Your right. Were lacking a leader big style. I rubbished it last season and said that it wasnt right, but looking back, had we been able to get wiki for this season he could have answered all our problems.....an enforcer prop with the capability to lead the team around the field....two of the main aspects we are severely lacking.....Yes it would have only been a short term fix, but whack a player like that into our current squad and we go from title pretenders to title challengers IMO

Without pulling your post apart Dave O Style most of the problems you state could and should be sorted out by our coaching department ,however our first team player don't seem to develope and improve year to year, with the same problems constantly rearing their heads be that slow starts , discipline , decision making and skills both in attack and defence .
We should be getting the the best from our current squad and we are not and if we were we would start to be consistent , maybe not world beaters but better than we are .

Gaz Hock has his qualities but this is exactly what the point is about.

How can he be world class when he has so many issues with his game? Offloads-can be tried at time when the pass isn't on or in a dodgy situation, result is a loss in possession.

For me a world class player has composure, something Gaz is lacking in his game when the going gets tough.

The coaches play the best team they can from the squad. They brought in players like Fielden.

They're putting out the best team possible and it's not performing and we (some fans) overrate them.

Only so much a coach can do, they should know the basics by now..

BLOODY HELL.....someone else in wigan is actually switched on about hocks shortcomings!!





exactly why hock is NOT a world class player

Gareth Hock is not overrated far from it.

He has had a great start to the season the his shortcomings which you mention like, offloading in silly situations has disappeared from his game in the past season IMO (apart from that brainfart on Friday night in our ingoal)

Leeds did well to contain Hock and they stopped him playing, making breaks and offloading. He kept trying and trying and came up with a try and one controversial disallowed try. Also Hock was still one of our better players on the night.

Hock is not world class and I was disappointed with his performance at the WC which was a big stage where I thought he could shine and show us what he can do. But in SL he is very good and is certainly not overrated.

It is amazing how one week Gareth Hock is a superstar the next minute he is overrated. The Leeds game Gareth Hock threw one daft ball in a moment of madness but he was still one of our best players and was a marked man throughout the game. He tries things and they sometimes come off for you and he is world class and sometimes they don't and he lacks composure. Most of the time our players aren't anticipating an offload and so it looks daft when he does offload.

Hock is playing really well and for us to play the expansive opportunistic game we crave, we need players to show some flair and individuality. If we are not prepared for the odd knock on or balls up, we should settle for the single minded approach that bored us so much round 1, 2 and 3. We should not call him for one moment of madness we should realise that so far this season I believe he has been quite composed for us. Yes with such an expansive player with so much flair about them he will make mistakes and rash judgements but unless we wish to take a retained, static approach to the game then we should accept that he will make mistakes but will create more tries and opportunities to score than he will throw a daft pass.

There was a defining moment in the Bradford game, a 30sec period which sums up his whole career.

He made a great break, ran right through the team showing a great step, good speed and strength-excellent, but then what happens next? he misses the pass and makes a mess of it.

When he has the composure to make the pass he'll be world class.

Please see the symbolism in this..

With composure and a couple of (extra) brain cells Hock would be the complete back rower and one of if not the best in the world

Thats one moment in a game where he was awesome. He made one mistake and he gets called for it, yet he sure as hell made up for it with what he did in the rest of the game and also against Harlequins.

Please see the symbolism in what I posted.

But he then rectified his mistake and scored in the next opportunity Wigan had.

In the interview after the match he accepts he was a bit greedy and should have passed. A mistake only becomes a mistake when you fail to learn from it.

Whether he is world class or not he is one of our best players & is one of the few with any creativity and flair about them.