Quote: Aboveusonlypie "Yes I agree with you. I'm not saying that I agree with taking the two, but I understand why they do it. FWIW I think Leeds have been one of the biggest culprits over the years. So it's a bit rich to accuse Wigan of lacking big game management, when Leeds would most likely have made the same decision at that time in the game.'"
Leeds wouldn't have made the same decision. In the first half at 6-6, leeds got a penalty on wigan's line and tapped it. Moon scored. In the second half when leeds were 2 points ahead, exactly the same, leeds got 2 kickable penalties at different stages and tapped it both times to keep the ball down that end of the field.
Leeds knew wigan were fresher and needed points on the board in the first half, so tapped it. In the second half leeds knew they were knackered and needed to keep wigan down the other end of the field so tapped it. That game management is the difference and it's so hard to get it right because every game and situation is different to call and there's no set rule for what to do because of that.
FWIW if roles were reversed I reckon leeds would have tapped it to apply the killer blow, and if that didn't occur they'd have ran it on the last and had wigan start the set 2 metres away from their own line, probably making them kick on their own 30 metre.
Sometimes at that stage in the grand final, territory is more important than points if you are already ahead.