There seems to have been a bit of a change to the Wigan style of play this last couple of weeks, were previously it seemed as if the dominant move was move the ball as fast as possible to the wings hoping for an overlap. Opposition defences would then slide across matching the Wigan attackers knowing that for 90% of the time that was the way Wigan went. Now both Greene an especially Smith seem to be tacking the defence on more which makes the opposition think twice before spreading out.
Wigan also seem to be standing a bit further in field (especially on the left) which gives more room for the outside men.
An example of this was shown a couple of times by Liam Farrell being well infield ,drawing his man and releasing at the last possible moment which then left Sargy with the space to put Burgess away.
As I have said it seems to be working more on the left and it still needs a bit of work to allow Charnley the same amount of room on the right.

I have seen a lot of Sarginson over the years, and really like him as a player. My doubts about him were more about whether he could defend in the centres, and there he has come on leaps and bounds. As for his passing game, he has always been very skilful, and so that was something he has been able to learn more quickly. He will get better and better. His footwork is superb.
Give it 12 months and we could have the best back 5 in the comp. There is so much attacking potential in them.

Hes like gelling a few years ago, basically some random brain farts and a bit greedy with the ball but slowly it was ironed out of gelling and the same will happen for Sarge

His potential is huge though, excellent signing

Talking of Ryan Hampshire - what is the situation with him? He seems to have been unavailable for an awful long time.

I think he's better than Gelling was in his first year. He certainly handles the ball better imo.

yeh thats true but similar brain farts and greedyness

Out injured. Played full-back for the u19s vs Leeds in the play off match this afternoon and had a good match before getting a knock to his shoulder. Was replaced by Tierney for a while before rejoining the field.

Agree about us changing the style of play.
I mentioned to those sat near me weeks ago that Sarge and Budgie were being crowded out by wide running forwards. They therefore had no room to move and Sarge was accused of being greedy.
I think the style has changed due to Green returning. He's always looked to take on players down the middle which means opposition defences have to play it tight in the middle.
When we switch now Faz has far more space and put Sarge away, Dan also creates space for himself. The result is Burgess gets more ball, a break is made and often if Budgie doen't score there a try there for the inside man which last Thursday was Faz, Sarge and Bowen.
What is also evident is the blistering pace of our backs. Bowen, Charnley, Sarginson and Burgess are real pacey and we must now have one of the fastest backlines in the game, if not the fastest.

His best game all season IMO.



Really? He had a very good game v Hudds but the week before I felt he was poor and looked leaden footed. He had a few games looking like that prior to his injury earlier in the season as well.

The pair of them need to put in games like this regularly.

As to player of the season it's Burgess for me. He already has the decision making Sarginson has lacked. The number of tries he has put Faz in for is fantastic. It wouldn't surprise me that even though he is a winger he has more or a similar number of assists to Sarginson.

I was going to post the same about Burgess assists, after the halves and maybe SOL he must have the most assists. Not often a winger would be right up there. I really hope the rumours of his departure are untrue, this guy is the best talent I've seen in a winger for a long long time. He plays like a winger should do, he hugs the touchline and he has the pace, swerve, change of pace and ultimately the confidence to beat a man.

Agreed, and his decision making impresses me too, especially for one so inexperienced. He seems to make the right decision whether to back himself or pass most of the time. Defensively sound too, mostly.

Just looked and the SL website says Burgess has 6 assists, I thought it would have been higher than that. Powell and Lockers have 8, Gelling 11, Sarginson and Bowen 12, Green 16 and Smith is 3rd in the league with 25.

EDIT: That was just for the weekly rounds and doesnt't include the PO game. Burgess got 3 assists on Thursday. Bowen and Smith got 2 and Green 1.

Burgess is so cool when he breaks the line which is such an impressive trait considering his age and experience.