A thread in my name, I'm touched.

I was impressed with Saints tonight. Luke Walsh was excellent and exactly what we've been missing. A proper no.7 who will control everything and boss the game. Amor, Wheeler and Roby also played well and I really hope Wheeler can stay fit.

We look vulnerable on our left side defence though, mainly due to Percival's insistence on jumping out of the line. He needs to sort that out.

I thought Warrington were very poor. Their forwards were non-existence and I've never seen Westwood get bullied like that.

All in all it was a great start for us. Very encouraging.

This photo is the gift that keeps on giving. I've seen it a million times and it still makes me chuckle. Genius.

We all want Saints to be competitive now and again though, don't we?

It wouldn't be much as much fun if we beat them every time.

We need to let them win the odd match and trophy so they think they've got a chance (we over did things on this front in 2006 but still managed to annoy them by getting more press coverage than they did, even when we were at a low ebb we scored a victory of sorts over our friends from Merseyside).

If they've got their hopes up and we beat them yet again then that's much more amusing than just thrashing them when they're expecting to lose. We want them to have their hopes cruelly dashed.

Warrington looked awful tonight. Richie Myler is hands down the most overrated halfback in Syooper League. He is awful and will be really exposed this year in Briers' absence. I remember when he was younger and Wire fans tried telling us that he was better than Tomkins. Just like they have tried telling us that Riley was better than Charnley (I think I still have that thread bookmarked).

Early days for Saints. An impressive victory and they will be more of a threat this year. An injury to Walsh or Roby and they are screwed though. Superb pass from Jordan Turner for that try.

Perhaps Mr Smith should have spent a bit more time on his own plays for this season when they were over in Aus pre season instead of trying to help our WCC opponents !!!!!!!!!
Wanted to see the postmatch interviews but they gave them a miss, also was it the Lee Briers show, felt like it, even though he's finished, well he has been for a bit !
Well played Saints, roll on Good Friday

I haven't seen the game but how did Warrington attack down the right now they have lost the Breirs/Monaghan combination that seemed to keep defences over stretched.

Good performance from Saints, Wire were poor and made lots of errors, from what I saw last week though I think Huddersfield would have beaten either last night, long, long way to go this season yet, looking forward to it all !!!

Haha.

In the case of Wilkin and Turner I think they just got done with good footwork and there was no intent. Turner in particular looked genuinely apologetic and he held his hands up to what was a clumsy tackle.

Soliola on the other hand came running onto the field as though he was looking for trouble and he lacked composure. He was forgetting his position in the defensive line and homing in on attackers from all angles. I don't think the high tackle deserved a red card or a ban but it wasn't a nice challenge at all and deserved going on report and him receiving a warning. He needs to be careful.

Warrington were woeful, looked like a team with the heart ripped out of them, pack was dominated, Myler went MIA, really missing Morley, Carvell and Briers.

The interchange of Morley, Carvell and Monaghan used to give me nightmares, at least this season I will get a good nights sleep!

that said, its not how you start the season, its how you finish it that matters.

When I saw how weak/inexperienced the Wire bench was I fancied Saints strongly. Saints used their subs very well knowing what Wire had on the bench (four changes in the first 20 minutes)
If Wire had Wood, Monaghan, Harrison and Currie on the bench then I think it would have been a much closer game.

Percival is getting a bit of stick for that first try, but I think you'll find Wheeler is too far infield and there is no covering second rower. I'm not sure Percival could have done much else.

I wonder if Brown will comment on the high tackles. The Wilkin one probably came off the shoulder, Turner was beaten by the step, but Soliolas was a bad tackle.
It'll be interesting to see what the review panel come up with.

Just on the first point Tony Smith has a lot to answer for. He has hardly given his young players any game time over the last couple of years.

I think that there was a lot of intent in Soliola's tackle and I am sure that if the officials had seen it then stronger action would have been taken. I said last week that Bowen should have been suspended but he got away with it because, allegedly, he made contact with the shoulder first! I am of the same opinion about Soliola, he should be suspended. I am sure that if that tackle had been made on Walsh then Brown and the whole of St Helens would have been calling for blood. If we are not careful then a foul that the RFL has worked hard to eradicate (head tackles) will creep back into the game.

I'd agree that Soliola was looking to hurt people last night, whether he intended on hitting him high I honestly don't know, but I doubt it.

In normal circumstances I can see why he would get a ban and I wouldn't have too much of a complaint. However after letting Bowen off last week, the RFL are on dangerous ground now and banning Soliola a week after not banning Bowen would just look stupid in my opinion. It wouldn't surprise me though.

And you wonder why every one thinks you're nothing but a WUM. At least the majority of Wigan fans admitted Bowen should have walked and probably deserved a ban. Yet you think Soliola was just poorly aggressive and a warning is sufficient.

Soliola should have got at least 10 and a match ban or been sent off for the attack, he certainly didn't miss Monaghan's throat.

Although it is only the first round of SL there could be ominous signs for Wigan this year. We had our pack dominated last week and they didn't perform fantastically against NZ Warriors by all accounts.
The Saints have a fantastic forward pack and it released Roby & Walsh in dangerous positions which totally overwhelmed Warrington. I think if Wigan get into a battle down the middle we might struggle to get into the positions we need. If Saints do so, especially with Masoe to come into the squad, Walsh and Roby could embarrass us in the same way.

It's good we've seen such an effective performance by the Saints so early in the season. Hopefully Wane will look at a different gameplan in defeating the old enemy come Good Friday. Either way, it offers to be the most exciting Good Friday since Maguire's first season in charge at Wigan. Roll on Easter!