Didnt they give Amos a 4 year deal too?

Looking these posts got me thinking there are 13 players in a team of rugby not just one that everyone on here is slagging off .......

Yes Matty did not have one of his best games for Wigan and by the end of the game looked mad at himself as he already knew this but the whole Wigan team did not play to the standards everyone expects.

No one can deny that the main pivotal players in the team full back / scrum half / standoff / hooker / loose forward if they play well the team plays well no matter what team they are. If we look at Wigan ATM how many 1st choice players do we have in these positions the answer is 1 and that's at scrum half which it Matty. I have also seen people saying he not played well for the last 2 yrs but then he had a experienced standoff in Blake Green and currently has had Williams ( still learning the game it that position ) Lockers more recently who has already played Prop this season then standoff but not his best position loose forward due to injuries in other positions. As people still say the half's need to gel and play more together but we are only 6 games in and 2 of these he has had a prop / loose forward playing alongside him.

Wigan will only get better as the season goes on so I will look forward to the mass of negative comments Im going to get now from the Anti Matty Smith supports who probably are the same ones as the last year Anti Gelling / Anti Shaun Wane / Anti Tauti / Anti Tomkins or Anti any Wigan player who has a bad game and is not fit to wear the Wigan shirt.

One thing that does baffle me is I understand people are allowed views but some are so anti Wigan / Players why do they still support them if the dont like em so much ?? just a thought.

As a Wakey supporter who has to watch Finn and Miller operate at 6 and 7 I would obviously be on cloud 9 if we had a player as good as Smith, but I have to say, as an outsider looking in, he just isn`t good enough for Wigan, he is and has been a weak link in many excellent Wigan teams. The amazing thing for me is that Wane, who I admire as a coach greatly for his fearless attitude is player young players has Rocky Hampshire on his books. Hampshire for me is the best player of his generation and is already far superior to Smith in all aspects of the game, plus he can kick goals something that Smith is very poor at. Hampshire should have been given his chance to play at 7 two years ago. Apparently Wigan / Wane prevented him from going to Trinity on loan this season, and I understand that decision, where he would have played at 7 every week and set the game alight. Instead Wigan / Wane send him to Cas , again I understand that the Powell, Orr, Sheridan coaching will be good for him, but in order to get a game at 7 Gale needs to loose form or be injured. As it is he has played one game at 6. Wane should recall Hampshire, drop Smith and play Hampshire at 7 every week

Last season Wane was very quick to drop Charnley due to poor performances (quite rightly too). However some players do seem to be immune this, Smith being one. For his own development he should have some young kid chomping at the bit waiting to take his place yet week after week he is one of the first names on the teamsheet regardless of his performances.

Whilst I wouldnt necessarily think SW would chuck Hampshire in against Saints on Good Friday I would like to think he would assess his performance with a view to replacing him on the Easter Monday game.

Smith was naff, not average last night, he was naff but with nothing to keep him on his toes he can continue to be so.

You're only 65 posts old. Hang around long enough & you'll see there are enough swivel-eyed loons on here to open their own club.
Last night wasn't good all round. Missed tackles, last play brain-farts, it had everything. But (and I'm repeating myself, yet again) why is it that we can't kick? Since Richards left, our kicking game is non-existent. Whether it's from the tee, or in play (invariably straight down the throat of whoever we're against).

Smith had a bad game (not his first nor, I expect, his last), but he's not intrinsically a poor player (poor kicker, yes). He took charge last year more often than not when SOL was off, and I rate him as a good all-round squad member. Not a high-flyer, but I'd rather an efficient 13 on the park than a disparate bunch of big-I-ams. Problem is at the moment, we don't seem to have either.

They've now had more than enough time to get out of third gear, if we're not in 6th & cruising on Friday, I fear we might be struggling to catch up come July & end up towards the bottom of the (top) 8.

I think whether Smith is good enough or not is a bit of a side issue to our overriding problems in attack atm. Yes we're missing our first choice 1, 6 and 9 which then means our first choice 13 has to play out of position, which doesn't help, but to me it's our attacking structures and tactical play that is lacking rather than any personnel issues. We were always accused of being "robotic" under Madge and in SW's first couple of years but what we did was highly effective and it was all down to well rehed plays, plenty of option runners and, most importantly, fast, accurate passing. That is what isn't happening at the minute. In every game this year we've had the territory and possession to kill teams off early but we haven't done it, needing late scores to win 3 out of our first 5 matches and then last night it bit us on the backside.

I remover in the dark days under Noble how Barrett performed. At times the tactics and structures that restricted him went out of the window, he took the game by the scruff of the neck and changed games.

Now I'm not for 1 second claiming Smith is in Trent's class but as an international half he should be able to step up and change our tactics when they clearly are not working.

He has to be the senior half and most of the time last year Williams clearly took that role on.

He isn't good enough it is a simple as that.

I don't think Sargy did that bad, when you look at the one he dropped you will see that as he took the ball his right leg slipped back causing him to pitch forward which made him lose the ball.
I thought his general play was ok, all that was lacking was an halfback or forward with the touch to put him through any small gap that may appear, he put himself in position a couple of times but the ball wasn't forthcoming.
This week there as been a lot of talk about Charnley not being the same player the last couple of seasons compared with previous seasons. That could be put down to a lack of confidence if not effort, one of the things that could have caused this is knowing he would be publicly slagged of by the coach if he had a bad match. (also knowing others can get away with it week after week).
Also what is getting to me is the constant chatter "we will be OK when Sam is back", he has been away nearly 3 years.
Sam first injured his Posterior Cruciate ligament on the 23rd of March Last Year, (12 months ago) against Parramatta in the 3rd round of the NRL. He only played in about 14 matches in total last year and this was in fits and starts.
He scored only 1 try all season, so to think everything will be back to normal may be clutching at straws.
I think it may be time for Sam to move to standoff if we find out his speed has diminished a bit.
Remember, Darren Lockyer had his best years when he moved to standoff after an outstanding few years at fullback.

What I would love to see (if Sam proves he his up for it) is the following lineup in the backs ,taken from existing staff.

No 1 Sarginson. 2 Manfredi, 3 Gildart, 4 Gelling,5 Charnley, 6 Sam Tomkins and 7 Williams.
With that line up there would be far more balance and threat from the backs.

Your being too sensible. Gelling is useless but at 3 is even worse.
Wane is in his own world of his own where tough is best and I know best. Anyone who plays Gelling at 3 hasn't got a clue. Smith is just symbolic of the ineptitude.

It is probably no surprise if there is no longer a distinguished former back (as was the case with Harris and Deacon) in charge of the backs or general attacking play. There are Wane, Matty Peet and John Winder as far as I know involved with the training of the first team squad - none of whom were top class backs!
Contrast the excellence of Widnes last night where the influence of Brett Hodgson is there for everyone to see. Dennis Betts also played under Graham Lowe and John Monie and no doubt learned a lot from them. True, SW was also coached by Lowe - before he got shipped off to Leeds.
Some on here have commented about SW being pig-headed and stubborn. As with so many things in life, a top coach has to be able to be receptive to the ideas of others. One isn't right all the time......

Anyone who thinks the tean will be transformed when sam comes back is dillusional

The same as mr cunningham appears to be given his interview just now.....

The thing is though, we'll be right up there at the end of the year. For all of our faults, we will still waltz into the top 4 comfortably.

Honestly over the course of a season who is going to be better than us?

Stop that now, people are enjoying the misery....

Just been watching Wests Tigers, and their young halves Brooks and Moses out on a wonderful performance in the first half, setting up some great tries with inspired running and kicking. What a pleasure to watch exciting halves at work, they looked like thy could score with every attack!