Good to grind out a close game for a change against a top side after quite a few glorified training runs, but yet again we struggled against a side that used the rush defence out wide to cut off our "play" and didn't really seem to know what to do at times apart from drive it up the middle. It's happened lots against Warrington, happened against Huddersfield earlier in the season and we struggled last night despite the Whinos missing their two best forwards.

When we go wide we need to make sure we have more than one play which we don't seem to at the moment, especially later in the season.

It is at times like this when you are being crowded out by a rush defence that you need that plan B, it was crying out for Sam being moved to first receiver a few times.

The Leeds defenders on seeing Sam at the start of a move would not have dared to rush up otherwise he would have been through, it would not have been required at every move but the flexibility it would give would get the opposition thinking.

could not agree more.
we have one move and if the defence are playing well enough to nullify it we seem short of options.

If you have spotted this 'one move', surely coaches of every team we have played this season have also, why have they not made plans to stop it and prevent us from scoring ?, maybe we have other moves that you and these other teams we have beaten have not yet 'sussed out'.

Some folk are never happy are they? They moaned that we couldn't close out a tight game. Pats try was a perfect example of the forwards doing a number on their opposite pack and sucking the defenders in, and THEN spreading the ball out wide.

btw. After watching the video again I'm even more convinced that Sams kick was a goal.

Possibly, but we were probably better off with it missing with the time left on the clock. I'd have been a lot more nervous playing a set from our own line after the restart instead of from the dropout. Getting it to go dead was the main thing.

Without wanting to over-egg this pudding, I do agree that against a well marshalled defence we look limited. We had the same problem away at Huddersfield earlier in the season. Able to mix it in the middle, but missing that cutting edge.

There's time yet, but I feel it's unlikely we'll be able to batter our way to the trophies we want by brute force alone. I'm a big fan of Wane, but if he has an Achilles heel, this could be it. We need to 'outfootball' some of these better quality sides, and though Sunday's win was awesome, we haven't done it yet.

Happy with the test that we came through.

I was one of those who wondered if we could "step up" when needed and there is no doubt that we did that on Sunday.

What it DID confirm, however, is that league positions mean nothing.

There was nothing between Wigan and Leeds on the day, despite the relative performances during the season.

A little taster of what to expect come the playoffs.

I agree entirely Brett.. Fascinating game, we are getting better at shutting a game out, but Leeds still offer quite a challenge. Like all sport at the top level, mind games.

But had Leeds played and won their two games in hand (Widnes and Wakefield) they would have been second coming into Sunday's game. The two Leeds games this season have both been full-on encounters with very little between the teams, as can be seen by the aggregate score of 34 - 34.

In order to employ the defence Leeds did all game you have to have a set of very fit and well drilled players. Spotting the tactic doesn't mean you have the players able to defend against it and it follows that poorer sides won't be able to.

I am not convinced it would have been that different if Green had been playing which is what Wane has said as I am sure he would have found his options as limited as the half backs on the day did.

Blake Green has been on fire and is a major contributing factor behind Liam Farrell's rise to prominence this year, coupled with the fact his replacement has played only a couple of first team matches and Matty Smith was nowhere near the levels he's played this year due to returning from injury, leads me to believe that wigan would have scored double the number of tries we posted on Sunday....

We can't forget Leeds had Peacock and Delaney missing who are huge player in their pack as is Ablett come to think of him. We did have Green missing who'll make a difference but we'll need to be much better the next time we take them on. Our pack was at full strength and will need to go up a couple of gears when they get those guys back.

I've got to be honest and say Sunday really worried me. I thought we played at a greater intensity then Leeds, with more desire and energy yet they still could have nicked it even with half a pack missing. They're masters at sticking in and making you implode, they pick you off and play on your weaknesses and I thought we looked edgy.

On the plus side our attitude and desire was brilliant and we can play much better, I think we'll need to!

In two of those games against the bigger sides, Sam Tomkins, who has contributed 22 tries and 18 assists in the league this season, wasn't playing. So our average tries drops by about 2 per game when Sam isn't playing. Who knows what effect Green playing would've had on the result on Sunday but just saying well he played in these games and we didn't win is clearly a nonsense opinion when our most potent attacking threat wasn't playing in 2 of them. It's also worth pointing out that the 2 defeats against Hudds and Leeds, plus the draw against Wire were all within the first few games using a brand new half back combination. Against Hudds we were forced in to a major reshuffle in several key positions and still could have nicked it.

People spend too much time looking for things to whinge about. ATEOTD we've dropped points in 3 games in a season where we were meant to have lost so much quality we'd be lucky to be in the top 4. Yes our attack could have been better on Sunday but you have to credit the two excellent defensive efforts from both sides. I think people are so used to seeing blowout scores in SL it becomes disappointing when we're not scoring 10 tries a game!