Well done Leigh just deserved the win.
Defences on top,attack very rusty but will come good I have no doubt.
Great opening night for SL,great crowd,as pointed out a little quiet on both sets of fans but it was pretty cold,maybe something to do with it.
Look forward to Hull now.

Coming off the ground I was trying to think what it reminded me of and then it clicked.
Remember when we used to do "The Big One" ? Where we'd go the extra mile in promoting the game, get a much bigger crowd in than usual for that fixture and then inevitably lose it


All credit to Leigh for the win, I went on thinking it would be a high scoring game with defences nowhere near up to standard yet, couldn't've been more wrong.
All in all not a disastrous night but I am looking forward to July, a bit fresh last night to put it mildly.

welcome to summer rugby





there is a certain irony in that its bloody freezing when we start, and inevitably p***ing down when we play the grand final, and nothing like summer rugby

Was Miski dropped for Eckerlsey?

When I saw the team I just assumed Miski was still a bit underdone but then I saw him in the warm up which is unusual for injured/rested players

Didn't he come back from pre-season a lot later? I'm assuming he's still trying to get fitness, or over an injury. I think the entire of last year he had strapping on his knee or arm, or both.

The coaching team decided to give him another week off as part of his recuperation.

I agree, when injuries start to bite Leigh will struggle as they have little depth in their forwards. Having said that, if they can continue to roll out their best 13 they will be a handful for everyone. They are a well drilled outfit and last evening they managed to do a Wigan to Wigan by slowing the ruck down. I can't begrudge them their win last night, on sheer effort alone they deserved it. From a Wigan perspective, it has brought us down a peg or two which will be good in the long term. It will be interesting to see how we react next week at Hull.

Yeah, I don't think a few shocks early in the season will do us much harm in the long run. Motivation to keep winning can be difficult when you've had so much success (not saying we lacked it last night) but a champion side doesn't like losing and the enjoyment that brings around the game and I think our players can then feed off that. I'm finding myself a bit 'meh' about games at the minute and that's from the run of winning trophies but last night just gets you going again.

In terms of next week, the players need to react now and also back up some talk I saw in pre season about them knowing how bad their record in the city of Hull is and them wanting to put that right. There will be no better time than next week but it won't be easy because all teams are optimistic and motivated early in the season.

My concern after reflecting on that last night is the power of referees to control the ruck speed to such a degree it almost nullifies any of our threat from a quick play the ball to get teams on the back foot. If a team like Leigh are able to do that on a pitch the size of ours, I’ll be concerned when we go to places like KR and even Castleford.

By no means was it the reason we lost last night but i thought the referee let the game flow a bit too much which probably sounds a bit ridiculous becuase we are all forever saying the refs are giving too many penalties. There were clear penalties on both sides, the ruck was too slow and i think if he blew a few times it would of broke the game up.

Good game though, enjoyed it. We'll be fine and congrats to the Leigh.

I've felt exactly the same - adds a little more bite to the coming games.