Thought Tomkins was pretty good defensively myself, much better than he used to be, and saved a few tries, made a mess of one bomb but dropped it backwards while the one he let bounce he was probably right to leave 40 yards from his line. The tackle on Hardaker after Hall's pop-up ball was excellent and saved a try, his ball-steal play on Hall was also smart work and a momentum-changer. Don't think he could have done any more in trying to catch BJB with that start, he could have done more to stop Ablett though, but any fullback can be made to look stupid one-on-one.

What you'd worry about more with Tomkins is that, given how good a runner he can be, he NEVER properly took the ball back up after fielding a kick.

I think we're probably short of two players, a prop and a centre. O'Loughlin covers up for that missing prop because he can play like a prop, standoff or a loose forward as the game dictates.
The centre position is an infuriating one, you saw Thornleys poor decision making last night and it's happened quite lot this season. I don't think people realised (including our own fans) just how good George Carmont was. Joel moon should have been Wigans no.1 target at the end of last season, and I would have a go at Dean Collis fot next.

Lauaki should be able to do that aggressive props job, but he's having problems. I thought Andy Powell again showed some good signs last night though, but we'll certainly need to replace Mossop next season.

On the Tomkins part, I thought he did remarkably well to get close to BJB considering the start and angle he had to make up. Because Leeds pack dominated it was difficult for Wigan to create space to use his running game. It's normal for him to use that drop off to Richards or Charnley.

I use that move time and again in touch rugby. The hole is so big even a fat, near 50 year old like me can run through it.

Thought Hall was clearly tackled. Ball carrying arm does not have to touch the ground for the tackle to be complete.

I thought it was fine. It appeared to be done in one motion with Tomkins getting his arms round the ball and then twisting his body to rip the ball away. Certainly before there was any call that he was "held". IMO a smart piece of play. I just thought that Hall was unlucky that the ball didn't bounce up because if he'd been able to run onto it no one would have touched him.

Long time reader, first time poster, so here's my two penneth. I though Leeds were excellent last night, and it didn't really look like anyone had a bad game (even though Achurch and Sutty had limited gametime at the back end, they showed a lot of enthusiasm).

In terms of our standout performers, JP, Ablett and Hall were all exceptional, and were making a good amount of yardage in the tackle every time they had the ball. JP for me has got to be this year's Man of Steel, Ablett seems to be coming into his prime, and Hall not only ran it in like a forward, but kept Charnley quiet all night, and pretty much showed him up (one of the things I've always thought made Hall an exceptional player is the impact he can have on games even when he's not scoring a bucketload of tries).

But for me, one of the most impressive performances last night cam efrom the young last Singleton. He ran it in with such enthusiasm, crunched Wigan on defense (there was one tackle on Tomkins in particular that shut down all his space and stopped him dead). He looked to have an old head (I keep forgetting he's only 20, given that he's been around the first team for a few years) and included two (?) really neat offloads that led to a couple of near-try scoring opportunities.

I think Leeds laid down a marker last night, and signaled their intent. To completely shut down Wigan for long periods on their home turf (our reading of their attack and defensive structure was one of the highlights) was always going to require a special effort, and Leeds delivered last night.

Very proud.

YEs on that performance, Hardacker made a great shout for the FB spot come the world cup and Hall cemeneted his place, the others can battle it out for the other wing spot

Personally I'd play Hardaker and Hall as the wings with Tomkins at fullback. The option is still there to have Hardaker at fb for the defensive sets and back to the wing with Tomkins as the extra half on attack.

last night was a massive step up from anything that we have seen this season,i thought all the returning injured players ran their blood to water

sinny looked like a natural 9 and we looked far more balanced and composed around the ruck area

jp,jjb and abbo were absolutely tremendous up front and murdered the wigan pack

this game and last weeks battle against catalans has set us up nicely for the play offs




that's what makes jones'y a legend sal and i'm glad that you're finally realising how good he is
If JJB plays well I will say so if he gives away numerous penalties or has a poor game I will also say so. I know it is hard to accept from your myopic view of matters but those two things do happen.

One thing that can never be questioned is his commitment to his team mates, work rate and his self belief/will to win.

Without doubt one of the key players in the unrivalled success of this team.

It was ironic, the 40-22 was given then they set the scrum outside of the 20

Crucial win.

No, really.