The kicking game was crap and in truth has been all season. It's a weak point for our team.

I’m permanently incredulous about how professional rugby league halves (especially those allegedly brilliant at kicking) cannot find open space with a kick. Our long kicking is extremely poor and we don’t have a plan B of even a decent bomb - which again I find very hard to believe a pro rugby player can’t execute 9/10. Sneyd will give us a masterclass on Friday.

There are very few good kickers in the game in the UK. I genuinely think out best long distance kick option is Danny Walker. Drinkwater seems to stand really flat but still when kicking, and is quite easy to apply pressure to him. And Williams long kicking game is and always has been limited.

Our best hope, without being flippant, is to not rely on a long kick. Until Ashton dropped that bomb, we were doing ok for field position. He should catch that on his 20 and with only Miski actually chasing with intent, we could have started our set on the 30 line. Even with Wigan’s defence we would be kicking from opposition territory. It’s the errors that killed us, and the penalties.

I’m frustrated why we feel we’re too good for a kick to the corner though. I know late on we did it, but in the first half we had chances to kick to King but didn’t, I think we even got caught on the last rather than opting for it. I know it’s boring, but it’s limited risk. The worst that can happen is a 20m restart, but the kickers just need to drop it short of the line and that problem is solved.

It’s a combination of things for me that go wrong when we lose the monument. The panic was palpable. The pass from Williams on our own line on 38 minutes in tackle one tells that story. If we were in front by 50, he doesn’t play that pass. If we’re in front by 1, he doesn’t play it. So why when we’re down by 10 with 42 minutes to go would you? It’s a desperation to change the game, rather than trusting the process and getting back to the things we had been doing well.

Congratulations to Wigan. They deserved the win.
That game reminded me of when we played Catalan at home a couple of months ago. We looked a bit shocked at the start of the game by the opposition line speed and discipline in defence. What has worked against Hull FC, London, Huddersfield etc was not going to work.
In that game against Catalan we had to create a number of repeat sets to wear their defence down. Their three-quarters were a handful returning the ball that meant that Abdul could kick without any pressure and place the ball exactly where he wanted. Wigan did exactly the same. The kick pressure we have seen in most of the games this year was just not quite at the same level and the cycle of Marshall, miski returning the ball and by tackle 3 Wigan were in our half.

Wigan applied a lot of pressure out wide in the knowledge that we were going to try and go round them, we then became frightened to shift the ball in case we got bundled into touch. We just didn't have any answers
Hopefully Gleeson etc will have a better plan for next time.

I don’t think that the wayward passes were the biggest problem the real issue is the Wigan pack was dominant which resulted in Wire trying to play round them. Defensively Wigan produced their A game, offensively I would say there is plenty of improvement. Wire have definitely taken a big step forward and they need to build on the foundations that Burgess has put down by integrating their juniors and recruiting better.

Our pack is not consistently good enough against the bigger packs. We were completely and utterly dominated in the middle on Saturday, it wasn't even a contest. I fear we are not recruiting for props any more as the vox populi seems to be "we have plenty". But Burgess is well placed to assess.

Yep we need a new dominant big powerful front row,
Cos Saturdays front row are only bench quality against the top teams

I don’t think there’s need to fly into panic mode, the team had a stinker - it happens. Saints had an absolute mare in 2019 (very similar to our performance) they soon got over it. Friday is massive as it will tell us a lot about this side and any chances for the rest of the season.

Agreed no panic, just an observation of the pack. Let's hope we bounce back with a good win.

That was very disappointing and a year too soon. In our team there were:
4 CC Winners
2 WCC Winners
3 GF Winners
9 International players
1 State of Origin Winner
2 players with 10 NRL Seasons

Teams who go to Wembley normally have a dip two weeks later.

My assessment as a Wigan fan. I brought two mates with me, one a big both codes rugby fan who doesn't follow a team, and one who is a football fan who had never been to a rugby game before. They both very much enjoyed the day. It's interesting to me that while, as rugby league fans, we are seemingly all worrying about the optics of empty seats and what we need to do to fill the stadium and get a better atmosphere, their attitude was very positive. They thought the crowd was really impressive and the sense of occasion was very much part of the day for them. My football fan mate was very pleased that he could have a pint in his seat, and was pleasantly surprised that we had Warrington fans sat right in front of us, with no worries over segregation.

To the match itself, I think Burgess was probably right to focus on the fact that 12 of the 17 had not played in finals before. Wigan only had two where that was the case and I really thought it showed. I had a good chat with one of the Warrington fans at half-time and we both agreed that the big game experience was making a difference. The interesting there to me is that I think it was the players with finals experience that suffered. I wonder if they felt too much pressure to stand up and be the leaders today, rather than just playing their usual games. Williams, Powell and King all had unusually poor games. Warrington's last tackle options were poorer than usual, both in choice and execution. But the biggest factor, as several have mentioned, was in the forwards. Wigan got on top early there and never let go. Thompson and Cooper looked every inch the England veterans that they are and Vaughan and Harrison, both of whom I rate highly, looked as poor as I have seen them this season. Philbin was missed. He has looked much more like the player of 2019 this year, and his aggression may have helped out there.
French and Field had the Warrington defence rattled a lot of the time, hence why King shot out of the line when he shouldn't. They say you have to lose one to win one, and I wonder if this was your lose one. I still feel the Grand Final is going to be any two of Wigan, Warrington and Saints and it could easily go differently then. As for the officiating, I didn't have a problem with most of it, barring the obvious incredulity at the harsh yellow cards and the long deliberations over the French double movement. Ball carrying arm clearly hit the deck while the tackle was effected, and there was a clear second movement to lift the arm and ground the bball over the line. Not sure why it needed all that time, especially after being sent up as a no-try.
Thanks to the Warrington fan sat in front of me for welcoming my mate to his first rugby match and sportingly offering us a handshake at full-time. Rugby league fans are truly the best,

Great post.

Lose one to win one? We are owed a few GF successes then

On the double movement; if I'm not mistaken you are allowed to move your arm if you are still moving, a point that seems to be being overlooked. Promoting the ball only comes into play when your momentum is stopped. French said he thought it was a try because he was still moving and there's an argument to say he's right. Not that it mattered in the end, of course.