The first half was what killed us. Gradual torturous loss of the arm wrestle to the superior pack and we couldn't recover. To be honest I thought the attitude second half was fine. Just from 12-0 in those conditions we left ourselves too much to do. To be fair though Cats played well over the 80 mins, controlled proceedings, and defended when the time came and were well worth the win.

Some things come as no surprise - lack of go forward in both front and second row, the age old problem at 9 - and I think we will need to try and dip in to the market to get a body or two in to rectify it in the pack. Lack of intensity in these dogfight games, some lazy/passive defence, some poor discipline at times, and people like French barely getting the ball are more disappointing aspects and need sorting out ASAP.

Obviously when summer arrives I’d like think that we will see an improvement however, by that time from a table position a top 2 will be beyond reach unless we see a major turnaround. In the short term and maybe long term we have very few options. Throw in some long term injuries and we have virtually nothing in reserve.
The coaching staff will have to really earn their pay this season to get us competing against any side that turns up prepared to defend as if their lives depend on it.

When teams get their defence right Wigan struggle, fast condensing defences have troubled the players. Leeds last year in the playoffs was a prime example. Wigan have got to offer more variety in attack, we know we have the pace outside but there is no threat in the middle to tie in the opposition they just crab across and slow down the PTB.

Just a quick following up on Forber being “the best hooker in our squad by a country mile” and “better defensively than Powell”

He made 12 tackles for Wakefield whilst missing 4 and had zero carries.

How many minutes did he play?
Did he play any minutes whilst Wakefield were down to 12 men?
How many ptb did Wakefield have whilst Forber played?

I don’t know the answers but would help to start to give some semblance of context.
I think even Roby would struggle in the current Wakefield team.

How do his stats compare with other players currently out on loan last week?

I think the important stat there was that he missed 25% of his tackle attempts, regardless of any scenario's that is poor. Shows the absurdity of a comment stating that an untested youngster is already a better prospect and defender then a seasoned pro who is regarded as a good defender like powell.

But the lad is still very young and he will benefit massively from this Super League experiece that he is getting at wakey. Only positives can come from this loan deal.