’s come to that there will have been words had, fines handed out and so on and if they’ve not worked then time in the reserves seems fair enough. As Rogues says nobody knows the if it’s the case or not but if it is then there’s only one man to blame.

On the flip side if it is down to just issues with playing performance, then it’s bonkers for my money.

Absolutely

Where has it been said other than a comment from a supporter that Bullock is turning up late for training?

There was a post from Zak on social media labelling Bullock “Mr Late” (or something similar) apparently.

I’m really struggling with the Bullock love in.

You would think we have Shane Webke sat on the sidelines.

He is a lad that joined the team as a project player. He showed up well at times with some eye catching runs partially due to our other props playing to a system that sacrificed go forward for a quick play the ball.

He was also fairly poor in certain aspects of his game particularly in defence.

He has has performed well in the offseason but clearly is still not ticking the boxes that he will know he needs to, to get selection.

Could he be a real asset to our team? Potentially yes.

In my eyes he is still very much a project player on the fringes of establishing himself as a first team player. Obviously he needs an opportunity to cement himself as a first team player and I am sure he will get it this year. He clearly has things to work on in his boss’ opinion and it’s uo to him to sort it.

Hopefully he does and hopefully he can but let’s not make out he is a key player when at the moment he clearly isn’t.

Fair enough but he's also a fairly unique member of our squad atm in that he has the ability to make metres post contact. Partington, Bryne, Havard,.Flower (Burgess isn't fit) - none of them can do that despite other qualities.

What is this mystical quality of making post-contact metres that our props apparently lack, though? Are the players you listed less strong than,say. Joe Philbin, and any other SL forwards who make more p-c metres? Surely it's more a matter of technique and training than anything else?

For me it is more about speed and strength rather than "post contact"". Which is why I think that Byrne is a better bet longer term than Partington because for all of Partington's enthusiasm when he comes up against someone bigger/stronger with similar or more enthusiasm then the other guy wins.

To a degree I think Smithies falls into the same bracket however, age/maturity is probably more of a factor here for me.

TC even on his few "better days " just doesn't have the fitness or strength and for me when he plays either from the bench or from the start its like starting with 16 players and puts his lack of work rate on the rest of the pack.

Faz and Isa for all their other attributes just aren't big enough and ideally we wouldn't have them on the pitch at the same time. Greenwood should be a shoe in in the SR but he doesn't seem to have the heart foe the fight so me move him on.

In summary for me therefore, we are on the back foot against any team with good line speed and it's why I want the likes of Wells and Kilner to come through and why I was made up with the GB signing.

On the upside the young guys coming through do look stronger, fitter and very obviously bigger.

I hate playing at Cas as I've seen us lose there more than win and their supporters really do hate us so it's never a ground where I can say I enjoy going. A tough night tonight but hopefully the forwards can build the platform for Hastings and French to exploit

Harry Smith starts.

French
Marshall
Zak
Bibby
Burgess
Smith
Hastings
Clubb
Leuluai
Partington
Isa
Faz
Lockers

Havard
Byrne
Smithies
Shorrocks

Got a horrible feeling we're going to get mullered down the middle again.
Hope to be proven wrong.

I have that feeling all season TBH. We signed Burgess and Clark to strengthen our pack and they both look weeks away

does anybody know when the commentary starts on Wigan TV

Kids plus Clubb in the prop positions. I rate each and every one of the young props but I fear for them all being put in together and it makes little sense to me. We’ll hear plenty about Castleford’s injury’s but they’ve got an experienced pack starting the game and a big experienced forward in Junior Moors on the bench, whereas we carry an all junior forward selection on the bench.

We’ll see how we go.

This is fecking dire. Discipline issues yet again FFS.