Compare that to now and what do we have?

Myler - money under false pretences.
Bridge - finished. Get Evans in there.
Joel - embarrassed tonight on several occasions.
Asotasi - holiday is over. Why did we let Carvell go?
Monaghan M - why does TS still put him in at half back?
Laithwaite - after the Lord Mayors show!

Embarrassing tonight to watch the ineptitude when on attack. The "dummy runners" seemed to have no idea where they were supposed to be. Kicking game was non existent. We are attacking from static positions and not moving off the defensive line quickly enough.
Wigan were quicker in all departments and it was just fortunate that their handling was as bad as ours in the last 20 minutes.
A long season ahead.

I had a theory that Smith was waiting for a bad game from GOB and the second it happened he would get dropped, I shared it with Fat belly tonight.

Myler had stunk this season, but Tony's pig headedness and the fact we paid what we did wont see him dropped.
Well GOB had a bad game so that's him done now and Tony can finally say "I'm dropping you on performance".

The game:

Asotasi is second row impact, that can't do a spell longer than 15 minutes, he looks disinterested and he is currently my new 'Rhys Williams' I can forgive crap when they try but he's lazy.
I'd swap him for Carvell in a heartbeat.

Mylers kicking game consists of easy grubber for the fullback, aimless bomb down the fullbacks throat and kicks to the corner aimed at opposition wingers. Forget the price tag drop him.

GOB first bad game for me considering the chances everyone else is getting he gets a pass.

Riley how does a guy that size have no f@#$*+ impact whatsoever?

Laithwaite defends like a monster attacks like a jellyfish, Gaz Hock runs better lines than him in nightclub toilets.

Atkins did nothing wrong tonight, easy to do when you're completely anonymous.

Ormsby MoM? Not panning him for that mistake but the corporates who picked that obviously took advantage of the champagne a bit too much.

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Ratch, Hill, Westwood, Waterhouse, Higham played well
Russell played great but what an absolute waste of a bench spot, grow some balls Tony drop Myler and have Russell playing from the off.

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Those not mentioned...meh.

Rhys Evans must have run over Smiths dog.

GOB simply has to be in that Wire team.

Myler was dreadful and I'm still waiting to see what the hype is about.

Just 12 points scored in 2 home games against St Helens and Wigan is an embarrassment.

And going off last nights performance, Wire's brief flirtation with glory years is OVER.

Be sure to give us a nudge when yours start.
You''ll need a f***ing Delorean. Happy New Year 1989.

Fair point but I didn't feel his influence was quite as big as in previous years last season and it'll just take some time to adjust. Your backline simply has to have Russell at 1, Ratchford at 6 with O'Brien at 7 IMO and if that is utilised going forward from now it'll be a really dangerous trio come the back end of the season.

Did the display honestly come as a shock to anyone?

Lets be honest.... we have no half backs, no pace, no kicking game, no creativity and a horrible static looking attack... But this has been the case all season, so nothing has changed really.

The Asostasi signing doesn't look to be money well spent on the first few games... As some have said, i would swap him for Carvell in a heartbeat.

It wasn't the worst performance ever - you really haven't watched enough wire games if you think so.

The halves continue to be an issue - GOB is not the miracle that people were claiming a couple of games ago. There were some positives though... the defence was largely good and the score reflected that. There are some decent performances from some fairly raw players which will give us the depth needed to carry on to the end of the season. Atkins looked a bit better than his admittedly woeful early season form - showed a hunger that he has definitely been lacking.

The bad is pretty self evident - the sooner russell is playing 80 minutes the better, because we look much more threatening when he is on the pitch. Backs need a shuffle again and Evans should come in... possibly even resting Monaghan.

One thing I did like though is the option of Mick Monaghan at half... with him on the bench able to come in for either myler or higham depending on where he's needed (or even higham but myler at hooker) gives us an extra tactical dimension.

But, just like garlic bread in Phoenix Nights we are seeing the future......the game is turning into a sport that will only find future success from developing its own British trained players & it will affect most teams unless the powers that be can find a way off attracting greater numbers into playing rugby league & producing more competition for places. It's no good expecting solutions from Oz because they are only going after our best players because they are not producing their own. There isn't the ready made talent to bring in any more & what is available from overseas is usually over priced & over rated.

Fully agree with this. Myler cannot, and should not, be guaranteed a starting place every match. It has to be based on performance.

As has been mentioned previously, the way SL is structured now, these earlier matches are the ideal time to try different starting combinations, as a potential loss now is not as damaging as a loss further down the line.

From what was witnessed last night, with that gutless performance, something has to change.

Wither Lee Bries..

Ratchford Should be at 6
Ormsby Would like to see more of him
Bridge & Atkins disappeared for most of the game
J Monaghan out done
O’Brien needs a run at 7 without myler
Myler No idea in attack made some good tackles
Hill solid
Higham last season me thinks
Asotasi was he even playing?
Waterhouse had a good game
Westwood not captain material runs blood to water silly Pen on our first real attack
Grix all over the place last night

Wolves Subs: Laithwaite awful game
G Riley we wont see him again for a while
Russell should be starting team effort improved when he came on
M Monaghan played his normal game

I do not have any expectations this season in the cup or league.
To lose players of the calibre we did and not replace them must mean the club does not have great expectations either.
I think TS is using this season to assess his existing players in the heat of the Super League before deciding what positions need investment. The signs are worrying at the moment with some players past their sell-by date and others not indicating they are likely to make the grade.
Last night Wigan weren't that good but we were abysmal and out enthused.
I only hope that when and if we enter the transfer market, the players are available to fill the holes and, further, it is not a given that SM will dip into his pockets to finance signing new players as people take for granted. He has made substantial investments in the club which has resulted in success on the field but the town, as a whole, has not responded by swelling the attendance figures as much as he was entitled to expect.

When can we start the "smith out" chants