Prescott is three years older and has 40 odd more appearances than Mossop, I'd expect him to be doing better than Mossop had they been of comparable ability. Prescott should be coming into his prime about now, he's not much better than he was when he first broke into your team.



I'd take Mossop, I agree with that, but not Prescott.

not necessarily an excuse but something to consider, i believe prescott was doing a law degree along side playing which he finished at the end of the 2010 season and i personally believe he has become a much more mature player since, but well see what he does this year.

I think what he's saying, is that the top three of four teams (I am counting us in this due to last years finishing position

) players are of a similar standard. Squads are better in some areas than others, but on the day each team can beat the other. However, Wigan's current set up (not much changed from Maguire's in reality, but sometimes the best management is not to change things that are working) gives you that edge. Players are comfortable in their positions and what they are expected to do, plays have been worked on and everyone knows what they are doing. We just look clueless at times.

Fair enough, but I've not seen much in his game to make me think that there's potential there for him to get much better than he is.

Some amazing bury your head in the sand posts on here. The facts of the matter are James Roby is the best hooker in superleague but he makes your side one dimensional. He isn't one dimensional but the Saints side reliance on him is beyond belief! Wigan are laughing their paps off at the minute knowing if they close him down the game is won.



As for my original post about who'd get in a combined team if I had to name them like I say it's a Wigan 1-7 and in the pack Roby would get a start and Soliola and TP may scrape bench spots but that is literally it.



Things need to change starting with having a player who's miles better then Hohiha in Gaskell starting at 6! If you guys can't use him I'm sure we'd find use for him.

I'm confused! After what you have said above, are you now admitting our 4th choice halfback would get in your squad.

Well I suppose that is a more logical post than what some have come out with today.



I understand your point, but when a side has been coached into playing to plan A (the ruck area) with no plan B then it will always be their 'comfort zone'. Lesser teams have real problems round the ruck, so when that is exposed we come out of our shell and play some decent rugby. When we come up against quality teams (like Wigan) and we don't find it as easy in that area we panic and sit in that 'comfort zone' as that's all this set of players know. We aren't coached in a way to express ourselves and test the edges, so when plan A fails....we continue on with it.



Rush isn't a full time head coach, so he is not expected to coach us out of this habit, but when Brown comes in we should see a real difference I reckon. I think one of Roby's strengths is his clever and instinctive distribution (something that is rarely picked up on) and that is an area that can be looked at IMO when Brown gets here; he is far from a one trick pony.



The Saints TEAM as a whole is one-dimension; I wouldn't shift all the blame onto James Roby,

To make it simple for you I'll state it [iagain[/i - Our players are underperforming because they have been poorly coached for a long time and our tactics are predictable and one-dimensional. Our players are of a generally higher natural standard and of a greater level of talent than yours. Stick a quality coach in charge of our current squad for a few months and things would be rather different. If roles had been reversed and you'd had Royce instead of Maggie the last couple of years you'd have done well to make top 4 and wouldn't have had a sniff of any trophies. Warrington (by some distance) and Saints/Leeds (rather more marginally) have better squads than you do at the moment, but none of them have done as good a job of sow's ear maximisation as you have the last couple of years. Depressingly.

He's correctly making the point that Gaskell should be our 1st choice at 6!! Why the coaching team at Saints can't see what everyone else can is beyond me.

hahahahahaha and you called me biased hahahahaha!!!!



wheeler has about the same ability as goulding but goulding is playing miles better.

charnley has been the best winger this season so for you to say meli just shows how much of an idiot your being.

ok lomax's future looks good but he isn't better than a harry sunderland and the only GOOD world cup winning half back playing in superleague tommy.

'la frank' get real mossop is better by the biggest country mile you can find, and its saying something as he has been your best forward all season.

roby allways looks really good against decent teams and allways get bummed up but nobody mentions how he allways plays rubbish against us because he cant find the space and time to scoot.

Tp well this is where we show are depth because take your pick lima and prescott are as good as him and this season both have been better plus he isn't a prop!

not a wigan fan in the world would swap are backrowers showing the last couple of season why hansen is qaulity the best work horse in the league and is solid now

it does actaully and well done for admitting your not far superior in every way. And i am not trying to writte your team off you do have a very talented backline and when coached right will play some fantastic rugby but player for player RIGHT NOW you aren't as good as wigan and i would argue the same case for most other teams. its hardly a bad thing really its not as if wigan are a terrible team.

I think that although Mike Rush has done a great job with junior development over the years, i don't think he has the nads to drop highly paid overseas players, hope that i am wrong and Gaskell is back in soon.

Where was Saint's kicking game yesterday? Power play after power play.

Do you actually believe the that you post on this forum? Being well coached is one thing, having the players to execute it is another.

we are playing no better now than when Simmons was in charge.Totally clueless in attack.That brief spell after Simmons was sacked lulled us into thinking that Rush could do a decent job-how wrong we were.

To be fair he's not a first team coach and openly admits that. His boss has asked in to do a job until the end of the season and he's doing it to the best of his ability. He's never claimed to be a coach and neither as KC.



We are in a much better postion than we was under Simmons. I don't think we are top 4 team under the current set up as I don't think we can beat the likes of Wigan but I didn't think we was a top eight team under Simmons.



We've just got to stick at it this year and hope we get lucky, I can't see us making any impact on the Play offs but you never know.



While the season has been a shocker, we are still only 4/5 points off the to of the league which is amazing as we've been bad.



Just need to roll our sleaves up, keep working hard and hope brown makes the difference.

We haven't really got one.

You scored a try off a kick and forced two (or three) goal line drop outs.

It's not really consistent though, there's no real organisation on the 5th tackle at times hence why we got caught on the powerplay or put in poor kicks on several ocassions.

It's interesting that the current infestation of self-proclaimed unbiased Wigan fans falling over themselves to assure complete dominance in every position on the park are strangely oblivious to the narrow difference in final score - on home turf.



I mean, the Harlem Globetrotters weren't regarded as the greatest showmen on earth because they scrapped out two score victories whilst coughing up possession like an end-stage TB sufferer hacking up blood.

Exactly, you make the point a lot better than I did. Saints fans are that blinded though they cant see what is so obvious to everyone else.

You keep telling yourself that bud. After all else fails ignorance will see you through.





Meanwhile this inferior Wigan squad will continue on in the semi's and leading the SL table.

No; you said that Roby is one-dimensional as a player.



That poster particular poster makes a better logical argument than your laughable effort as he is correct: we are over-reliant on him, but that's because we have been badly coached into being such a 'plan A' team. There is so much more to Roby's game, but we have been and are being coached in a way to play to his biggest strength which is around the ruck.



That makes us badly coached rather than Roby being a 'one dimensional' player...that's how you put it right?

You cant be serious

, if you are I will have some of whatever you are on. Wheeler was awful yesterday and lost the ball on at least 3 occasions and Saints fans dont even want him in the team at centre, Goulding has been outstanding all season scored plenty of tries and his winger is SL's top try scorer. Its simply no contest. Meli, another player Saints fans slate left, right and centre instead of SL's leading try scorer, yeah right. Lomax, a half back who cant kick, organise and who is a turnstyle in defence instead of 4 Nations and World Cup winning Leuluai. As for the pack containing 4 out of the 6 from Saints, despite it being a pack that has been completely outplayed twice this season and full of players Saints fans want to get rid of because they are not good enough, you are simply talking out of your backside. Bar maybe Roby for McIlorum none of your forwards would get in our starting pack. Added to this on the bench you have these great impact players of Wilkin, Clough and that outstanding player in Hohia and instead decide to leave out the likes of Lima, Prescott, Hansen, Farrell etc out of the 17 entirely

. Roby is the only player that would get in our 17 and you know it.

He is clearly delusional if he genuinely thinks that.