i'm not so sure it was "clearly accidental", i thought he could have easily avoided wilkin's head!

I'm not even trying to say MM dosen't have that bit of house in him. I hate seeing it personally, but let's get real. The "knee"? I don't know how to break it to you but if you think he made contact with the knee then your knowledge of anatomy is way off - Wilkin was on the floor, MM isn't 4ft tall. He would have to make contact with the knee VERY obvious.

But yes, MM is a house, therefore every contact with a player must be thuggish behaviour. No comments about Travis Burns then?



He was trying to milk the penalty for me.

I remember at the DW Stadium a few years ago, Wello was on all fours after attempting a tackle. McIlorum was unfortunate enough to run past him and accidentally knee him in the head. Weird how it's happened twice, can't remember the last time it happened with another hooker.



Third man into the ribs I wouldn't class as "good" defence, but it's part of the game nowadays and you can't really legislate for it beyond referees calling held quicker. Don't really have an issue with it providing it isn't a cannonball.

Part of the reason people suggest the game has become soft is because the Sky commentary is useless. Because they have no idea what a shoulder charge is, they suggest that ANY tackle that uses a shoulder is a shoulder charge, unnecessarily creating controversy and so on. It's awful to listen to

It was accidental, clearly.

I don't remember this one. I'm not going to defend MM and I believe you that he did that because he's done worse, but I judge every situation on it's own merit. The contact wasn't with the knee, wasn't with any force and in real time looked like he was trying to run over him for the penalty rather than specifically going in to injure.

The lift on Burns was a worse one for me.



*cough*

Some grubby play from the Pies tonight.

Sarginson got away with a swinging arm on Wilkin and also a dubious and unnecessary shot into the ribs of Burns.

Micky Mac seemed to 'kick' Wilkin in the head with his shins which looked far from accidental. Also tipped Burns above the horizontal even though he didn't have the ball.

O'loughlin with a bad high shot but got away with just a pen.

Surprised nobody got 10 minutes as there were several bad incidents of nasty play that went relatively unpunished. Glad they lost.

Bolox

Agree with that. Wigan should have had both McIlorum & O'Loughlin sinbinned for the lift and bad high tackle.

If we're serious about head injuries then let's get serious about them. We have a fantastic punishment tool in the sin bin that is sorely under-used. Salford fans will rightly be annoyed that Griffin gets a red card for his shot at the magic Weekend yet one like O'Loughlin's tonight doesn't get a yellow.

Why is this question asked a lot these days? Why does looking after the safety of the players and eliminating dangerous play make the game 'soft'.

You need to get over yourselves.

McIlorum's dangerous lift on Burns was shocking. Really bad and could have caused serious injury. Yet was left unpunished. We have O'loughlin swinging his arm at Wilkin and then Sarginson hitting Burns whilst being held up. Admittedly this isn't an 'offence' but it's sly and cowardly and completely unnecessary.

Instead of asking 'why has the game gone soft?' Why don't we ask why the game isn't doing enough to protect players?

Sarginsons tackle in the air on Percival was a pretty bad one too, and just as dangerous ... 4 separate incidents in a single game doesnt reflect well on Wigan - and their fans wonder why they have a rep for it!

Didn't think too much of the burns tackle. Yes, it was a pretty grub move, and probably just the natural wigan progression now canonballs are clamped down on, but perfectly legal as far as Im aware

Travis Burns invariably infuriates opposition fans. I can understand this because he's a fiery competitor who's not afraid to resort to the odd bit of gamesmanship.

He's still settling in at Saints and so hasn't quite yet found his form. But one thing I've been impressed with all season - and this is something he rarely gets credit for is his sheer toughness.

I'm sure there will be the usual crop who think he deserves everything he gets - but that bloke has been belted black and blue this season. I really am struggling to think of anyone in a Saints shirt who has taken as many genuinely bad cheap shots to the face in one campaign.

It would be the easiest thing in the world for Burns to have cried off from any number of them. Against Hull KR he played on for sixty five minutes with serious facial damage and never once took a backward step.

Whether he's the player he was two years ago I don't know. But I'm sure most rational fans will agree that there are few more committed and determined players in SL. Like James Roby you'd practically need to kill him to get him off the pitch.

All teams with championship aspirations need players of his ilk. And no - Rugby League is far from "soft".

He's certainly tough but I doubt he gets any more back than he dishes out. Plus he whines like a 5 year old girl and actually isn't a very good half back

The old Roidhead is afforded more leniency than any other Superleague player, the likes of Silverwood are weak, weak people. Anyway, now the arthritis has kicked in, Mr Roidhead is becoming a liability with his overdeveloped body and shuffling movement.

Well, he's certainly not smashed anyone's eye socket in this season. As for not being a good half - he wasn't too shabby sending his side top of the league last night.

Legal tackle but with intent to hurt the player. Wasn't much need in it trying to take him out of the game but it didn't work.

I was more concerned for Wilkin who got penalised for not moving away with a potential head injury.

But it's a tough sport and they all know what it's about!