I still think there are things to be positive about and am still backing LR at this point.

Positives for me:

For entertaining rugby
Forwards
Never giving in, last season the last two games would have been easy away wins.
New signings, really impressed with Taylor and Manu, Washy has impressed and still think Carlos will be a great signing, has been very well watched. Frank will also come good when the weather is better.
Houghton and Shaul have been excellent.
Goal kicking.

Areas of improvements:
Discipline
Using our brains and not panicking
Closing a game out
Goal line defence(particularly the right side)
Use of subs
Consistency of halfs.

We have been lucky with injuries so far, they are starting to come, so it could be a good test of our squad.

Big three games which will test the team and coach.

We are far better than last season, but not quite there yet. Dumb error cost us what would have been a good draw in the end. Dumb errors cost us against Cas.
I for one though am enjoying the games these days, which will do for me.
Good game, unlucky in the end to come away with defeat

If you think that Standee''s absence from this site is voluntary then you really haven't been paying attention. Probably too busy wallowing in self-pity and stroking your e-peen waiting for the chance to launch a ridiculous thread like this one.

The drop in crowd numbers is hardly a closely guarded secret and has been debated on here at some length. Something you might have been aware of had you not flounced out in a sulk declaring your intention to never return. Odd how that decision was reversed as soon as we had a couple of defeats. And yet while we were winning you were nowhere to be seen

Pathetic behaviour.

Excellent point about enjoyment, the last couple of years I have been bored at games, certainly not this year, all games have been enjoyable to a point.

If that first play had come off it would have been a different game, we would have never tried that previous seasons.

IMO you should unban Standee, let him have his say. It did provide some enjoyment.

How's Watts going. He's the best player you've got( he believes).
Cost you 2-4points in 4 games.

We win & lose as a team pal that's the moto at our club.

Excellent summary. Widnes is a very important game. We played well there last season and won so hopefully we can get on the front foot early and take the points again.

I think it was a pretty positive performance overall. Most wigan's territory came from our ill discipline around the play of the ball. I know some blame the ref for over policing but we should have realised that after the first few penalties. We are attacking and playing wonderful rugby. The rest will come with time.

We all have differences of opinion about our team but remember we are all after the same thing, no need to get personal about it.

Haven't got the full stats but the headline ones reflected the game - broadly equal although we made more metres and missed fewer tackles. Obviously only one stat that really counts though.

lineham was the difference last season and we don't have the same kind of quality on the flanks now. We need to improve our defence or we'll lose and possibly heavily. widnes are a quick side who move the ball about well. They won't try and take us on down the middle

that was the home game, the away game we bossed them after the first 20 minutes, keeping them scoreless for 65 minutes

agreed about them getting the ball outwide, brown loves the cut out pass (lineham fed off it in the home game last year)

Not quite matched his performances of last season. After he helped maul your forwards in the Derby I was expecting him to carry forward his form. Early days but I'm sure he'll be back to his best soon, Scott Taylor, however has been nothing short of superb. As the song goes "Scott Taylor is one of our own" After Watts, Taylor and Paea I wonder if James Green will be on our radar for next season. Yet to sign a contract I believe? We seem to have an uncanny knack of pinching your best props. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde "to lose one of your props to your bitterest rival is a misfortune to lose not two but three is carelessness." On the subject of props how are Tilse and Allgood playing?

We won 25-12 with lineham scoring a hat trick.

did he get hat trick both games? knew he got one in the home game, i must be thinking of the game the season before where lancaster played, mind sneyd totally outplayed brown in the game at widnes

To balance things whilst Lineham is a very good finisher he's a weaker defender than Michaels and no pacier. The interceptions against Widnes are part luck, part good anticipation and his coming out the line to go for interceptions cost us more than double the tries he scored from makong them. That night at home the interceptions were really the only difference between us and them which given widnes's appalling injuries at that time meant it was far from a.convincing win against a bottom 4 team.
ATEOTD we have spent right up to the cap plus FP extras, you can only get what you can and that sacrifice on top quality will be somewhere. Ours is our backs from 2-7 inclusive, that's Radfords decision and if that balance doesn't work out then it's completely down to him and he should go.
As I said, we are 4 games in, we haven't lost badly just dissapointingly, what happens now at Widnes will show what we are made of.
Win and we are back in the hunt, lose and that really will make for worrying times.

:13nmydjn