Totally agree with the Leeds were excellent part Brian but when the stat came up on the screen at half time that Wigan had 0% ball posession in the Leeds half you have to question the Wigan commitment and desire to compete . I never never thought I would think that of a Wigan side . I dont think I have ever seen a stat like that before .

Regards EW

I’ve got to be honest and hold my hands up on Lockers/Leuluai etc and say I was wrong in stating they should carry on or at least we should see if we can afford to let them carry on if they wish to do so. The time has come to move on, certainly in the case of Lockers. He isn’t superman and he cannot perform miracles of being out for months and then coming in to a huge game and playing like he’s never been away anymore. It was pretty sad to see how he played yesterday and if he is thinking of playing on, he needs saving from himself. We can’t keep having him as a comfort blanket to fall back on. He will still be around the squad in a coaching capacity anyway.

As for Tommy, I’d be slightly more open to keeping him on but this bulls*it of him being seen as the organiser of the team needs to end. If there are options out there to replace his utility value of playing between 7 and 9 then take it. We have a young 7 in Harry Smith who I’d put trust in and then look for somebody to play alongside him and somebody for the bench. If nothing was doing and they kept Tommy on as an out and out back up player, mainly playing at hooker off the bench then fair enough but his days at 7 other than in an absolute emergency should be over.

O'Loughlin was rubbish today. There was no pack to be seen. Farrell ? Well I've never been a fan of Farrell . Just because he has played lots of games, does not make him a 'legend'.

You can understand why TL and SO'L still get so much game time, beyond those 2, there's a real lack of leadership in that squad, especially in the forwards, and that's amplified when you have a young squad. Hastings is probably the closest player you have to a genuine leader, but I'm not convinced by his temperament.
Obviously, the hope is someone like Smithies to grow into that role, but that will take time, and other than SoL, I don't know whose going to mentor him.

Farrell didn't do a lot yesterday but he is our best forward.

Not if he is asked to run straight up the middle. It is a bit like using a Chanel scarf to wipe your ar$e.

correct! Farrell definitely isn't the problem.

Hopefully bateman will give us some leadership next season especially in the forwards

I can seldom remember such a consensus!



It seems we pretty much all agree, Lockers is finished, Tommy to interchange hooker, give the reins to Smith. But we need another good half to support him.

Marshall*, Bibby, Manfredi*, Smith, Singleton**, Powell, Bullock, Bateman, Farrell, Havard, Byrne, Partington, Greenwood, Smithies and Joe Shorrocks

That's 15 senior players who want to be here and we want them here too, many of which play the same position so we can't use them all on the same day. The others are either leaving (French, Hankinson, Gildart, Burgess, Hastings, Leuluai, Jake Shorrocks, Flower and O'Loughlin) or only here because we can't get rid of them yet (Hardaker, Clubb, G.Burgess, Isa, Clark and maybe Wells). On that basis, is it any wonder we were out-enthused when we faced challenging conditions? We need to overhaul the squad over the next few years whilst somehow keeping a positive culture rather than turning into a group of individuals as opposed to a team.

*Depending on injury concerns
**No idea how he will play, just a hope.