How would you go about beating Saints if you were coach?

What are their strengths to watch out for and weaknesses to take advantage of?

For me they are pi55 poor in the backs, all their tries are either from forwards barging over the line from a few yards out or switches or inside balls to Wellens and Roby. We need to be on the ball in the middle of the park in defence becasue Puletua and Graham are both good ball players.

I think if we concentrate our attack to Foster/Eastmond/Smith and kick it to Meli/Foster I think we will get mistakes from them, for me Sam has to do the majority of the kicking or let Deacon do it, Leuluai is nowhere near good enough at kicking and in a GF we need to have a good kicking game.

When defending the markers will need to work overtime stopping Cunningham from running those 3/4 yards out of dummy half before he passes it stopping their momentum and when on our line our markers need to be ready for KFC barging over the line, same with Roby.

well then you just cant lose against
a bunch of bargers

Richards Vs Foster - The only way the ball should go is up up up.

If we can control Cuntingham, Graham, Roby interchanges, well be fine. The sheer mobility of our 3/4 line will be too much for Saints. Wouldnt be surprised if they came out to turn it into a forward slogging match which id be fine with, Fielden for HS Trophy.

Play how we play. Moving the ball quick accross the field. Saints won't handle it. Gardner will run in to the centre and Lockers can pass over him to Pat or Goulding.

In the big games we have lost it has been because we have been way too conservative in parts, not playing the free flowing rugby which has allowed us to bladder Hull twice and various other teams.

They will try and go up the middle so we should keep it tight and use our good sliding defence and line speed to stop them A. making too many yards and B. going around the outside.

We are good enough to beat saints, we currently have a better team IMO. We just need to play our own game. If we play like we can then I can see us winning with a similar scoreline to the Leeds game!

In terms of genuine tactics, their wingers are awful. Kick, kick, kick.

We need better kicking on the last.

We must take advantage while Cunningham is off the field, mark him while he is on.

I agree, if we play how we normally play we will be good enough and add to that kicking to Pat to out jump Foster will work well.

Saints will try to turn it into a forward match but like it's been said we need to spin it out wide and run at pace.

For me, it's quite simple.....

Don't change anything.

When we've tried to change our natural game this year, targetting individuals, etc., we've come up short (Leeds/Saints)

Personally, I'd prefer to see us stick to what we do best (move it quickly, kick over to Pat and defend like absolute Trojans).

Let Saints worry about how they are going to stop us, rather than the other way round.

(NB - All of the above is said in the firm belief that we will end up losing anyway. Then again, I firmly believed that for the Leeds match too)

Agreed, except for one thing, IMO - Deacon needs to be our main kicker, not Tommy.

Saints will still have the Grand Final temperament, while we won't. That could count for a lot. Whatever game-plan Wigan hatch this week, they MUST stick to it in order to have a chance of winning.

True, but that could work both ways, they also have the losing habit.

And we have a bunch of players desperate to make a mark in their first final.

For me, Fielden, Lockers and Gleeson will be invaluable as the only ones having played at OT before. There'll be times when we need to calm things down and play cleverly, and these need to set the example IMO.

Stop cunningham you stop saints on friday they looked like rabbits in headlights when he was off the pitch

Tbh after our defence on sat it will take something very special to break it

Hasn't Deacon played (and won) at OT?

im sure MM has the saints weaknesses sussed..........for me they look very dodgy in defence down the wings.......and with us having 2 wingers who came 1 & 2 in try chatrs...thats where we should concentrate our attacks.

i think our defence will look after itself

If we defend as we did on Saturday, they should be reduced to however many points Cunningham can get by flopping over from a yard out. Keep it tight and don't take any chances - that was key at Headingley - the couple of drop-outs we gave away with some scrambling defence in the second half were fine because we were strong enough to withstand repeat sets.

Kicking needs to be better; I like Tommy, but it seems that four in every five of his kicks are straight into opposing arms on the full. Mix it up a bit - when was the last time we kicked a 40/20? Has it even happened this season? Leon Pryce banged one for Saints at our place earlier this year and it gave them the momentum to take a grip on the game.

Tactically we need change nothing really. We're going into this having finished first in the table, and having beaten the reigning champions away in our last game. There's good reason for that. If the execution of our play is as good as it's been on most weeks this year, that should see us home. No need for changing now.

Phil Clarke made excellent points when he was pre-viewing the game at KR on friday night, Saints are extremely dangerous inside the oppositions 20 metre zone. They have used the barge overs well all season with JG and TP.

IF we allow them field position with silly needless penalties we could be in trouble. We need to be squeeky clean from the off and for the full 80 minutes.

I agree that our backs are better, Richards could have a field day against either Meli or Foster, we kick high towards him and he could be in for memorable game.

Defensively the stats speak for themselves, last weeks game against Leeds was a defensive masterclass, we conceeded 6 against a side who can score lots of points which they showed against Saints in the CC Semi Final.

Puletua, Graham and KC were superb aginst Huddersfield, they smashed them up big style. These are the three key players we need to keep an eye on imo. Discipline will decide our fate imo, discipline like Leeds away we win, discipline like Leeds at home we lose.

If Wigan defend anything like the way they did against Leeds, then Saints are going to struggle to score enough points to win the game, especially with their weak backline. That said Saints are a bit smarter through the middle and have a much better pack than Leeds.

In the end I can see Wigan containing Saints through the middle and having the beating of them out wide. Unfortunately.

Ruck defence and completion.

Nowadays saints tend to feed off cheap penalties to get field position and then apply pressure to score from close range. Huddersfield found this out to their peril at the weekend and played right into saints hands. I don't think they've got the speed of thought or footwork to score from distance any more so if we can keep ruck penalties down to minimum and play in their half we'll go well.

If there's one thing I'm going to be sick of hearing before the weeks out, its going to be "Saints deserve it for Cunningham", or "what a fairytale finish it would be for Cunnigham to win the Grand Final". www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/se ... per-league

If there's one thing I'm going to be sick of hearing before the weeks out, its going to be "Saints deserve it for Cunningham", or "what a fairytale finish it would be for Cunnigham to win the Grand Final". www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/se ... per-league

Quote ="LovesToSpooge"If there's one thing I'm going to be sick of hearing before the weeks out, its going to be "Saints deserve it for Cunningham", or "what a fairytale finish it would be for Cunnigham to win the Grand Final". www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/se ... per-league'" You're not sick of it already!?!?! Don't forget we've had ''Cunningham's last league game at Knowsley Road'', Cunningham's last game vs Warrington at Knowsley Road'' and ''Cunningham's last ever game ever at Knowsley Road ever'' this last month!

Quote ="LovesToSpooge"If there's one thing I'm going to be sick of hearing before the weeks out, its going to be "Saints deserve it for Cunningham", or "what a fairytale finish it would be for Cunnigham to win the Grand Final". www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/se ... per-league'" You're not sick of it already!?!?! Don't forget we've had ''Cunningham's last league game at Knowsley Road'', Cunningham's last game vs Warrington at Knowsley Road'' and ''Cunningham's last ever game ever at Knowsley Road ever'' this last month!

Simple. Bomb the hell out of Meli and attack him at every opportunity. Get the ball in behind him when we kick and turn him around as much as possible. If we defend as well as Saturday the rest will look after itself.

I wouldn't try to win the forward battle, our forward pack is solid, our backs are definitely the weakness, I think you may be given a gift of Meli on the wing, outside Soliola, running at this pair is insane, but bomb them to death and you have a 50/50 or better chance of a loose ball over or near our line every time.
As for beating you, i really hope they dont try what other teams have done in smashing Sam and hoping he'll bottle it, he wont, he's hard as nails, bash your forwards has to be our best option with some quality grubbers from Matty Smith thrown in.

Absolutely amazed at the sheer arrogance on this thread coming from a side with one good season under their belt.

Saints are a 'barge only' side, 'pi55 poor in the backs' and if you stop Cunningham the game is done with ! Absolutely incredible from a side that have finished only 4 points higher than us and lost at home against us despite the documented problems Saints have suffered this season. This is our 5th Grand Final in a row, we were 8 minutes from Wembley again and have beaten you already this year. Indeed the win at Knowsley Road from Wigan saw you defend with utter desperation for the second half despite the most ill disciplined Saints performance in years. To suggest that this quality of side is so easily beaten is folly. Beating Saints at Old Trafford will require the best performance of the season from Wigan and I would be surprised if your pack can gain any kind of field position at all to do so this Saturday.

Reality check needed for you men. Wigan have finished top solely because of the problems that both Leeds and us have suffered this season. Saints pack is far, far stronger than Wigans and Saints' backs are more than capable of stopping the greats in your backline such as Goulding and George Carmont. I think it'll be a hell of a game with Wigan defending for much of it. Couple of scores in it for me but for Wigan to win will require Saints to drop their level from the their 2 Play Off wins. Real good side Wigan are and they will be a stern challenge at Old Trafford through their professionalism. I am quietly pleased that the derby is on centre stage as well. However I am confident as a Saints supporter that we will come out on top in a tight affair.

Good grief, don't be so bloody soft.

Saints may have been to lots of finals, but by the sound of your post, you haven't.

What do you expect Wigan fans to do, sit around bemoaning the inevitability of defeat at the hands of their Cup Final opponents?

Lighten up and take it in the proper spirit.

PS: If Mick Potter adopts your approach and assumes that Wigan are only in the final because more deserving teams like Saints and Leeds had an off-season, then you'll lose.

We finished top because of Saints and Leeds problems? What a load of bitter drivvel! Have a look at the league table from the last four years. We've topped the table with more points than Saints or Leeds did in previous years and our points difference is streets ahead of any of the previous bests. Take your blinkers off, Wigan have raised the bar this year and Saints and Leeds havn't been able to match it.

As for the final, its 50/50 as all finals should be!