Nice of you to be magnanimous in victory but I'm not sure you'd feel the same if the tables were turned. The game was VERY competitive yesterday, and Wigan were bullied out of it. It was over as a contest at half time. The score in the end flattered us.

I expected us to come out and play better in the second half (and we did) because Shaun Wane's teams NEVER get on the wrong side of an absolute drubbing. But really, we were playing for pride. The manner of the defeat is very worrying.

I think people need to remember that Tautai, Mossop, Joel and O'Loughlin were all missing from our pack yesterday and will likely all be in there for the Widnes game, with Flower further strengthening the pack when he returns. Add them in and perhaps we don't get hammered in the pack, giving us territory and the halfbacks a platform to work off. We still had a good side out there and should have put in a much better performance but let's not go ott. I remember us looking absolutely terrible for the full game against Wire in Ben Westwood's testimonial, then we went on to win the double

Agree completely

Like I say the most woirrying element was how susceptible we were to the size of their pack.

Anyone who saw the game yesterday would rightfully be worried about the size of our pack. Of course, to use the cliche "Its only pre-season" and no doubt this was partially responsible for our forwards poor performance but what surprised me most yesterday was just how easily they bulldozed through us. Like I said, Ive honestly never seen our pack as beaten before since the days of Brian Noble. Im not overly worried because it is just a trial game but I honestly was surprised. The problem is our pack wasnt great last year either and as has been said, our backs bailed them out. Im just watching the highlights back now and I never thought Id say it but Mose Masoe actually managed to look like a Rugby League player.

A few other individual observances from Wigan TV highlights:

1) Most of their offloads were when Ryan Sutton failed to connect properly in tackle.

2) Hampshire better expect to catch a lot of high balls now if hes playing fullback this season.

3) George Williams. He honestly offered nothing and his performance gets worse everytime I see it.

Im sure we'll be better for the Widnes game but these facts and performances cant be ignored. I remember last preseaon when we were a little worried about goal kicking and we had to put up with the usual cliches from happy clappers "he'll improve as the season goes on" "its just a trial game, hes not trying to convert them properly" etc. Fact is goal kicking was poor all last year and cost us a top spot finish. (Hull KR away). Lets hope the size issue and lack of quality standoff doesnt hold us back this year.

I think we need to be careful with the likes of Hampshire, Williams and Burgess. The truth is that this is in reality their first season outside the u19's age group and they're going to make mistakes. The last thing we meed is another Kev Brown, Luke Robinson scenario where the fans get on their backs and they lose confidence. Hopefully they'll get around the 15 -20 games played this year. They should both be very important players for us in the coming years.

On Burgess, yesterday we had couple of "fans" shouting "F OFF" to Australia, I stress it was only one or two that I heard, but it's stupidity of the highest order IMO.

I think we'll be fine.
Our top 17 last year produced the best performances all year, especially in the run of home games up to Old Trafford.
The pack depth is stronger than last year, and the many youngsters are a year older.
The only change of note is at 6, and even there it's not as if we are changing the whole spine of the team (and we put in some more than decent performances without Green). I cannot see any rational basis for despair after a friendly.
This was against a Saints side who know in their heart of hearts they were the second best team to make the Grand Final. That sense of a hollow victory clearly provided more motivation than we had, treating it as a friednly. We'll be right.

How is that the truth?

Hampshire played 7 first-team games in 2013 and 8 last year (would've been more if he wasn't injured).
Williams played 4 in 2013 and 23 last year.
And Burgess played almost every game last year.

They've either been around or certainly at least training full-time with the first team for at least 18 months now. Did Williams or Burgess even line up for the U19's last year?

Hell, Bateman is only a year older than them but we don't give him the same slack.

In a sense it is the structure of the game that is at fault. Wigan think they have future stars here and are being forced to give opportunities to kids in order to keep them happy, otherwise they move elsewhere. However it is painfully clear that these kids are nowhere near ready to play full back or half back in a top Super League team. Ideally they should be given another year or two at Reserve team/A team/ U 20 level before being promoted to the first team. Wigan are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If Hampshire/Williams aren't played then they start getting itchy feet, we then stand to lose them.

On Burgess. I agree that fans should NEVER barrack their own players, it's unforgivable. But Joe has opened himself up to the mindless idiots, and he will get more of it before long. My guess is that Manfredi will be playing a lot more than Burgess. Mind you Joe may need to get used to it (the barracking), Aussie crowds are not universally known for their clear minded and even handed attitude to Poms!

The first 40 was worrying yesterday but I remember having the same thoughts in pre-season in 2013 particularly against Wire for Westwood's testimonial. That day it looked like men against boys in regards to size, likewise yesterday. It is obvious Cunningham has bulked up the Saints side in terms of both fat and muscle, even players like Wilkin and Turner are carrying substantially more weight this year by the looks of it. Now carrying body fat in is not necessarily a bad think in RL, there are some sports science experts claiming that there is no need to train for body fat loss for events <120 minutes. I was surprised how lean and small our side was compared to Saints.

We also need to consider that we were missing 6/7 players yesterday whom the majority will be in the first 17. It's a long season and I'm not stressed about yesterday as we at least showed some heart in the second half. I'm pretty sure we'll be right for Widnes.

Widnes beat us last week mate. Didn't you win the friendly last year and went on to win the double.

These games mean nothing in reality.

How did we do in pre-season games last year?

Saints were missing Wilkin and LMS out of their pack we were missing Mossop, Tautai, Flower and Lockers. We started with Sutton as starting prop which IMO was always a mistake. A back row of Bateman, Faz and Patrick is undersized too. All with 100% hindsight of course!
If we play that pack v Hudds, Wire, Catalans, Saints again and Leeds we'll get battered just the same as yesterday.
FWIW I reckon Shaun's pack v Widnes in 10 days will be something like -
Crosby, McIlorum, Clubb, J Tomkins, L Farrell & O'Loughlin with Mossop, Tautai & Patrick off the bench. That lot can be as aggressive and abrasive as anyone wants. When Flower returns in April our pack will be as good as any and better than most.

BTW anyone know what Dan Sarginson's injury is?

Not sure what it is but he said he's now fit to play and could get a few minutes against Workington.

I read Sarginson had a groin injury somewhere and he's touch and go for Widnes. Wane didn't give any guarantees on anybody being fit for Workington or Widnes but he did seem to suggest some of the guys that missed yesterday would play in his interview on Wigan TV.

Before I start I'd just like to say that I'm not reading too much into preseason matches so my top 3 is still Wire, Wigan, Saints.

Are any of you concerned about your preseason results? Any players that have surprised or failed to deliver? Thoughts on the season ahead after the preseason friendlies?