He was either out cold and should never have returned to the game or not out cold and just trying to milk a penalty/sending off, I'd like to think the former but......

I thought Lewis, as good as he is with ball in hand, was found out a bit defensively. Granted he won’t be the last person French makes look silly.

His (Lewis) performance reminded me of Gale in 2017. Wasn't allowed to dictate the game as he had all season and didn't show he had the where with all to impose himself. A couple of poor decisions with ball in hand, possibly borne out of frustration.

Wigan just ground them down and counter-punched brilliantly.
Not a game for attacking it was a defensive masterclass from both sides punctured by a brilliant bit of skill from Bevan French and were also unlucky / lucky (point of view) to having another chalked of for being within 10.

Thought HKR played into the hands of Wigan and let them dictate the flow and pace of the game where there was only going to be one winner.

I'd agree with the non testing of the Wigan wingers but if you bugger one of those up your not catching any of their back three from any distance, maybe thats why they went the way they did, bit more conservative.

Thought KR battled very well but were a little bit one dimensional going forward when it really mattered. Enjoyed the game though, full credit to Wigan, they are a very good side. Forward pack is exceptional and French is in the form of his life. Surprised if he's not off back to NRL tbh... Wigan have done very well to keep him - something Leeds have kept failing to do in recent years.

Interesting movements at Salford from 2026. PR to become DoR with assistant Kurt Haggerty taking over as head coach.

The Salford financial issues are still not sorted and they’ve picked a team of kids with Joe Bullock, apparently to try and force agreement to their take over. If Saints win by 60 it could make a big difference to where they finish in a tight season.

I feel for their fans but My sympathy for Salford as a club is running out, it’s self inflicted and now they will make the game a laughing stock live on the BBC

If they've picked a weakened team when they didn't have to, then they deserve everything they get. They picked a pretty strong team in the cup, so I assume they're not still under cap restrictions?

Anyway, I thought despite a few technical issues the opening game, and the coverage was superb. Great crowd, great intensity, great occasion.

Yes, really good start to the season. Struggled to see the mitigating circumstances when Keighran struck a prone player in the head when he had the whole body to aim for ? Nice to see Liam Marshall’s electric eel impression being ignored at last by a referee. Only downside for me was the Superleague champions opening game being played with all the football markings across the pitch. Very distracting for viewers and demeaning for a sport wanting to be taken seriously by the media and potential sponsors.

Yep, cracking start to the season and great PR for the game.. made a fair few sports news headlines.. it really is a cracking product RL, it just needs some clever investment.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/rf ... s-revealed This is not a good look for the game.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/rf ... s-revealed This is not a good look for the game.