Yes he is a different player to the one that left. He had an excellent game.

Williams caused mayhem in that first half with what he was doing off the ball. HKR were to busy watching him that allowed us to rip them up on our left edge.

Two key cut out passes from Drinkwater leading to tries - that will give him some confidence. So many good performances tonight.

Initial thoughts.
Deserved the win.
Played well in the first half and blew them away, but could have been further ahead.
HKR were always going to come back at some point and our defence got tested but was dscent, althoigh their last play options and kicks were quite poor.
HKR were nowhere neat their best, but they've come off tough matches against Wigan and Saints and this was a game too far for them - similarities with how we played after the CC win against Saints.

King really impressed me with his ball carrying and work on the left with Ashton, although I thought he could have taken it closer to his opposite number/Burgess to give Matty a chance of more tries. He was my motm.
Very interesting watching Drinky missing out Williams and getting it wider - some great plays. He played very well I thought.
No real 'bad' performances but lots of things to work on.
A few too many pens and dropped balls for me BUT a lot lot better than the last 2 matches.
Not getting over excited as both teams can play better, but a win breeds confidence and thats got to be good going into a CC semi.

Monaghan I can understand. I don't agree but I understand. I just don't get the Hicks love in.

This isn't even a debate to me. Ashton is better than Hicks was

Ashton is a lot faster
Ashton makes more yards running it in.
Hicks was better in the air
Hicks was possibly marginally better in defence.
Ashton's finishing is better.

Overall, I can't see why people still go on about Hicks. How many would Hicks score over the last few years for us playing outside the centres that Ashton has had to. T King and Ratchford versus M King and Bridge. This isn't even taking into account how dominant our pack was while Hicks was here. So we we got downfield a lot easier and created more opportunities for our outside backs as a result.

Nobody loves matty Ashton more than me. But Wembley 2010 is probably why everyone loves Hicks. I Dont think Ashton wouldve scored those to be fair.

The guy on the other wing is not too shabby...two CLASS wingers

I get people remember him fondly but it doesn't make me think he's better than Ashton. The first try at wembley 2010 was a good try. Is Ashton capable of doing that? Yes. Would he have done it? Maybe, maybe not.

The second try wouldn't have even been needed. In the buildup Westwood kicked through and hicks/king chased. Ashton would have gotten to the ball with plenty of time to pick it up and score.

The third is similar to the first in that he has the ability to score that try but I would say he scores it as we don't know.

There are lots of Ashton tries where I could say Hicks doesn't score that with a high level of confidence. The try against Saints in the cup this year and most of the times when Ashton has gone 70-100m.

Both quality players but I'd go with Ashton overall. Ashton is so good at so many things. The nuances like playing in King for that first try was just so good. Thewliss so good too. King absolutely superb and such a quality allround player. I can see why the Wigan fans were so keen to keep hold.

Unsung heros in Harrison and Crowther I thought were excellent again and key to the win. Nicholson game on game is belying his age with his physicality and game play.

And last but certainly not least, big Sam and Gleeson, they've really turned this around. This for me, is the best we've looked post the good Smith days. We're not perfect, by a long way, but by eck we're good to watch and I feel that on any given day we could turn anyone over. Our quality players are looking quality and our less established players are looking more than descent.

When was the last time we could say that the incoming players are looking better than when they first arrived? For me, we have to go back to over 10 years with Smith in his prime. I think our younger players have improved more than I can possibly remember under any coach. Massive hats off to big Sam and to Gleeson too. So glad to be a Wire at this moment in time

71 tries in 82 games. 119 goal kicks. Wembley hat trick. He was prolific. I remember thinking we would never replace him. Then we signed Monaghan who posted try scoring figures that won't be beaten.

That said I am a massive Ashton fan, he's a great player.

The lad looks to be stronger than an Ox, couple of times last night you could see the expression of what was that on players faces after trying to tackle him. I would like to see him get the ball at full pace rather than the cut out pass straight to the winger but having said that its working. Defence seems strong from him to

There are certainly bumps in the road to date, but there does seem to be a genuine gradual improvement in both attack and defence in this Wire team. HKR are a very good attacking side so to keep them to 8 points was a pretty good effort. Plus there is lots of good stuff being used in our attacking play that is unsettling the opposition. With good competition for places and plenty of self belief apparent Im pretty encouraged with what Im seeing atm.

Solid performance from wire last night..Burgess and the coaching team have this group of players believing in themselves.. the week on week improvement in the team is encouraging to see.. Williams is striking fear into the opposition with and without the ball as he shown last night.. Kr were fixed on Williams it allowed Drinkwater to play his game..

He does look strong. He put in a couple of crunching tackles also.

Same here. I was a Hicks fan, I'm not denying he was good but he played in a team that was dominating the league with a world class centre inside him. Ashton has played in the drivel that we have been served up (this season aside) since 2020 yet has still notched up 55 tries in 81 games and scores tries that Hicks would never have been able to. If you take nostalgia out of the equation then Ashton is the superior winger.