Harry Smith proving me wrong yet again, fantastic to see.

Liam Marshall knocking on lost us the game, so very happy to see him get over for the winner.

We tried our best to implode in the second half but found a way.

Can’t wait for the away day in London. It’s been too long!

I really don't want to focus on negatives after a fantastic win but I really do have to take issue with this. Saints marked Field out if the game just as Salford did in the quarter final. The result was the same in both instances; a Wigan win. In Salford's case a nilling. In Saints' case a nilling until half time. They came back at us like the champion team they are but the end result was the same

To suggest he can't pass because he made a couple of questionable ones against Salford in the league game is crazy! Did you have your eyes closed the whole of the Warrington game? Or yesterday for that matter?

To question his one on one defence is also crazy after he just stopped Hurrell metres from the line in a one on one. How many people do that? And it's not like it's a rarity. He's put try savers in nearly every match! What are you watching?

Jai will not score length of the field tries every match. No player...no matter how good... does. But he is the best player to watch in Superleague by a country mile and we're lucky that it's us who get to cheer his moments of magic!

What would possess anyone to write a post like the above on a day like today completely escapes me. You must be a blast at parties!

Harry Smith was outstanding again Jon, as he was against Warrington. I think playing busted last year has put unnecessary pressure on him to do well this year but he's risen to the challenge like he was born to it!

I still think he'll need time to fully establish himself with Tommy still at the club and he'll have good days and bad days. I just hope as fans we give him the patience he deserves. He's clearly a class act with the potential to kick on.

100%. Child(?) was a disgrace yesterday.

Well, I went to a game yesterday for the first time in a while. I'm disabled and was extremely anxious about going. Massive shoutouts have to go to the three fellow Wigan fans who shared a cab from the station with me and got me assistance at the ground when I was about to try and tackle it on my own. Rugby League and its fans are the absolute best.

Also, unbelievable from the Elland Road staff. So helpful and friendly. Surprising in Yorkshire.



Game wise I thought bar a 15 minute second half meltdown we were excellent. It's so, so clear what Peet is trying to do here. And it seems to be working. Under Wane we would turn in some baffling performances in the league but when it mattered, win or lose, you knew we'd given our all. It was nice to see that return yesterday.

Also, Farrell's try. Fantastic.

Why are you taking it so personally? He isn't the perfect/final product but so what? He's a weapon for us and it works. I don't know people get SO uppity whenever anyone points his weaknesses out. The poor passes haven't just been against Salford either though have they. But it's fine cos he's not playing in the halves. If he was, then it'd be an issue. Ultimately, I believe that's where he sees himself in the long run.

I didn't mention one on one. I mentioned on the line... He often doesn't 'sweep' and follow the play and ends up out of position. I also said he's young and still learning the role.

Had I said 'I don't like him, he's sh*t, he's average' blah blah then fair enough. I think you need to chill out a bit.

Just a point to highlight our style of play improvement -

2 of our tries were from running the ball on the last play.

How many times over the last few years would that have been a nothing bomb from Tommy/Hastings into the corner to “turn the ball over in the right position”

Chanced our arm and it paid off.

I believe we need to refer to him as the poundland Morgan Knowles.

In all seriousness though, what a season Smithies is having. It's so easy to forget how relatively young he is, but he's really "arrived" this year imo. One of my favourite parts of yesterday was when Smithies took Marshall away from the ref, after Liam was upset at a 1st half call. That's a bit of real maturity and leadership - something that was probably the weakest area of his game.

He’s a terrific player and is maturing and improving all the time. Like everyone, he had a lull under Lammy but the good thing about him is that he was very honest and said he’d not kicked on as he’d liked to have done during that spell.

I think the only reason fans tout him so much is because everyone else says he’s just fast. I do believe he has more to his game and hopefully he can show it more. Can’t remember who it was against but he picked out a pearl of a cut out pass for a try. Also the tackle on hurrell he had no right in making, if that was Escare for instance he’d of bumped him off for sure. Hopefully a bit more development and a little less reliance on his speed he hopefully can progress

Why? It's the day after we just broke Saints hearts and got to the final of the Challenge Cup and you chose today to make criticism. WTF is wrong with you? Enjoy the moment.

Would you like to point to these other poor passes he's made? I'm intrigued.

So there's an area of his game he needs to improve. Name me a player who doesn't. He scores length of the field tries, is leading the MOS ratings, makes numerous try saving tackles and has literally won us games. But hey! He doesn't sweep as well as he might so let's focus on that.

There's only one of us needs to chill a bit and it isn't me. Have a beer. Enjoy the moment. As I say; you must be a blast at parties!

Harry Smith's decision on both I think too (certainly one of them was). Probably something he should get enormous credit for as you open yourself up to criticism when it doesn't come off.

Spot on.

For every so called bad pass, or missed tackle there are plenty of examples of him doing them not only right, but at an elite level too. Not every pass is gonna stick and not every tackle is going to be made, but when you can stop Hurrell with a great hit then you've got credit in the bank.

If I did want to be slightly negative about yesterday (only slightly), then it would be about French. He's elusive, but I don't think he's got elite speed (like Marshall, or French). He also doesn't bring it off our line well either. Reluctantly, I'd be happy to see him move on for next season. I'd love to see a point of difference in that back three. A big rangy winger like Richards was.

My favourite games this season have been ones where Field has been handled relatively well but we’ve still won. The most entertaining have been when he’s ripped it up but the most satisfying for me have been the games against Salford and yesterday, when the team have still found points from other areas and we have shown we don’t just rely on one man.

It was a different performance from Field yesterday but still a very good one I felt. It was one in the eye for those why say he can’t defend. It seems to be a unwritten rule that a great attacking fullback has to be wrote off as a defensive waste of time but everything I see from him suggests it’s also a strong area for him. He’s a brave lad that’s for sure.

Spot on NK. It's exciting to see Field ripping teams apart but I absolutely love it when win win when he's kept quiet! We're a one man team according to many Saints fans. They've been fretting all week about Field stealing a close game in the last minutes only for Marshy to do it instead. Priceless!

Genuinely, I don't know where the myth that he can't defend has come from? Like you mentioned, it's probably down to non Wigan fans assuming it to be the case, simply because of his size and speed. They haven't watched the majority of his games and trolls like LeBron, roll the old tropes out.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Field as the last line of defence.

I'd go even further SP. I feel safer with Field having to make a try saving tackle than any fullback we've had for years.

Marshy needs to have better control of the ball going into the tackle, especially when he is coming out from our try line - a two handed grip would be beneficial. His tries were spectacular though and overall he had a good game.

Field nearly did late in the game

No I didn't. I was responding to posts already made about him. I didn't come on here thinking 'I'm going to criticise Field'. I didn't think he had a bad game, just pointing out that up against teams that defend well, then the threat he poses is nullified. Is he a perfect player? No. Does he have weaknesses? Yes. Do I enjoy seeing him play? Of course I do. Would I want him playing against us? Would I f**k! However, whether you like to admit it or not, his biggest asset IS his speed. That doesn't mean he's a bad player. Some Wigan fans get their knickers in a right old twist when opposition fans point it out, including you by the looks of it, and I don't understand why.

He nearly did, didn't he. I was sure that he was away there, but it must have been a last ditch effort to stop him.

I walked back in to St Helens on Good Friday, over the motorway bridge crammed full of gloating Saints fans and the overwhelming majority of the comments were ‘they’re a one man team’ and one guy kept repeating ‘give it to Jai, give it to Jai’ in his comedy Scouse accent. Mentally I think I went back to that bridge at full time yesterday and jeez it felt good



Just watched the two clowns on RedVee TV on YouTube. Apparently Dwayne Chambers could do what Fields doing

Also we were battered for all but 14 seconds of that second half. Worth 8 minutes of any Wigan fans time just for comedy value.

The nature of a big game will always lead to less space and less chances in fairness to Field. It was very much the same in a lot of finals/semi finals for Sam Tomkins in his pomp. He could get 3 or 4 try’s, make numerous breaks etc the week before a Saints game or a semi but in that big game space drys up and then you influence the game by just the odd moment here and there. He made a huge tackle on Hurrell and very nearly got away late in the game. Those were two big moments and ultimately that’s how big games tend to go. He’ll probably only get a couple of those moments in the final as well but as you’ve said before, he’s some weapon to have and he is giving us a sniff in every game we play. We can’t underestimate how nervous opposition teams are of him as well. That in itself opens up space for others.

Re Field - like most things there's probably a middle ground. No player is perfect and all will do good things and bad things in a game/season. Huge running threat, he definitely has a pass in him and clearly a capable defender - like most he has more improvement and consistency in him. Great tackles on Hurrell/Lussick for example, not so great with the effort on Roby and in defending one or two high kicks.

Hope you enjoyed it and feel able to come to more games in the future.