Is it pay on the day as I've rung Wigan and they have heard nowt so i called Salford and they didn't even answer the bloody phone

I’m hoping so!

Remember folks that it is Salford so you do not pay to watch the rugby, it is more of a ransom to be let off the car park.

Is TT not playing any of the friendly's seem strange that one, is he injured.

[url=https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2019-01-19-salford-red-devils-preview?fbclid=IwAR0Ym8hpyWS-LN94FakuhMG2TKnI5S9YB3LC9nQpA7f5jKetc2zT0s_BO4UNot mentioned in the preview at all...[/url

Warrington had a training session behind closed doors against Salford and I spoke to a Warrington player today who said they were very impressive. He also said Wigan might struggle against them if they don’t click straight away. Should be a decent game tomorrow and it seems Salford might not be the whipping boys that some are predicting. I’m looking forward to it.

Salford’s team looks very handy to me but the problem they have is they don’t have a big squad and they have no back up from academies to call on. If they had an injury crisis like we had in 2016 and 2017 at any point this season and were missing 10+ players, they’d be snookered.

Watson is a fine coach forced to play with his hands tied, he deserves better.

A worthwhile run out. Poses a few questions for team selection. I imagine that one or two of our lads might be on Salford 's shopping list as they already seen a bit threadbare.

https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2019 ... alford-win seems to have been a good game, and TT was on the bench.

https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2019 ... alford-win seems to have been a good game, and TT was on the bench.

I wasn't expecting much but i was quite impressed for a first run out. Sammut put some great bombs in and there were signs that Hardaker will be superb once he settles in. For once i think we now have a bit of size in the forwards with Bullock & Greenwood, Greenwood was superb as was Tony Clubb. I couldn't fault anyone really however I do think that both Isa & Tautai need to be dropped further down the pecking order.
Our discipline wasn't the best but the majority of penalties were for lying on and you could blame some of this on fatigue.
The shot clock was good to see although the players will now use every second that they are entitled to before play commences. All in all a good game and thank the lord that rugby league is back

It was a bit scrappy as you’d expect but a solid hit out and some good showings. The forward pack was solid with Greenwood showing some superb touches second half. It looks like Tautai will start as 4th or 5th choice prop in front of Bullock and he will need to up his game if he’s to keep that spot. A player who could challenge both and also lads like Hamlin and Navarette could be Liam Byrne. He is a unit but looks as fit as a fiddle and he put in a good shift when he came on.

T ran with some purpose but always seems to have a handling error in him. I can't see him staying above Bullock for long, even if that's the case at the moment. Bullock is simply a better player.

I thought Sammut looked good and seems to have exactly the controlling game we've been asking for to compliment George. His kicking today was excellent. What I really liked from him though was how vocal he was. For a player new to the team he certainly made his presence felt in organising plays and generally motivating and encouraging those around him. He appeared to be making a point defensively too. Some of his early hits were very aggressive and he made multiple tackles on many sets. Good first showing!

We certainly won't have any issues if we pick up injuries in the forwards this year. Easily the most depth out of all the squads in SL.

Sammut looked promising but I'm still unsure about moving away from a half back combo which won 10 games out of 10 at the end of last year.

A bit scrappy but it was a good hit out. I was particularly impressed with Bullock and Byrne. Hamlin was excellent, Hardaker went well too.

George Williams showed no signs of improvement from last season IMO. Some of his passes/kicks and plays were awful but then again the ball to Davies for a try in the corner was sublime. I’m sure (or hopeful!) with a few games under his belt he’ll improve.

For me Sammut offered the square root of jack all. I still don’t know why we’ve bothered signing him. As for Jackson Hastings we really have missed out on a cracking player there.

Overall though we looked good in patches. It was a good hit out and something we can definately build on for the season.

I don't see how you can say that about Sammut. he kicked very well indeed and looked just the kind of organiser we need to me.

Williams was Williams, a mixture of poor options and some sublime skills. He’s frustrating but we’d be lost without him. He set up Davies and Farrell try’s and was generally threatening throughout. He’s not been working with Lam for too long either so hopefully the frustrating parts to his game will kick on a level.

Williams was the biggest disappointment to me today, didn't seem to have changed anything from last year, he was trying to be too fancy with a lot of the kicks when just a bomb would have sufficed. Sammut looked decent enough, the charge down was good, but needs to watch himself after what looked like he may have grabbed the ref's arm. Felt we were a bit weaker with Shorrocks at 9 than Powell or Ganson but overall a good hit out.

It's nice to actually have a goalkicker as well!

Summed up Williams pretty well there.

If Lam can improve his kicking game and stop him from thinking that he needs to make a try on every last tackle then we will have a top player.
Overall I thought today was a pretty decent performance for a friendly. Bullock will be challenging for a starting 17 place and it wouldn't surprise me if Sammut also makes the 17 against Saints

I believe somebody mentioned Leuluai saying he expects to play at hooker this year, so if that’s the case you’d think Sammut will play at seven in that first game. He did the 80 today as well and didn’t play in London so he looks a first 17 player.

It’ll be interesting what happens with Greenwood and Farrell. They’re clearly our best two second rowers but both are left sided so today we put Greenwood on the bench before moving Farrell to 13 when Hamlin was spelled. You would imagine Lockers will be spelled on a similar basis so that may continue if Lam doesn’t feel confident on either playing on the right side.

I thought we played really well considering at one point we only had two of last seasons Grand Final winners on the pitch

However , worst away kit I've seen for a long time

Sammut went off when Shorrocks came didn’t he? He then came back on in 2nd half. Based on today I’d say Sammut has to start at 7, he kicked Salford to death at times and showed what we’ve been missing. With more game time he can improve plenty.

I’d say Bullock has played his way into the 17 ahead of Tautai too. He’s been superb in both games this weekend. Interesting that Zak went to centre and Lam spoke of him as suiting the role in his post match interview. It may be harsh but Powell might struggle for a game. Sammut at 7 and Tommy at 9 seems likely and I’d go with Escare on the bench ahead of Powell. It’s good to have options!

Sammut & Hardaker played the full 80, it was Powell who went off for Shorrocks.

Goes to show how people see things differently. I didn't see anything in Williams performance today to be particularly negative about. You never know what to expect in games like these but I thought that while he made errors he made some very good plays too. Creating the tries for Farrell and Davies was a good sign. His short kicking was a bit off but considering that's an area of his game that he's been exceptional at for a good few years I wouldn't be too worried about one pre-season game.

Sammut did as well as could be expected. His kicking game was very strong and early on his defence was pretty solid - particularly as he had Junior Sau targeting him. Late on he was missing tackles and making one or two misreads but that could just be rustiness.

The most promising player so far has to be Bullock. He was outstanding against the Skolars and lifted the side when he came on this afternoon. He's got a good running style and seems hard for defenders to bring down.

I thought Flower was our best player in the first half but that was him being his usual self. Clubb is a definite starter and Bullock must be 3rd choice prop already, so the race for the other bench positions for the Saints game must be pretty tight.

Greenwood and Farrell were both impressive. I'm not sure what Lam is going to do with those two because both are really dangerous down the left edge. Isa started on the right but that seems like a massive waste going forward as he's nowhere near as good as Faz or Greenwood. Someone will have to move over to the right edge and might be a little less effective as a result.

When our younger forwards were on they still looked pretty strong which is good to see. Liam Byrne didn't look like a youngster making a step up to first team level, he was effective in attack and defence and should have a big future ahead of him.

The outside backs didn't get much of an opportunity to impress but Manfredi looks to be back to full strength (literally) judging by some of his carries. Hankinson looks a strong runner too. Hardaker was solid but unspectacular which is as good as can be expected. Escare also looked like his usual livewire self once he moved to fullback.

I'm looking forward to the Barrow game. I doubt any of the definite starters for the Saints game will play but I'd hope Lam gives the others a chance to play for their positions. Barrow will be a tough test but there's some real strength among our fringe players that should make it an interesting contest.

How we fit the playmakers into the side for Saints will be the big question though. We won the league with Leuluai at 7 and that surely seems like the sensible way to start the season when there are 3 big games in a row, but then Lam obviously rates Sammut and he did no wrong today. How Leuluai, Powell, Sammut and Escare all fit remains to be seen.