This

He looks like a good prospect but he looked shaky at times today imo and positionally he got caught out a couple of times.

Very promising but he's not quite the finished article yet.

Thought he was miles out of position . He was virtually standing in our defending line and when Widnes kicked he's was permantly running back to our line and nearly getting smashed back over the line . Looked shakey under high ball but which kid wouldn't with some of them kicks . Looked strong in attack .But that's prob only 2nd time I've saw him so can't compare how he usuall plays

he wasnt deep enough for a full back, time and time again widnes put high kicks up to him. People want Sam to move back to 6 to accomodate him? Not for me unfortunately. Long, long way to go before he can even be considered as a super league full back.

I thought he did ok, but Russell's performance has shown me just how good of a player Sam is, especially when coming into the line.

Even if Russell does become a better player in the next few years, I would still have Sam at FB everytime. Russell didn't have the impact I thought he would, hearing what people had to say on here, but he did a good job and will improve.

It's too early for him at Super League level as a fullback. He's only 18. Even Tomkins didn't make his Wigan debut until the age of 19. I'm sure Russell will do very well at Leigh on dual registration and perhaps next year or a year later he should be challenging to become a first team regular.

He'll hopefully play regular for Leigh this season and get a few games for us thrown in as well. He's done well today and would go even better with a full team around him helping him out.

He is raw and needs work but it's all basics. His natural ability is freakish with ball in hand.

You only get experience from playing and so I say well done Wane for giving him game time. As disappointing as the defeat is, it is only a blip in what will be a roller coaster season. I expect Wigan to be challenging for honours at the business end.

I thought he took his tries really well, but thought he was very week defensively and under the high ball.

Ball in hand I was impressed by him but his defensive position was quite poor but that can be worked on. His kick off's were poor though he kicks the tee further than the ball and was getting no height atall

With a few more experienced players on the pitch I am sure he would have been helped out in any areas he was lacking. This is why the idea of playing so many inexperienced players together was wrong. Far better to have him in the side alongside the experienced pros rather than having a potentially confidence sapping time of it.

Russell is a talent and is fast and elusive but he has major flaws in his game that worry me. He makes a lot of mistakes and his defence is a worry and these are obviously key flaws at full back where you need to inspire confidence. In attack he is also too greedy for my liking and attacking moves stop dead when the ball gets to him. He still has a long way to go imo.

FB and coping with a high ball should not be an area where it looks like we need coaching in, given the fact Hampo is on the staff, possibly the greatest ever under the high ball

I thought his attack was superb and is a area of his game that is already at Super League level in my opinion.

He is slightly shaky under a high ball but he's only now being introduced into high pressure stadiums and crowds which will take time to get used to.

With regards to his positional play yesterday, I just think he should have taken the pitch in to consideration. The ball was always going to travel further and bounce higher on the i-pitch so maybe he should have been a little deeper for him to attack the ball rather than chase it.

But all in all, he did well.

I don't thonk Russell did too bad defensively. I've just watched the tries and Mellor was involved in about three or four of the missed tackles for the Widnes tries.

The game went away from us with the Mickey Mac substitution in the second half at that point we were 18 points up. I suspect Wane thought it was a good timer to bring Logan Tomkins on, but then that injury to Goulding (never mentioned on the tries show last night, or in the League Express or League weekly) meant a reshuffle and not just a simple change back for the hookers.

Logan and Mellor got run over for the equalising try.

Personally I would have gone with Sam Powell before Mellor as he is more like
Tommy L in terms of defensive ability.