Last year I seem to recall the first 'bloody hell mathers' came after about 8 seconds when he missed a Richards kick off?

What time do we think the first will be timed at this season?

He does one a game, at least. His flapping for the cas try last week had me chuckling.

I am pretty sure the wire fans were saying "Bloody Hell Mathers" on Saturday night after the massive error he made!!

There was a few 'bloody hell Mathers' moments during their game v Castleford on Saturday.

He is no doubt one of their weak links on Saturday. Most fullbacks may be suspect under a high ball but to be fair to Mathers he is reasonably safe. The kicks he struggles with (if he's not already out of position!) are low the dinks behind the line or towards the corners.

He is the weak link to the Wire team

The lad never gave anything less then 100% for Wigan but things just didn't work out for him. He deserved better then some of the moronic jibes aimed at him from some numpties sat near me in the challenge cup semi final.

He'll always be prone to the odd error imo but he's a decent enough player and more importantly just loves playing the game. I take no pleasure in seeing him make that kind of error on Saturday in the main but if he comes up with a couple this Saturday i'll be happy but only because we'll have scored some points.

We've moved on to better things with Phelps and to be fair so has he.

Everyones a winner.

lets really get on this lads back on the weekend - I think that a few eeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyooooorrrrr's will be in order

Excellent post - couldn't agree more and can imagine he will be extra nervous this Saturday so, like you, I won't be upset if he happens to have the odd fumble this weekend.

Hi missus might not be too happy though.

We have scored 3 tries from that kick to the middle so far this season!

Mathers will not have a chance with 4 players running at him!

We must kick him to death and he won't stand a chance. We should keep Riley quiet by putting pressure on him as well.

You never know - she might be - you know what they say about practise makes perfect!

We've had plenty of threads on this. He was keen, he wanted to be good, and he seemed to love playing, but enthusiasm isn't enough when you're a professional, and it's your job. I genuinely want him to be successful, but not at our expense. Let's also not forget, Mathers and Higham have more Challenge Cup Winner's Medals than our lot!!

He'll be fired up against us on Saturday, he always is. He does still flap a bit though...

A few chips over the top would be the order of the day for me.

We put a kick through the line about 40m out in the friendly which Sam Tomkins chased through. It was a 50/50 ball between him and Mathers but Mathers was like a Rabbit in the head lights and just seemed to bottle it.

Mathers has got good skills but he's prone to the odd gaff and I think his past injuries still play on his mind in those 50/50 situations.

Like I said earlier I like him and theres no need for some of the sh*t he takes off the Wigan fans but we must target him on Saturday night.

8 Mins.

He always tried his best for Wigan and took alot of typical unfair abuse, which contributed to his downfall.

However, if we kick him to death on Saturday, I think we will get plenty joy.

I felt sorry for Richie when he came in for the pre-match talk in the South Stand bar, he was boo'd by a small ut noticeable portion of the people in there. You could tell he was upset by that. Was uncalled for imo.

personally from what I've seen he always seems comfortable in the air, it's the grubbers he struggles with.

I think he is fine with the basics of the position, but once he makes a mistake he goes to pieces.

His positional play is exceptional like you say, he's always in the right place at the right time but his brain doesn't always move as quickly as he does and left out on the wing.
Saying that i really like the lad and he more than makes up for the brain farts in my eyes in other areas.

His decision making is rushed at times all he needs to learn is a little composure and he'll be fine.

Composure was the thing that he could never work on at Wigan - Too many boo-boys who were looking for any reason at all to get on his back.

I'll admit that I was never his greatest fan, but I would never boo any Wigan player whilst they are playing for us.

He just doesn't seem to be comfortable in covering the little chips and kicks on the ground. Give him a bomb and he tended to be OK (although he did let it bounce more often than any other FB I've seen recently at Wigan).

I'm glad he's back with a coach who can nurture him, while the fans give him time, although if he'd still been with us this year - Who knows what would have happened?

With Kris Rad and Hampo training him, he could have stepped up several levels.
But then again, we have "Squeaky Cam", whom I personally rate much more highly than Richie Mathers.

I just hope Wigan's game plan isn't solely to focus on Mathers (of course I doubt it will be). We need to counter the threat of Lee Briers and let Myler get more of the ball. Personally I don't think Myler can control the park enough yet and if Briers is marginalised could be key to keeping them from getting too many points.

I hope we dont go that far !!!!!!!!!!

Dont worry, we will just appeal any ban that would occur