I get that they just got Mags "down town" but missed that grub Mcallorum (sp) cuffing burrow right in the face as the play started before Danny touched the ball. Only twice have I every seen this given in RL, both times when a try is scored. Both times it was Leeds. They totally missed the Atkins one when he scored in the GF against us.

An enjoyable game with a very good atmosphere, good to see Headingley 90% full.

The quality wasn't great but the score flattered Wigan who looked rudderless, Matty Smith just isn't controlling the attack at all.

On Leeds we looked sharper ball in hand and much more fluid. Maybe the extra speed is why our handling wasn't as good as it should have been?

The forwards did a good job and McDermott is getting the balance about right - rather see more of Singleton and less of Peacock especially if you want Peacock to contribute towards the end of the season. Much rather see Yates given a go than persist with Kylie - he did nothing wrong last night. Cuthbertson had a tremendous game. The penny seems to have finally dropped to Aiton that if he stays close to him he will get plenty of offloads. Ward and JJB had really big games too, Ablett looks a bit off the pace at the moment.

The half backs combined well and Sutcliffe looks like a confidence player that needs to play whether at the expensive of Sinfield or McGuire. He at least has a short kicking game which neither of the other two do. Watkins impresses me he has come on over the off season he looks every bit an international player. Handley didn't let anyone down, took his try well - out of position for the second Wigan try but that happens with young players.

After all the stuff this week it was interesting to observe how Hardaker went - my observations
1. His one on one defence was superb the two tackles to stop a seriously fast Burgess were top draw
2. Twice he exposed Handley to a high ball that he should have claimed - the second one he was 5 yards from where it landed
3. I don't see how he can make a half back - last night every time he got the ball he was tackled in possession and the played was curtailed

Leeds kept Wigan scoreless in the second half and that should be seen as a positive - if McDermott will continue to integrate the youngsters as he has done then the chances of Leeds running out steam towards the end of the season will be reduced significantly.

Unfortunately that decision epitomises everything that is wrong with the game and the referees at the moment. All season the refs have been happy for entire defensive lines to encroach 2,3 sometimes 4 yards in front of the 10 metres, and hen we have a scenario where McGuire is caught half a yard shy getting back and is then penalised after the ball has been shipped through 4 pairs of hands 20 yards down field. It's just another ridiculous case of referees Being selective (cheating) as regards enforcing the laws of the game.

That decision went to the video ref so I am not sure you could blame Silverwood for that

Yeah I thought Silverwood wasn't too bad. A couple of calls that could've gone the other way but they weren't glaring errors. One thing that plenty near were playing hell about at the time was the incident when Farrell got sin-binned and obviously Watkins managed to fling the ball over his head to Sutcliffe to stroll in but Silverwood had already blown the whistle......again I was fine with, yes it was a shame we couldn't have the try but he'd clearly blown his whistle and it wasn't exactly obvious to play advantage as Watkins just produces a speculator over his head that comes off.

Tbh whilst his form is good enough to say he should start, I'd keep him on the bench for the time being because he's offering us impact off there around the 20/25 minute mark which we've lacked for many years. Add to that Burrow coming on in the 2nd half and Delaney will always give you a solid if unspectacular gig at 2nd row then we have a much better subs bench than we've had for a long time. Still picking Singelton on the bench shouldn't be seen as a bad thing, it's about time we started using the bench as the weapon it can be by introducing certain players at certain times to change momentum instead of it just being a tool to rest the starters for 5 minutes.

I've never understood the cliche "the scoreline flattered us/them". The scoreline is always a true reflection of the game. If you get your self in good positions but make a poor decision or a mistake then you weren't good enough to score. If a team creates 10 chances to score but only scores twice, and bombs the rest, and the other team has 3 chances to score and scores 3 times then the other team deserves to win, and the scoreline is a fair reflection of how the game was.

I must admit I feared the worst when he brought Peacock back on after only 5 or 10 minutes for his 2nd spell instead of bringing Yates on but I thought Yates did OK when he came on, he does a bit small for a prop though, hopefully FT training will have it desired effect and packs on some timber.

I'd agree with you regarding the bench, although I think Achurch is a better option than Delaney off the bench, we miss an offload when Cuthbertson is off so being able to bring Achurch on counterbalances what we lose when Cuthbertson is off the field.

Stats from the game... superleague.co.uk/report/11071

Stats from the game... superleague.co.uk/report/11071

But you understand how $hite it is when Silverwood doesn't play advantage for the sin bin of Farrell. When it's obvious a try is to be scored? Then he waves his whistle around like it's the last thing he could anticipate? What a bell end he is. Really really shocking call.

Do you seriously believe that referees cheat?
That decision was absolutely correct.
If players encroach then so be it provided that both sides are treated the same.
At the game I was annoyed at Silverwood's performance in the first half but I thought he did well in the second half. He started to get a grip with Wigans high shots & messing around at the PTB, as a result they never really threatened in the second half.

I disagree - the game is a complex animal and usually the dominant team will win - the margin of victory is often not representative of the dominance. Take the GF in 2007 Leeds were not as dominant as the score line suggested. What is interesting is the flow of the game and how once a team gets the momentum how difficult it is for the opposition to reverse it.

Indeed the game is complex, but how do you measure dominance? If you dominate field position and territory and fail to post points then that is a measure of the weaknesses in your performance as much as it a measure of the oppositions weakness to gain field position.

in this regard RL refs are miles behind their union and football counterparts. they try to let the game flow and bring play back if no advantage. for years league refs just blow

TBF football refs aren't all that cracking.....sounds like another ref has sent off the wrong guy in today's Man City vs West Brom match after it only happened a few weeks ago too with Wes Brown.



Well I had heard about James Child's sexual preference.