Positives:

Sam Tomkins, a different player than the one who set sail for New Zealand, yet effective in different ways
Gildart is a real threat.
Lockers is everything to the team, and can pretty much do anything.
Micky looking better
Burgess looking fitter


Negatives

Tommy. Him running into the defensive line on the 5th tackle when in their 20 when he had options to spread to ball out wide or put a grubber in, sums him up. He had no idea and just took a tackle. Terrible 7.
Marshall/Gelling. Liability in defence. Saint had success attacking down their side, but strangely give up.
TT, sign.

Very hard to be unhappy after a win like that ... so I'm not going to pretend that I am.

Great tries, and great strength in defence. We totally dominated a fairly decent St Helens team who only got a sniff thanks to yet another contender for 'Howler of the Year' from the video ref (I honestly would not pay these thickies in washers).

However, it's true what others have said. Unforced errors and poor discipline are still the bane of this Wigan team's life. If we could just cut down on that stuff a little bit, we'd be on the front foot way more than we are.

The lads will NEVER get any credit from some on here mate. Your post was spot on. To beat Saints like that after last week was magnificent and there is a lot to be positive about. Jonh won't see it though so don't waste your energy!!

We just beat Saints away the week after Wembley to put ourselves 1 point off the semis..... and you're moaning?

I thought Isa stayed on the right side of losing the plot and in fact impacted on Saints and threw a couple of their lads off their games. He got binned in the last minute but the job was done and the game was won by that point. He played a huge part in keeping our intensity up when it looked like dropping a little after a fast start. I've already mentioned his tackle on Walmsley as well....wow!

There were a couple of poor performances in the middle of a fantastic effort but I don't know how we can be anything but positive about that.

Yes because I'm fully frustrated about watching us have the same brain farts week in week out.

This team could be very special but we consistently let ourselves down week in week out with the same silly errors.

Positives for me were the result, obviously, Locky, Tomkins and in particular Gildart. Also can't fault the effort superb.

Rugby however isn't just about effort and desire. It is about using your brain and time after time we play dumb. We should have been in a match winning position by half time last night but unforced stupid plays once again allowed out opponents back in.

Giving penalties away with ball in hand is absolutely criminal yet we seem to do it nearly every week.

For me in the final the game changed around 1 pivotal moment early in the game and that was when Farrell gave away the penalty for not playing the ball right. Momentum changer.

Credit to the team, the end result was fantastic, however my frustration lies in the fact that we are very very close to being a very good team and once again just like last week we conspire to be our own worst enemies at times when we really don't need to be.

After a week of adversity, we've gone and won at an in form Saints, we're a good chance of making a SL semi-final, and people are complaining! Wigan fans...

I share your frustration. When we went 24-4 up we should've coasted that game, not drag them up the field on our backs and give them 2 quick tries to get them back in it. I'm usually a bit one-eyed when I watch Wigan and naturally think every decision that goes against us is the ref being bent, but I couldn't help getting raged with some our discipline last night.

I noticed quite a bit of niggly stuff last night that we seemed to get away with as well, a few times we could've been pulled for blocking runs off from a kick and Tommy's slide tackle on Taia (wtf was he thinking there?). We need to cut all that out of we want to get top 4 because we won't get away with it every week.

Maybe I'm just being a grumpy sod in my old age .
The first Gildart try and Gelling's were vintage Wigan, un-defendable, just shows what these lads are capable of but we keep giving the opposition a chance, at times it looks like we're begging them to come back at us.
Saints were there for the taking last night, a real good hiding was on the cards and we didn't do it.
Maybe that's why though absolutely delighted with the victory I feel frustrated we didn't completely smash 'em.

I don't think it's 'not being a fan' to point out that sometimes, even when we win, we can be our own worst enemy.

That was a great and crucial victory, but I agree with Jon to a degree ... we gave Saints several more chances than they deserved.

They are much vaunted at present, especially with Ben Barba in their ranks. But on last night's showing, they're still second best to Wigan. Wouldn't it have been great to really rub their noses in it?

The fact that the OP posted this during the game seems lost on some people. At the time of posting the game was still in doubt and stupid pens weren't helping the cause. Criticism, from a postion of hindsight after the game, with quotes about 'winning after Wembley' are laughable at best.

The OP has said post game - he's happy with the result. Being happy with the result however doesn't mean in game criticism must be saved until the final hooter and only discussed if we don't win.

There was some silly stuff but you can't forget the fatigue factor.

This week post Wembley and a season full of injuries and minimal rotation all adds up.

I didn't think our discipline was too bad, Saints got on a roll and we tired in the second half,was to be expected.I think we did really well to stop them getting another try and maybe go on to win the game.
In my opinion saints are one of the form teams in the league and although they've been beaten 3 times on the bounce have put in decent performances and been edged out. Last night was a great performance and victory and one that gives us a shout of the top 4,although next week is almost a must win too.

Agree completely, I mentioned the Farrell penalty in the final earlier in the week. We were on top until then. We give a lot of unnecessary dumb penalties away.

I think it's fair to say that most of us recognise that we have been our own worst enemy at times all season. We give far too many penalties away and we have given penalties away when we're in possession far too often. It's criminal really. When we have our share of possession we generally win!
My issue with this thread (and other forums) is the reluctance of some supporters to give credit where it's due.

This season has been unprecedented in terms of injuries and yet we're still in with a realistic chance of making a 5th successive grand final. Our style of rugby has been heavily criticised but at times, we had little option but to play a more conservative game. We had a back line that not many would even recognise at times and we've been without many of our experienced players for large amounts of the season. Just 1 example was Leuluai broke his jaw. His understudy Shorrocks was already out for the season, the other understudy Powell was covering at Hooker so we had to play with young Woods who is nowhere near ready for 1st team.
Tomkins coming back has been huge for us but after almost 2 seasons out could never have been expected to set fire to the league straight away but he's really laying down a marker now.
I understand the frustration and share it to a degree but we have to be balanced and put the season into some perspective. I'm very optomistic about our clubs future.