going back to the kicking game, wasnt Finch expected to be back for the WCC. His organising and top notch kicking game would be a massive bonus for us !!!!

I'd be suprised if he played. You don't want a player to debut in a game as big as this if you can help it.

We need to stop losing the plot for 10-15 minutes and giving teams momentum and confidence as has happened in both games so far this season.

DISPIPLINE

Now uncross those fingers !!!!

Danny 1975.. Wigan have had an annoying habit of switching off mentally for 10 minutes or so during some
games, there were games last year that we really ought to have won, the bradford comeback
being a prime example. There needs to be concentration for the full 80 and not 78 or 79
because i think we will be punished if we don't. Also our kicking sometimes lets us down.
Easy to sit at home and criticize of course, but those are my thoughts.

1, Kicking game. Especially Tommy. He's not making their team work hard from the return or putting us on the front foot.
2, Discipline. Sily mistakes/errors will cost us dearly against the NRL champs.
3, Receiving a high ball. In attack as a second receiver Sam is awesome from FB, however he's suspect under a high ball. So is DG, And as we saw last week so is AR. That's an area were we miss Pat.
4, Protection for ST. Bennett himself is known for having a 'protector' for his star back, Talis for Lockyer etc. Oz teams have a tendency to pick out the most dangerous back and knock his head, off. Lets not let them take out our best attacking weapon.

Others have said it but discipline will be vital in this match. If Joel decides to start leaving his knee in the tackle with 15mns to go, then we can kiss it goodbye. We musn't give the referee the chance to penalise us.

Provided we do this, then I believe we will beat them. Don't think we need improve any of the players, they are all good enough. As for our kicking game, we can't improve on it. SGI will be perfectly positioned for every kick we make, so we've just got to accept that most kicks, fumbles apart, are going to be returned with interest. It's the chase that's going to make the difference and our chase is virtually perfect.

blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/02/ ... challenge/

blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/02/ ... challenge/

Very concise and very well put.

Definitely discipline. I also think we need to improve our kicking but the main one for me is discipline. The first player that comes to mind is Joel, he can be an excellent player and a big part of the team sometimes but he needs to calm down and stop giving away so many penalties!
Another player that springs to mind is Daz, another good player and not so bad in the discipline area but I think he needs to keep his mind on his wing and not keep it clear for the opposition to sneak in, otherwise I think our defence is close to perfect.

And at least we're not playing the game against Wilkin, he'll find something to complain about...

And large parts of last season. (basically every game we lost)

The consensus would appear to be that our discipline has to improve...I'd agree with that, although I'm not sure we need to improve significantly in any other department. Our defence is amazing (particularly goal line) and our attack (at Bradford) is starting to show signs of last years early season form - some of our tries on sunday were fantastic.

In addition I really cant make my mind up in regard to St George's state of readiness for this game - the interviews with Bennett & Gasnier has them saying all the usual pre game hype..its gonna be tough...we're gonna concentrate on our normal game - which is similar to wigans...we're here to win it etc etc. However I read that the St George team spent two days finding their legs after the long flight, have been round most the sights in London, and spent a 'day off' over in Paris.

They're travelling up to manchester today (Thursday) giving them 2 days prep for the game. Doesnt sound like a team that's really focussed on the task in hand - does it?

I have serious doubts as to whether St. George actually give a toss about this game. I know the Aussie press like to say its a friendly and is meaningless and the clubs try to play down that rumour but this time around I have my reservations as to whether this team will turn up on Sunday night.

Let's hope they don't. The last thing we need is another 'extra' hard game after having to face Saints in Cardiff.