Sam Powell continues to look like a competition winner for me in the Wigan first team. I doubt he'd get in the Leigh team at half- back. Surely he should be out on loan and Ryan Hampshire should be the reserve number 6?

All spot on.

He's done pretty well in his very limited opportunities to date but I would also go Sarginson at full back and Gildart at Centre because I believe both are better players.

To write him off as a lad who's wasted all these opportunities is just wrong.

That's the thing for me - 2 games in, how many times have we picked the wrong option already with a dreadful short kicking game? We did it early on against Catalans and blew a couple of excellent opportunities with stupid kicks early in the tackle count. The halves have a great deal to improve upon for Saturday, I thought in close quarters ion particular they were very poor on Friday.

I've been pulling my hair out every time we've kicked early in the tackle count. We must have done it over 10 times in the first two games and it's yet to come up with anything for us.

We were so inpatient on Friday it was untrue. A man I had to throw some blame at was Lockers. He was playing prop but rarely took the ball in to contact and was throwing balls 30 yards to his left and right. He's got so much skill but you have to earn the right to play and make space outwide by playing direct in the middle. He came up with a great pass to win the match but we need to see him get back to how he played against Catalans if he's to stay at prop.

The number of times we let the Catalans out of their 20 with poor kicks was shocking, I can understand building pressure especially in the poor conditions, but the kicks put in were "nothing kicks" they did not go ingoal or put pressure on with repeat sets. Too many kicks too early in the tackle count

This is another reason why this current short-kicking game is such a shocker.

The kicks are very poorly executed. There is very little craft or guile on show. The players just seem to hack it through and hope for the best. Why persist with a tactic when you patently lack the skill to make it count? Though the present Wigan team doesn't persist with it as much as overuse it to a ridiculous degree. Instead of building pressure and running a tired defensive line ragged with fast play-the-balls, wide passing, angled running etc, all we do is let them off the hook time and time again. Every time they're struggling, some unimginative prat in the Wigan line happily gives them another breather.

As a tactic, I feel the Hail Mary ball leaves a lot to be desired anyway. At best it has a 50/50 chance of paying off, but considerably less than that if you're not doing it properly. It also indicates to me - so I presume it indicates the same to the oppostion - especially if you're doing it a lot, that you're running out of ideas on how to break the defence down. It means they are doing something right and you are doing something wrong - so they are encouraged and you are increasingly demoralised.

It's such a p1ss-easy tactic to keep resorting to - and there's the rub. Try it now and then, yeah, but if it never pays off and you keep on doing it, that's inexcusable.