The starting front row were really poor. If Mossop, Powell and Crosby were playing like this for Widnes etc there's no way Wigan would want to sign them. I don't understand why the club have not brought in a hooker on loan unless they expect Mickey Mc back earlier than expected.

Didn't KR highlight this as a major issue last season? Nothing has changed.

Our recruitment is poor, the club seem intent of bringing youth through above all else.
Our attacking moves have remained the same for the last five years, but the quality has gotten worse....we have been found out!

We miss Micky Mac terribly, he makes our pack tick. We're nothing without him.

Bateman is incredibly strong for his size. He's got the potential to be one of the best players in the world as long as he's played back row. Love watching him play.

It was only when Clubb and Sutton came on we got some go forward, Crosby and Mossop were awful - and we lost the game when they came back on 2nd half - both are way too slow in defence.

Isa actually had a better game at least he tried - Tomkins J was totally non-existant all game. TT added a bit when he came on - not just size but enthusiasm which was sadly lacking from some.

It is not pure size at fault - our forwards just did not perform well enough.

Maybe someone can tell me, because this size thing comes up a lot, but whenever I see us play, the player who always happens to give us the most go forward is John Bateman, who just so happens to be our smallest forward. As it is, we've got Crosby (110kg), Ben Flower (109kg), Clubb (105kg), Mossop (114kg) and Tautai (114kg) in our front row. It's not exactly tiny. I can't help but think it's just that we play a different game that requires different things from our props.

With some teams, their props (and not just their props) receive the ball at pace. Wigan's props typically receive the ball flat-footed, or, at best, slowly lumbering forward. You don't punch holes in any defence like that.

They are just saving their energy for the "business end" part of the season.

What does it take for Ryan Sutton to barge through and put the ball down on the line? Not the first time this season he's had the ball over the line and dropped it IIRC.

I think had he scored there we would have won.

Sutton occasionally shows aggression and hopefully will kick on and eventually start to do more minutes per game.
He doesn't rip up any trees at the moment but as he matures I hope he can develop into a physical and aggressive prop.

Julien Bousquet is quality, would love him in our pack.

I've just read that when we re-signed Mossop, we have him a 3 year deal which has amazed me. For a guy that struggled with form before he left and came back with serious injury doubts, that is a pretty poor.