French back too, some pace in that backline.

2 good teams announced.

The DW is always a difficult place to go. Hopefully the players are up for it and give it a good go.

Think we have the edge in the pack. Wigan still seem a little on the small side. But they have obvious flair in Field and French.

Should be a good game, with us just nicking a win

I would hope we have a similar kicking game to what we had against Huddersfield to Senior. Get it high, good chase, and it doesn't matter how quick he is. Bevan French will be so short of match fitness it could benefit us

Think as others have said we have the edge and certainly look much stronger in the pack so be disappointed if we didn't dominate down the middle. Need to see the numbers of carries again from the likes of Satae, Sao, Evans etc well in to double figures again. Just be relentless, keep our discipline and make Wigan have to work hard to get out their own 40. Leuluai is a big loss for them along with Pearc-Paul, French will be no where near match fit so we need to be patient and tire him out, Field will be a danger with his pace.
Winning at Wigan is never an easy task but if we are serious about challenging then these are games we need to be able to win, if attitude and application is right for the 80mins then we have a very good chance.

This has got a big match feel to it where a marker could be put down for the season, shame it's a Thursday fixture but there you go, safe trip over for all of you coming to the game

Wigan 2/5 with Ladbrokes, understandable.

I have this feeling that we will lose by 16-20
I just wonder if our soft under belly will be exposed ?
a win would be amazing of course !

Think Wigan are nothing special aside from field and French so a are certainly more capable of winning esp with more of the big guns back

But although toulouse beat them saints are far and away the best team 3 grand finals on the trot tells it own story

So I Dont agree winning tonight wouldn't set a marker

A marker would be set if we beat saints

I would agree and say that Wigan haven't looked like a Wigan side of old however they still have a number of top players and have that winning mentality ingrained in their DNA, so going to the DW is always tough.

We as a team have flattered to deceive for long enough and have put in some great performances but then some equally poor ones. We had its fair to say an inauspicious first season under BH but so far this season although whilst not being world beaters we have won games we would have lost had it been last season. We seem to have coped far better with the loss of key personnel so far this season and have been improving other than at Cas which we seem to have learned a lot from.

Taking in to account the above I think this game is very much the type to lay down a marker and show where we are at as for me whilst a loss won't be the end of the world or unexpected I'd be a little disappointed. A win would be a good indicator that we are improving especially the mentality as we haven't often beaten teams that are usually above us in the table that often.

Expecting a tough battle but feel its a game very much that is winnable if we turn up with the right attitude and play for the full 80 mins.

Totally agree with much of that Chris.

I do think we have coped much better with adversity and the inevitable half back crisis , but that Cas game is a big red flag for me, we should have comfortably won that game and it all points to the old mentality issue. If we are to rid ourselves of past frailties, there aren't many better places than Wigan to do this, so in many respects, this is a big game in terms of where we are under Hodgson and if he is taking us forward. I do think we can win, but Wigan have that aggression in their DNA, whichever side they turn out so we need to be ready to match them from the first minute. Do this and I think we can win.

No Carlos tonight.

Connor
Mcintosh
Mitch
Griffin
Swift
Lovodua
Gale
Sao
Houghton
Satae
Savelio
Ma'u
Lane

Brown
Fash
Johnstone
Wynne

Or Evans?

Injured apparently. So that's 5 first choice players out (Tuimavave, Reynolds, Taylor, Evans, Cator) bur still probably the best position we've been in this year.

Not a great start for Evans.

Seem to do much better with unknown NRL players than more experienced ones

Agreed but had a feeling he wasn’t going to be playing when reading BH comments earlier in the week which seemed to more about application than injury
Also maybe that the others who have stood in have done enough to keep their place in the 17 and Evans has to earn it.

Sounded doubtful on Carlos after the tightening up in his calf and no point risking him when we have cover.

Looking forward to watching Hull on TV here for the first time this season.Have seen Wigan matches and they have been pretty average- will have a sly tanner on a Hull win.

We need to be hammering the reserves league in the nrl for finds such as Carlos, satae and Lovodua, the so called bigger names seem to be constantly Injured or don't really stand out...... Plus earn much higher cap.

Cheers Brett



Interesting that Wigan have gone with Bateman at centre.

Fingers crossed we can put in a good performance.

Would rather have had Bowden on the bench than Johnstone.He would give us a bit more balance and size when interchanging Satae and Sao
I just wonder who is pushing Johnstone forward this season given he was on the unwanted list

Likely to finish up as one of our worst NRL signings

Johnstone has been solid so far this season. Not a game breaker by any means but with Lovodua tied up elsewhere currently he is a good an option as we've got if we want to interchange Houghton.
Not sure anyone has an agenda, its just he's played his way into the side atm.

Feels a bit premature at round 7 of his first season.

Do you ever have a day off



I'm sure Wigan fans said the same about Field last year

I don't think anyone is pushing JJ forward. He's been solid.

Brett seems the type of guy who makes his own decisions

Wigan v hull and sky still manage to stick a 10 minute leeds segment in, turned it off