I see; so Leigh lose next week then?

I agree that I just don't see any need to be negative or criticise any players. Yes some players made mistakes, but so did some Saints players. Even team does in every game. It's not a computer game with a cheat code on making them infallible.

It was a great game, and winning in such dramatic circumstances in such a big fixture against that opposition makes it a contender for the best night ever at the HJ. I've been going there since game one, and to Wilderspool before that, so I am in a position to judge on that one.

If your first instinct after that was to have a pop at Drinkwater (or any other player) and start over analysing every perceived weakness, then you're either a frustrated coach or just a joyless bore.

Wigan were favourites at the start of the season & apart from a stumble when a few stars were missing they have continued to impress.

Both can be done. I have written extensively already about how great the game was and how well we did. But that play almost embarassed us to high heaven if we had gone on to lose. And yes, it didn't happen, we won. But next week that could kill us. It's killed us many times in the past. It was an awful moment for a professional player with his experience to make at that time. If that had happened in minute 2 I probably wouldn't care. But its the time it happened that just leaves you tearing your hair out.

Everyone defending Drinkwater suddenly because we're all high on the win is funny to me. Everyone's been calling him crap all year. As I said he had a decent game, shut down Welsby a few times on the outside. But that moment was like Chris Bridges chip through, or that kick to the corner vs Hull with Lineham intercepting and going the length of the field. It put us through 10 minutes more stress than any of us needed lol.

Having watched the match back, it's clear that from 50 minutes, Saints were totally out of gas. I'm not taking anything away from their last-minute try against the run of play, but from the very start of the golden point period, they looked out on their feet. On the other hand we looked like a young team full of energy who could go on another 40 minutes.

I have no idea whether this is down to superior fitness and conditioning, or whether it's the Burgess mentality. I suspect it's very much the latter. We haven't been out of a game at all this year, and even at 4-16 down I still felt we had points in us. From the start of the second half we started opening them up.

Quite true, although Strange things can happen, and lady luck just might be there too. Here's hoping though.
TBH- I wouldn't mind a Wires v Leopards final.

IF - and it's a big IF - we do make it to the GF, and if Wigan are the opposition it all comes down to 'mentality'.
In fact Wigan v anyone in a GF (except maybe the Saints team of a couple of years ago, or the 'golden era' Leeds team) and they start as favourites because of their proven pedigree, culture and mental strength.
We underperformed in the CCF and the guys know it. Wire 'lost' the mental battle pre game.
The big question now is 'have we really learnt?'
Time will tell, but anyone is a fool who writes HKR off. They are one hell of a good side and we'll need a repeat performance plus some to win at their place before thinking of the GF.
And that's not to mention Leigh (abeit with some significant injuries now).

A lot of Saints being proud of their ‘spirited effort’ and deserving of their ovation at the end and some of our fans (harshly) being a little critical of our win is quite a seismic shift in attitude.

Why did Liam Moore take so long to blow the whistle after the drop goal

I'm not sure you are right. It is an attractive & popular idea that we just have to have our heads right & we'll win ... but I'm not so sure. We lacked a bit of power vs. Saints & also when we last played HKR. With Wigan it is power & skill.
I believe our mental strength has been great but I think we lack the raw power when both top sides are on their "A" game. Hopefully wrong, of course.

We got over the line and won the first play off battle, that's the main thing. The performance in that game isn't that relevant, as we progress to the semi-finals, in which we can hope that our performance improves against HKR. I think most will agree that we will need to be at a higher level than we were against Saints, but that may not be necessarily so, as it's all on the day for both us and HKR.

I understand where you're coming from and you could be right.
It's rarely just 'one' thing, but specifically for Wigan if I had to chose one thing it would be the mental side - and the lead up to the game is so important.

Skill and power wise - well we won't be doing much this week that's for sure. I don't think we can influence that too much

My guess is (and I am just making this up so please be gentle!!) -
Sunday - rehab
Monday - off
Tuesday - video analysis (both Saints match and the HKR ones) and a light session
Wednesday - drills and some contact, fixing anything that needs fixing
Thursday - HKR specific things
Friday - captains run and match

He probably didn’t know he’d kicked it until this morning. He’s absolutely useless, Moore.

A bit harsh. He clearly knew Williams had kicked it, he was just desperate to find absolutely [iany[/i reason to disallow it. Takes time to think of such things. Thankfully he couldn’t quite find anything to use against us.