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A very accurate appraisal of last night and our 'status' at the moment.

The hangover from the Noble era of 'choking' in the really big games still hangs over us. Yes, the same players this year have shown more focus week in, week out, and how refreshing to be top of the league all season and being given something to believe in. But the same players are still inadequate when it really matters.

However, we are rapidly approaching the 'squeaky bum' time of the season when ALL games matter and only the ruthless survive and conquer.

At the moment, I just don't think we have enough. Something, somewhere has to change - whether its players, tactics whatever. We predictably go hammer and tongs at the start and never convert the dominance into points in the big games. Last nights team selection..... am I the only one who thinks Amos is not even a shadow of his early season self?, the persistent non selection of Feka - surely even for 20 minutes last night he may have provided something different?

This whole choking cloud hanging over us will not dissipate this season, I fear. Our nearest opponents are now on a real rise and full of belief in the knowledge they can beat us, whilst we our looking at our feet hoping we can pull it off.

Sorry for being downbeat, somebody please post something telling me I am completely wrong!!!

I dont really understand this choking tag. We were beaten by the better team last night, nothing to do with choking. Over the last few years we have lost against Saints and Leeds in the play offs, again better teams at the time so that is hardly choking either. This season we have won at least half our games against the better teams like Leeds, Saints, Warrington and Hull and sit top of the league, that is hardly choking.

Ok - Saints and Warrington at home with near full houses. Quite simply you have to beat your closest rivals on your home patch or at least not lose to them.

4 points at stake, none taken. Had they been, we would be planning our play-offs calendar and those two teams at least would be miles behind and very worried about facing us again....

You are right, we were beaten by the better teams on the night....but why cant WE be the better team on the night... on the big occasion?

But we beat Saints and Warrington away with full houses and Leeds at home with a near full house and Hull too. You cant just look at 2 games in isolation, neither can you expect us tio win every game. We have won at least half of our games against every team in SL (bar Bradford who we have still to play at home) so havent dropped points on anyone. That is not a bad record and that is why we are top of the league.



The simple fact is we havent been as good as Leeds or Saints over the past few years and so in the big occasions like the play offs we have lost, as have every other team in SL. That does not make us chokers in my opinion.

Great write-up of the match, my only critique would be that the discussion of the Farrell No Try is misconstrued, Child ruled that Wigan had taken an advantage, not that Mathers had not knocked on.

Your wrong there. On the sky coverage they state clearly that Child had ruled that the ball went backwards off Mathers which anyone could see was 100% wrong. In fact I don't think Farrell even touched the ball so that can't be an advantage. To me for an advantage to be given you surely have to have the ball in your hands on your feet?

Our form was disappointing but were Warrington that good? No. The referee, as you stated, made a few crucial decisions in favour of Warrington. Refs are only human and Wigan have not been popular this season. Apart from the repeated six and Mather's knock on there was also a blatant knock on from Anderson, not far from his own corner flag near the big screen. I can't think of any simialr incidents where Wigan were 'let off'.
People say refs are not biased and it's the players who make the mistakes but a referee (first grade who was excellet by the way) told me before a game that he was going to sin-bin a player at the match he was going to referee. He later sin-binned the said player. This is a true story and makes me realise that refs have their own agenda. The Warrington match and the Leeds' cup-tie confirmed my views.

That can't be correct.
To have taken advantage Farrell would have to have had control of the ball, which he never had.
I don't even think Farrell touches the ball as Riley got a foot to it. So it should have been either a Mathers knock on of s drop out under the posts.

Thats how I saw it. I don't think Farrell got a touch to it because of a boot in.

By and large a very good report, my only counter being your 2 crucial decisions argument is flawed by your own admittance that the king forward pass was harsh. We actually scored there, your debating knock ons but who is to say you would have scored?

That's absolutely right.

I was (as usual) listening to James debating this.

The first time he viewed the footage, he had it as a knock-on

The second time, he said it went backwards.

When he finally gave the decision, he was still debating it right up to pressing the button. He had no idea and might as well have flipped a coin.

For mine - It was a clear knock-on (but then I'm biased)

Now that the dust has settled I have to say that the two games between the sides have been so close that it is difficult to draw any specific reasons for winning/losing. Surely the essence of the competition is for close games that are impossible to predict. As Lee Briers stated at interview weve got to play Wigan again this season would anyone care to predict the result of the next one?

The ball was going to ground that often that who's to say if you did have head and feed that you'd have scored from it ?

Exactly what I said in my report, we'll never know. But in the context of that moment - just scored a 90 metre try to level the match then from restart made a break from own 20 to opposition 10 (on a night when breaks were very rare) a scrum there would have left Warrington possible mentally fragile. They got off the hook with that call. Swung the momentum totally.