Bateman out with broken rib https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/07/ ... hull-fc-3/

Bateman out with broken rib https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/07/ ... hull-fc-3/

Expecting just KPP and Ellis in for Singleton and Bateman.

Bibby lucky with the Bateman injury think he’d be on the outer if he didn’t.

Personally im fed up of Bibby and think it’s time to give Halsall a run of games.

Good to see Nsemba near the squad.

Think Cust was off the pace on Saturday (so slow for the final try)

I’d go

French
Miski
KPP/Isa
Halsall
Marshall
Field
Smith
Ellis
Powell
Byrne
KPP/Isa
Farrell
Smithies

Havard
Mago
Cust
Shorrocks

Bibby
Nsemba
Partington
O’Neill.

Cust was absolutely jiggered for that last try. It was a mistake to throw him in for the 80 in that type of game IMO. Still I’d play him on Friday and put Brad O’Neill on the bench. Halsall and KPP centres for me, with Isa in the second row and a debit for Nsemba from the bench.

Field
French Halsall Pearce-Paul Marshall
Cust Smith
Ellis Powell Byrne
Isa Farrell Smithies

Subs
Havard Mago Nsemba O’Neill

Poor performances from Shorrocks and Bibby should cost them IMO. I’d rather give Nsemba a shot then play Partington for 5-10 minutes again. Only player I really feel for is Miski, who hasn’t put a foot wrong recently.

That's the team I'd go with too.

Miski is a poor signing - not because of his talent, but because he's a quota guy with two talents in front of him. He's done good when he's come in, but if we roll with him next year - I think we'll lose something. He doesn't finish some of the scores French has this year.

Same side I would imagine for us with Mitch coming in for Wynne who got a game ban

Jack Walker
McIntosh
Mitch
Griffin
Simm
Lovodua
Gale
Satae
Houghton
Fash
Lane
Longstaff
Brown

Laidlaw
Taylor
Severs
Hookem

Still 12 out so doing it tough still - but this game is a free shot really, with more important games to come with players back in the next few weeks

Interesting game this. Hull will be upbeat after the derby win and I think I read that no team has got within 12 points of Saints this year then gone on to win their next game.

I think this is the week that changes though!

Thinking this is a potential banana skin but if we get through it will set the rest of the season up nicely
Hope Matty plays the young lads would be a fantastic learning curve for them even more so for Nsemba & Halsall as they now need the game time.

It is good to see Nsemba in the squad, hope he get's to play on the day, I have high hopes that he will be a success and be an integral part of the Wigan squad for the next decade

Well said,I knew you could do it

Next week is the game that I’m looking forward to. Wigan at Leeds.

I actually think that Leeds could be a dark horse for the big dance. With a fully fit team, they have a good roster, even more so now if the rumours of Gildart signing for the rest of the season are true.

Next week will really show where they are. If they beat Wigan then they’ll have to be taken seriously if they stay healthy. As Saints fans know from previous experience you only have to hit real form at play off time and Leeds have shown before they can win it from finishing outside the top 2.

I’ve gone with Hudds +12 and Hull +16 on the coupon. That game last week for Wigan and Saints was pretty intense and I could see a come down this week.

Didn’t realise Hudds were +12. That’s printing money.

We haven’t got a goal kicker for a start



I think Wigan will win quite easily. Woolf was very complimentary about Wigan today in his presser.

I'm shocked Nsemba is in, when I saw him on Saturday I thought he would run riot, but was really poor, got dominated by alot smaller players and thought a few of your other forwards were better, looked to be all about his size with little skill so would struggle against players the same size. I know that's only one game though.

Don't think it will matter too much, expect a comfy Wigan win, our defence isn't good enough to contain you, think we will target the Cas game the weekend after.

I didn’t see any of Saturdays game but I’ve been impressed with him in the past. He was excellent for us in pre season and he has been pretty dominant when I’ve seen him in academy/reserve games. Maybe it was an off day or he could just be off form. Who knows and I doubt he’ll play in fairness. It’s such a shame Matty Nicholson has gone because he could well have got some chances here now.

Added to which saints had to back up after brutal conditions at Catalans for the Wigan game so this is playing all the top three in difficult conditions back to back.

Reckon that’s a good bet chap.

Still an easier run that the Challenge Cup Winners have had.
A tough trip to London for yet another cup win and weeks without a home tie.

So he should be,best derby of them all.we pushed you all the way as Saints pushed Wigan all the way in the semi but just fell short.

Still cant see past Wigan v Saints final unless someone comes up to the same intensity as our game,but you never know.

With regards to Bibby, are there any specific reasons you say he had a bad performance on Saturday?
There is a reason I ask, and all round I would say he was no more than average at best, but a few people picked out 1 specific reason for slating him last week and I wondered if you had the same view?
Not giving any clue here

Poor might be pushing it thinking back. I thought he panicked on that last try and dashed in and that’s stuck in my mind probably. I’ve seen him play far better and be a lot busier in games. I like Bibby to be fair and have stuck up for him in the past. I’d say average was about right. I wanted him back in for Saturday and didn’t understand people’s teams with him not in there but I’d also like to look at Halsall and would give him a shot this week and KPP would be locked in to the other spot for the rest of the season for me. He needs a run of games there to get ready for the big games down the track.

That's what I thought you'd say, and it wasn't a trick question.

The problem I have with it is that there are a number of observations I have with that situation before I even talk about Bibbys decision making.
We number up wrong on the blind, they have 2 players short side and we have 3 (you could argue 4 as Bateman is directly behind the ptb and Smith IMO is hiding a bit).
Being 1 man down and numbering up that way we're already 2 maybe 3 players short in the line.
I think Faz pushes up a bit and him and Partington seem to number up 2 on one which again leaves space,( it's more complicated than that as I think Partington is too passive, if he pushes up then I trust Smithies and Bateman inside to deal with inside runner).

Anyway, this is my big issue

After that ball Bibby finds himself 4 on 1, not just because of what's happened inside.
The comments made to me about Bibby rushing in, I counter with Where the hell is Marshall outside?

Hes 20 to 25mtrs behind the defensive line on the 3rd tackle !!!
It's likenhes playing full back, but Field is in the perfect FB spot, so what's he doing?

If Bibby doesn't rush in there's a 3 on zero outside him (I do agree rushing in May not be great), but where the hell is Marshall and why is he 25mtrs back on the 3rd, 20mtrs in field?

Also
Marshall was all over the place on the first Batchelor try.
Although I can just forgive him when they come short side and he comes in off his wing to suppprt Bibby (a bit Bibby esque) and gets beat outside by Bennison. He gets back after a Bibby tackle and they pin bennison 2ft from the touchline.
As he plays the ball Welsby is 1st receiver 11mtrs in from touch and Marshall goes walkabout chasing after Welsby inside and gets picked off and stranded without laying a finger on him. Bibby is also in trouble as he can see 2 runners back outside and he's practically 4 on 1.
Welsby turns back outside and we have a 3 on 1 to defend 7mtrs from touch

What's Marshall doing?

He reminded me of the younger Kid in the playgorund Marshall of 4/5 years ago on Saturday. Running around trying to solve problems that didn't exist instead of doing his job.

Anyway, probably over analysing and all with a backdrop of the players all being knackered due to the defensive efforts.
But I just think Bibby was unfairly singled out on that last play.

At the PTB he's exactly where I'd want him to be, Marshall on the other hand is miles away.

Bibby is a solid pro who works hard and rarely lets anyone down. He’s consistently a 7/10 but doesn’t really offer anything more. He misses a bit of x-factor imo.

I’m keen to see Halsall get a run to see if he’s an option for next year and beyond.

Cust needs to play so he can work towards regaining match fitness, I think it was a mistake to play him for the full 80 last week but he won’t get fitness back without playing.

That’s certainly a more analytic view than my 10 pint deep brain managed on Saturday



I like Bibby. It wasn’t his best day but poor I’ll agree was over egging it. I’d like to see if Halsall can take his place and would give him a game but ultimately I expect Bibby and KPP will see the season out as our centres.

Marshall needs to get himself switched back on. It must have been a bit of a whirlwind few weeks. He needs to cut out the basic errors he’s making. In the semi and the final the big glory moments masked the basic errors he made taking the ball out. It’s been pretty uncharacteristic from him, as I’ve never seen handling errors as a huge issue. Defensively I think he’s really tried to make a mark this season, rushing out and bashing people but he was well off the mark on Saturday as you say. He’s plenty of money in the bank though and I wouldn’t leave him out.

That would be all good and well Jukesy, if it was a one off. Unfortunately it's something he does on a regular basis. Occasionally he gets his man but all too often he doesn't. There may have been extenuating circumstances last week, not least being down to 12 men, which lead to too many players trying to solve problems before they happened but Bibby does it when there's 13 men on the field and with everyone else in a good defensive position. I think deflecting blame in this one instance is papering over the problem.

Fair points Jukes - what on earth Marshall was doing on that last try Iv no idea. Whether he was told to do that by the coaches I'm not sure but I don't know what the function of it was, particularly when we were down a man.

Iv never been as big of a fan of Marshall as some - I just feel he cancels out his good stuff with his bad stuff. Two good finishes in the semi but two basic handling errors - one which really cost us. Good finish in the final but a poor one on one miss on Jerry McG in the corner. Poor error and rash defensive decisions on Saturday. Bilko and that other clown in commentary keep moaning he's not being considered for internationals - for me he's nowhere near that. He has to improve.

I need to say I think he's a very good SL winger
International, mmmm, not yet for me

But

Hes become a far better player than I ever thought he would be, but like the old saying.
Your never as good as you think you are, and never as bad as they say you are.

Don't want it to be a witch hunt as I do think his positives Far outweigh his negatives, but he does have the simple mistakes in his game and on Saturday he went a bit Headless chicken at times.

As you say, only the coaches/players or Marshall himself will know why he was where he was for that last try, but with the 1st try im 100% sure no-one will have told him to go chasing 10mtrs inside on Welsby from a PTB on his wing and get nowhere near.