I agree with Rogues, I thought he pulled us round the pitch well for the time he was on. It was a very controlled performances and although nothing special i thought he did well. He took his scoot options well and his delivery was spot on.

He laid the platform for TL to add his extra zip to the position when Tomkins came on.


Saints often look better when Roby comes on due to the extra zip he has at the play the ball, it does not mean they are a better team with him on the field for the full 80 though.

Not commented on this thread so far, as I think its way to soon to comment on him in a Wigan top. But i cant believe some of the criticism he is getting. I did listen to a good interview on 5 live two weeks back with Edwards. He was asked about the form of one of his players not being up to what was expected, his reply went along the lines of "It takes a player 12 to 13 games to gain full match fitness" Add into that its a new team for him I fully expect him to take more than half a season before we see the realy Piggy, assuming he stays fit.
We as fans do this every year, expecting all the new players to start like the star we think they are. Some do, some don't, some never do. Time will tell.

Watch the game again and concentrate on Riddell. His passing was good maybe one pass to TimSmith was high, his tackling and slowing down of the opposition play the ball was good, and he made some good runs with ball in hand. He played about 50 minutes of the 80.

I don't have a problem with criticism at all provided it's constructive.

I've criticised the likes of Coley, Higham and Gouldingetc but always given reasons i.e Highams poor discipline, the way Coley ambles into tackles etc.

Agreed, having seen the game a few times the control and movement from the players running off dummy half was orchestrated well when he was on, a fine contrast to Micky's horror show the night before where he looked as though he'd arrived in a comedy exploding car. The contrast of Piggy and Tommy works well, especially with Tomkins coming on as they switch to alter the tempo of the game.

I have and did. He's far too slow to get into position, he bends down like an old man, he offers no threat as a runner, he does not draw defenders before passing to runners. He passes the ball better than Higham but who does not? He is only playing half the game at best so he should be putting everything into that 40 minutes.

Brad Drew gave Riddel a lesson in how to play hooker in the first game, Shaun Berrigan and Ryan Hudson both outplayed him. Chad Randall dished out another beating. This is a player supposed to be at the peak of his career and yet what has he done for Wigan thus far? The longer he stayed at Parramatta the worse Parramatta became.

People talk about time. Even now Roberts is showing hints of class. Smith even had some great touches at Hull. Sadly his defence negates any good he can do. Riddel at the moment is down with Mark Reber.

Are you also going to tell me that Riddell didn't pass to the Invisible Man on at least two occasions?

has riddell píssed on your kids or something? he's played 4 games for the club, 4 games with injurys! Cut him some slack for gods sake. Hes not even playing that bad either!

Mick it's fine - Warrington will eventually win soon.

Well said

The problem for the "Eddie and Stevo" generation is that they judge a performance on the one off instances of good play, eg. Micky Higham scoots 20 yards and is praised thus the Eddie and Steveo brigade follow, he knocks on, gives penalties away and generally fails to deliver quality ball to the half back which isn't mentioned in commentary and is thus deemed never to have taken place.

Riddell will probably never scoot the way that Higham does thus failing to catch the eye as much, but what he will do is do the basics well and generally have much more of a positive impact on the way that the team plays much of which will go unnoticed to the "Sky generation".

Sorry but if you read my posts you would realise I am not somebody who could be accused of being pro Higham. What seems to be happening is that if you criticise Riddel the reply of the intellectually challenged is to accuse you of being a Higham devotee. Sad.

I was stunned by this on friday. Mick gave away 2 penalties which caused wire to go 12 points down, not a word, he did 1 scoot and they cream themselves, i sometimes wonder if people take there word as gospel.

Higham had a shocker vs Trinity yet still they praised him to the heavens.

The fact is Riddell has been poor but improved every game, for those comparing him with Higham the only thing they have in commonn is the number on there back, 2 different style players. Higham was average at best generally for Wigan, in 3 seasons, Riddell has been average at best in 4 games but improved every game, those who have seen him play pre Wigan know how good he is, those who have not do not and perhaps that is why they are worried.

I am not interested in Higham. Currently, McIlorum and Leuluai offer a better combination at 9 than Riddel and another hooker.

To be honest i think you may be right at this moment in time, but the only way Riddell is going to get better is by playing games at SL level and when he does find his feet he will be by far the best hooker at the club. If he is injured then i think he should be rested but if it is a match fitness issue he needs to play. If he is injured and Noble is playing him regardless and not McIllorum then another black mark against him.