It wasn't a lot better was it? I suppose Wigan will take the win 18 - 12 but it was difficult to watch. The tall Widnes 11 cause Wigan a lot of problems on the edges.
Sadly for Widnes Liam Walsh looks a shadow of the player he was a couple of years back.
Joe Shorrocks was very good for Wigan and provided the spark they needed in the 2nd half, it also helped when they moved Green back into the halves to partner Smith.

A wins a win lol. Yes shorrocks the stand out. Was expecting a better game though. Still think there are better players at local u18 clubs.

It must be frustrating at this level. About the only time you see a truly full strength team is in the final. Otherwise you have a lot of younger players who need game time and your stars often get shifted out on DR/loan. You are unlikely to see the same team two games running. Having said that some of our older lads looked a bit off the pace. One tackle on Kibula was a peach and Widnes bombed a hatfull of chances. I agree about Shorrocks looking strong but we need to remember that he got a chance last year just because it seems policy to bring the younger lads into the team.

With it being a three year age group at academy level, it's a difficult decision for the clubs. Last year we sent a young team to Widnes in the early stages and lost, fortunately today we scraped home.

Just watched Darrell Gouldings post match interview on Wigan t.v. Very realistic appraisal.

As Rogues said the Widnes 11 really caused problems in the first half. I think it's Sam Walters and if so he's only a first year but looks very promising indeed. Our right edge wasn't the most experienced and possibly a little bit lightweight and really struggled to bring him down. In the second half they did a better job in keeping him contained. Harry Smith is a really aggressive defender which is great to see.

Partington and Kibula were below par but we were always going to need Samy on when the game was tight because he's so hard for tired defenders to stop. I thought Kilner did well but his upright running style might see him struggle as he moves up a level.

Joe Brown had one of the best games I've seen from him which is good because I thought he was disappointing last year. He ran the ball in very well and was dangerous when he got some space. Sam Grant was excellent too but didn't really see enough of the ball. His footwork is unbelievable and he's deceptively strong too.

Joe Shorrocks was good and probably the one who turned the game. He's got a good mix of power, pace and footwork.

Having Barran at 6 and Green at fullback didn't really work. I'm guessing they were just experimenting as Barran has always seemed more of an outside back and Green seems more comfortable in the halves.

Amir Burrouh caught the eye with his running from dummy half and Ethan Havard was strong off the bench.