I think it was wetter than came across on TV which historically does not suit us.

Lacked energy and intensity but as said very understandable. Thought Miski, Farrell and O'Neill were our best although Abbas is struggling under those high kicks again. Hopefully we can use the next fortnight to reset and be back to our best on Good Friday - getting the win tonight means we can approach that game without much pressure.

Byrne finished the game. Field was way out of position for Salford’s second try.

Just another thought - I don't think we need three props on the bench - we have durable front rowers in Thompson, Byrne and Dupree. Said before the game that I think that we need to be prioritising Nsemba over Isa going forward but at the very least he needs to be on the bench.

I thought it was Jai's worst game in a Wigan shirt by some distance.

After the chip-through for Marshal, he never looked dangerous once. Actually seemed unwilling to inject himself into the action.

I said in the week I’d play Nsemba over Forber if Peet would answer the question of ‘would you give Forber minutes in a tight game?’ as no. I can understand why he kept O’Neill out there but it’s not the first time now where a youngster has been left on the bench.

Willie Isa has been a punchbag for some people for a while but he definitely looks to be slowing down a little and errors are creeping in. I don’t think having to do the 80 mins is doing him any favours and I’d be looking to play Nsemba from the bench from Good Friday onwards and until Walters is back.

Good summary, I was thinking all game “we have strike in the back why don’t we use it”.

Kinda perfect game for us, a bad performance to give us a wake up call that we aren’t as good as we think we are, but still getting the 2 points. GF on the horizon hopefully we can lock in.

To get 2 tries without our general and in them horrid conditions (don’t know if it came across on sky how bad it was) is good going.

Luck with the short drop out but insane effort to force the drop out the play before.

Took an hour to get off their carpark, good job Sneyd chucked the game away or I would be in a mood, can't remember Forber coming on, not much point picking him if he's only going to get game time if the result isn't in doubt

Just watched the highlights and the commentator said that was 15 super league wins on the bounce, pretty ridiculous stat, I think we can allow them the odd flat performance

Miski and Marshall’s carries tonight were immense

Miski 18 carries for 174m

Marshall 17 for 154m


Thompson and Ellis had huge stat lines too, aswell as Farrell as usual.


Field, Keighran and Isa not involved much

Keighran has really impressed in the last few weeks in defence. He’s much more dominant than I thought he would be.

Very jaded performance. I think Jai needs a rest next week for sure. That said I think it's more emotional than physical and perhaps to be expected. Getting up for a wet Thursday night at Salford probably isn't as easy as just flicking a switch and I think they'll be back on it for Good Friday.

That said, we've seen Saints do this for years now. Winning games they probably had no right to win. It's always been acknowledged as the sign of a champion team. Perhaps it is.

A little mention for Salford too as I thought they were very good and were prepared to throw it around even in wet conditions. Despite all pre season predictions I think they'll go well and certainly deserve to.

Salford where by far the better team and deserved the win imo

we were very lucky last night but 2 points is 2 points so onward to GF

Not so sure about the luck element. How many times did we hand the ball over through dropped balls, offsides and not playing the ball correctly etc. Always seemingly in our own 30 too. We defended like lions on each of those sets. You could swing it the other way and say Salford were lucky we gave them so much free ball. All in all, we didn't play the conditions at all and there looked to be a few fatigued bodies out there. A definite freshen up is due next week. But, as said, we got the job done. I do love the way Salford throw the ball around. It get's them results. Not a dig but they have to play that way because their squad lacks in talent so they have to make up for it in an expansive way. I love watching it. Just wish they could get their crowds back. It's like the old guard from the Willows who died out just didn't get replaced with new blood. Thier marketing team needs to get a shift on and get people in. I know the stadium is a massive drawback being in the back of beyond but Salford and the council need to come up with a solution.

It is just me that things the short drop out wasn’t a bad idea from Sneyd?

He executed it perfectly, and I was filled with dread when I saw a towering kick with just Farrell underneath it with Nofoluma and Macdonald chasing.

Replay that situation 100 times and I’d say Salford get the ball back the vast majority of them, and we probably score only 1.

I'm not going to say whether it is only you or not, their may be others



However I will say i don't agree
Because he executed it perfectly its easier to say they'd get the ball back the majority of times, but that doesn't cover the issue of what if he didn't execute it perfectly on top of the fact that he's relying on others (the 2 players challenging Farrell) to execute perfectly as well, they didn't

If you ask me to guesstimate what would happen BEFORE the drop out if he went short I'd guess they'd get it back maybe 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 times. Then you factor in that they would have to hold the ball for 4 more tackles, kick well and still have to defend a set starting maybe on wigans 20/30 there's a whole heap of things that could have happened there.
Doing what he did increased the chances of Wigan having 5/6 plays in their 20, as even if Wigan got the ball back and didnt score there was enough time left for Salford to have to come out their own 10mtrs, kick well and Wigan get another set.

Playing against 12 men the correct thing to do would be to go long, defend their 40/30line and Wigan get 3 shots in Salfords 20 or so
Back yourself to defend that (as they had done numerous times during the game already).

If going short gives a one in a hundred chance of the opposition strolling over the line, it's got to be a bad idea. You go long and there is a zero in a hundred chance of them doing that. They might score but it'll take some work from the attacking team and you won't feel like a total 'Sneeeeeed'.

4 wins out of 4 is a great start to the season, especially with 3 of those away from home (we don't play again at home until April 19th), so that must stand us in good stead for the back end of the season, especially when Cooper, Walters, Havard et al come back.

Sneyd did exactly the right thing in going short and my saying that has nothing to do with being a Wigan fan.

We won that game because of the desire and commitment of the team to play for 80 mins with the way we caused the drop out with a fantastic tackle and the pushing of the Salford player back over the line.

Difficult game but a sign of a champion team to win without playing to their potential.
Salford did play a great game though.

The defensive gang tackling of players, trying to force them in to touch and in goal has become a real feature of the side and a big weapon for us. It's great to see that being lead by new guys like Thompson and especially Keighran as well.

If the rules of the game had been applied by Kendal then the drop out would not have occurred. Mind you, the penalty against Smith shouldn’t have been given as Brieley’s ball carrying arm was not on the ground.

Defensively, we were way below our normal standards. Our line speed was slow, we continually fell off the tackle, didn’t clamp the ball, our defensive line was fractured and yet, Salford only managed to score two tries from kicks. Defending kicks seems to be our Achilles heel at the moment. Plenty to fix up but not difficult to do.

I often think that, is it still the case where if a second player of team in possession gets involved the ref should call held? I hardly ever see it when close to touch or on any line calls.
I'm not so sure on kicks ... you could say it seems a weakness because it's the only way teams can break us down and score? It's a lottery on decent contested kicks. King and KPP was very good at helping on that right edge in that area, I don't think it's all down to Miski this season.
I'm hoping that's our flat performance, all the time we are getting closer to seeing Harvard and Walters bolster the pack and Leemings impact.
I really liked Mago, Dupree and Leeming off the bench both props can dent the line and Leeming off the back Looks hard to deal with. As the season goes on I can't see how Walters or Jnr don't start making the team, no slight on ISA but both would add quite a bit for me.

I think we'll see our style of play evolve a little as the pitches dry up and Walters and Junior play more.

We're playing far more up the middle at the moment and interplay between the forwards is a good addition to the attack. Watching Bell play last night I think we do need to do a little more of that to take advantage of the strength up the middle.

When Walters especially comes in I hope we'll see more running and offloading on the edges and Field. Bevan and Liam running off his shoulder.

At times I think we leave a a few points on the field as we can play a little conservatively . I'm not saying we should play like Leeds as they do the opposite, don't do the hard work in the middle thinking they can score on every play, but as it gets drier we should be making more use of the skill out wide and speed up the middle..

The great thing about this season is we have far more options in attacking options. Add Kruise in at 9 and we have another dimension too.

The only team that deserves to win is the team that does enough to win.

Salford didn't.

They played with lots of endeavour, and the determination to throw it around like it was a game of summer sevens (in pouring rain) was interesting but ultimately didn't do it for them.

I'm also bemused by those who think Sneyd's short drop was the right decision. It cost them the win; it's as simple as that.

See NSW
There's not only you thats wrong

I think you might be missing the tongue very firmly in the cheek there mate