your initial comment is wrong

I disagree, but we are all entitled to our opinions.

Agree with all that Itchy, I thought our back three were all very good, despite they all made a few errors. But their contributions in both attack and defence were great. And you could say exactly the same thing about Harry Smith. And as others have said, faIr play to Jon Wilkin (not for the first time) for talking some sense.

And like you, so pleased for Marshall after his cruel luck earlier in his career. So pleased for the lad for whom it clearly means so much. The lads at the back of the coach on the way back were all singing "Liam Marshall, he's one of us!". And that's what it's all about, really, isn't it?

I agree even if your opinion is wrong as is my opinion of yours is (so to speak) (I think)

I am also very happy for Liam Marshall with the luck has in his career to score the winning try in the semi and the final a dream come true for the lad I bet.

He came up with some key plays the kick was superb for the final try in particular.

He bombed 1 opportunity on about 70 minutes.

His knock on resulted in a try and also his poor kick and decision to do that kick when his outside backs were not expecting it set up field position for the last Huddersfield try.

He has been fantastic since he came into the side this year and has proven my wrong as I genuinely didn’t think he would nail the 7 shirt but he has.

I think is either team had a dominant half yesterday they would have won, but then again if my aunty had testicles she would be my uncle.

Ultimately he did come up big when it counted and fair play to him for that and those moments of quality probably won’t us the game.

My opinion is totally inconsequential though and what is exciting is that he is only going to improve from the experience of playing and winning such a big game.

Who is Jamie Field ? Brian Noble reckons he played well for us.

Noble was genuinely hard to listen to.

I turn the volume off it he is commentating and I’m not at the game.

I think Jonathan Davies is excellent and insightful, Noble though is terrible.

Utter garbage mate and you can put that in your sig. Easily the best player on the field and not by a small margin.

Fair enough, that’s your opinion. I don’t want to focus on the negatives because he did come up with the key plays but they happened.

After watching it again I would have given it to Smithies (over McQueen) who I thought was superb. The 2 high shots probably cost him that chance too added to the fact we were behind at the time it was decided.

Huge effort in defence and the offload was fantastic for Smiths try.

Smith and Smithies are without doubt the biggest 2 improvers under the stewardship of Peet.

I thought Child had too many involvements in the game, super league refs need to follow the NRL and put the whistle away for the big games and let it flow. In saying that the refs had no part in Wigan's very poor execution, our failure to perform basic skills put us under immense pressure in the semi and final. Wigan had flashes of individual skill and Huddersfield executed the basics very well.

Myself and most of the people I spoke to on the day felt a bit hollow with the win due to Wigan's low standard of play for most of the game.

every try is from a defensive mistake Marshall try the full back was out of position to let him in.
So i think you are being a bit harsh on Smith saying he did this wrong or that as every player makes a mistake in a game what some players do is win the game -Smith & Marshall won that game for us with a big help from all the other Wigan players as without them we prob have lost.

not really ball was shifted from 1 side to the other and kicked across, hes not getting from 1 side to the next in a 5 seconds

I disagree a full back follows the ball from behind his defensive line he did but was a tad too slow.
I know it was a brilliant play by Smith but all I am trying to point out that if there are no defensive lapses no tries would be scored.And if that would be against wigan I bet that some people would point out the same as I have, Field was out of position etc.
All I am doing is defending Wigan players as some folk like to point out mistakes too easily but this happens on both teams hence we have a winner-Wigan this time.

yeah he tried but due to the speed of play he couldnt get there, sometimes it just good play

You could say that about every single try that is scored. The whole point of the game is to force defensive errors or misreads (admittedly some errors are worse than others).

I thought Smithies was unlucky not to get more of a look in for the Lance Todd at the time. Having watched it back, he impressed me even more (one swinging arm aside, the other wasn't that bad imo).

He always managed to put in an amazing shift in defence in terms of effort and tackle count. The difference is now that he's offering far more going forward, definitely in metres but even occasional pieces of skill like the offload to Smith for the first try.

Still a baby for a forward too, he could be some player in 2-3 years when still in his early/mid twenties.

Smithies has been great this year (and was great on Sat) but just needs to keep his discipline in check, particularly in the big games when emotions run high. In the last final we played prior to Saturday he cost us two vital points and if it wasn't for Lolihea's miss and Child's leniency then we could have been having a different conversation about him.

Fair comment on Smithies. If you take away the swinging arm he was superb. Oppo fans are predictably focusing on the high shot but the irony is he's pretty much cut all that out of his game this year but let the old Smithies resurface when, had he not done, people would be seeing the player he's become.

The reason I put Smith way above either him or McQueen can be best illustrated by that last play. Can you imagine the stick he'd have received had he not executed that perfectly? Had it been even a fraction off everyone would have been slating him. The fact that, as a young half who wasn't even first choice a few games ago, he had the courage to do that in the 77th minute of a Challenge Cup final is next level to anything Smithies or McQueen did.

You're also going overboard on his mistakes too in my opinion. Halves don't have mistake free games. If they do they aren't trying hard enough.

Once the emotion of the game has worn off, along with the numerous alcoholic beverages and I’ve had chance to watch it back, I agree that he needs to be careful. I love his passion, desire and energy and he had a superb game, which is a continuation of a great season but in the biggest games, he still has that bit of a disciplinary meltdown in him. In the main his discipline is hugely improved, so he can do it. You don’t want to take that edge away from him but just manage it better. He will probably have a few games to rest now and just think about things, as I expect he’ll pick up a few games.

Smithies is starting to look like the player he was built up to be and Smith is starting to show himself as that kid that took the Aussies apart.

Every single player has improved massively already this season and Peet and the rest of the staff deserve all the credit they are getting and will continue to get.

Remember when everyone laughed at the appointments, including some of our own fans?

61 tackles from Smithies.

Outstanding effort and as others have said has added to his attacking play this year.

Yes he has an edge to him and to be honest I don’t mind him giving away a few penalties as long as he does it in the right areas of the field.

I honestly didn’t think there was too much in the Lolohea tackle on the day, rewatching it probably worthy of a penalty nothing more.

I do know it was a tackle that needed making.

I think a team can accommodate one “grub” and I use that term with respect as I think he plays a role for us in that capacity.

He irritates the opposition and gets in their faces and under their skin. I’m not sure you can carry 2 in the squad which may be the reason Partington rumours to Wire are seeming to grow.

Smithies plays with high levels of emotion and passion, the danger is that they occasionally spiral out of control however if you try to temper it too much I fear you could harm his game.

Hopefully as he matures he learns how to maintain a state of clarity whilst being emotionally charged. That would see the best version of Smithies in my opinion.

I agree it was good play and the fullback was not fast enough to read the play

Now that I’ve finished celebrating, I can post a few reflections. Firstly, and most importantly, we got the win and the 20th cup win. I’ve been wanting that for a long time, so that is good. The stadium was terrific and, while we all miss the days of 80’000+ at the cup final I think we should be celebrating bringing 51’000 to London in the middle of a cost of living crisis and following a pandemic that’s hit our sport pretty hard. It was a great atmosphere and I would be happy to go back to the stadium, although the train journey afterwards was a bit of a mare.
Pre-match entertainment gets lazier and lazier. I’m always glad to see Lizzie Jones there but, apart from that it was very poor. I wish we could have the schoolkids playing again, rather than wasting time with a dj.
The match itself was not a classic but it was certainly exciting and absorbing throughout. We knew it would be tough and it was. I had no problem with McQueen getting the Lance Todd, I thought he went very well but Smithies was probably the pick of the bunch for me. He is having a fantastic season and I hope we can keep him for years to come. Leuluai was huge for us, especially following Cust’s injury. If he wasn’t fit for this match I don’t think we would have won. Hill going off had a big impact as well, not just for messing with Huddersfield’s rotation but also the leadership and experience he brings.
I thought that Child had a good game and, honestly, I don’t think referees get a fair shake at all from fans these days. I’d have him over Ganson every day of the week. I can see Huddersfield fans would have a fair point regarding Smithies not getting at least a yellow, based on the season so far but, equally, I think it is generally expected that referees show a little more latitude in finals and, on previous seasons, I don’t see Smithies walking for that. It could have gone either way.
I feel for Huddersfield and their fans – they should have won with the possession and territory that they had but, in my opinion, they didn’t make it pay. As others have said, their tactic of dying with the ball on the last with just a two point lead was over cautious to the extreme. I think they were too concerned about the possibility of turning the ball over to Field or French, but they should have been looking for repeat sets to turn the screw and potentially get the match-winning score. The whole performance screamed “you have to lose one to win one” for me, and I think they will be better for this if they can keep their heads up.
Wigan, on the other hand, stuck at it and we took our chances when we needed to. Being critical, we were sloppy with high tackles a few too many times, giving Huddersfield easy yards that they did not need. We failed to complete sets after both of our first two tries, which really hurts us, particularly after the second try when I felt we had an opportunity to put Huddersfield under real pressure but let them off the hook instantly. Made up for Marshall, especially since I am a Wigan Marshall! I don’t know if I am actually related to Liam and David but, asking my Dad, he said that he knows there was another branch of the family that our lot weren’t in touch with, so it could well be. Either way, I’m claiming them!
All in all, I am really happy with that. It was far from a perfect performance but a lot of that is down to the performance of Huddersfield. I am not going to get bogged down in being critical of our errors and shortcomings when we lifted the trophy. Obviously, I want to see the team push on from here and have a real dig at the Grand Final. However, I will be reminding myself for the rest of the season that most of us were not really expecting silverware this season, so we are already ahead of my initial expectations.