At half time it had the makings of a cracking game. However we were warned prior to the match of his intentions!

I thought it hugely disrespectful of Wane to go so weak in that 2nd half.
Ok, I understand that he has to/wants to blood his young lads & give them game time to assess where they are at but, who wants to see that level of disparity ?

TBF to your young lads they didn't lack effort & likely some will go on to have great careers in RL, don't think Wigan take many average kids, but there is the word, kids, really men v boys 2nd half.

While it will always be more important to us Leigh fans, in the cold light of day I am left wondering if we *Leigh* should scrap this annual fixture.
Does this result give 'some' false confidence to Leigh & will it damage the confidence of your academy/fringe players ?

Maybe DB should give Wire or Saints a call about next years friendlies *yes I do think Leigh will survive*.

Genuinely interested in the perspective of Wigan fans who attended today.

We did at the fc v wolfpack game. Depends what coaches want out of games though. Vs cas and kr radford picked virtually all reserves/u19s plus the odd 1st teamer to see how they go, today he picked less reserves/u19s and with a few more senior players they held their own in the secondhalf

My perspective is that in the first half, with about half to two-thirds of a starting team, we showed what is likely to happen from next week, when we get J Tomkins, Bateman, Tautai, Burgess, etc. back in the team.

Second half was completely different, but for me, having been to these Leigh "friendlies" every year, I was fine with the team that we put out and how they got on.

If Shaun doesn't put the kids in against first teamers, he can't see how they will hold up when we inevitably have to throw them in at some point, when injuries hit.

If you want to feel butt-hurt or disrespected, just because Wigan didn't offer up our first team for Gaz Hock et al to start swinging at when they run out of steam, that's your problem.

We, on the other hand, will see it for what is was - blooding the youngsters and judging them against (very) grizzled veterans) and get back to seeing how our champion team, led by our multiple-time GF winning coach, get on in the real matches.

My post was neither gloating, antagonistic or inflammatory, I simply asked a reasoned question.

Perhaps you could enlist the aid of a responsible adult to re-read the text to you ?

Basically, you can't be bloody serious.

It's hardly an 'annual fixture'. It's a pre-season 'run out' that suits both clubs because they're near to each other.

I very much doubt anyone would even blink if you decided to cancel it.

To take offence like this - to claim that it somehow damages your prospects, and then to finish with a veiled threat to go to Saints or Wire instead is such a typical Leigh response that it's untrue.

These aren't called warm-up games for nothing, matey (and Leigh are only one of several from Wigan's POV). They have one purpose: to get the stiffness out of the players's joints. Aside from that, they literally have no importance whatsoever.

I'm completely against sending a weakened team to face a local rival SL club to see our name cheapened by getting flogged.

If we are going to play the kids what's the point in playing the fixture at all? I thought pre season games were for the 1st team players to get a run out? If we do continue to play more kids then play the friendly against Oldham or Rochdale instead of another SL club.

But back to my original point, would we benefit from having a run out with our likely starting squad all together? Or isit better to have, as happened at Leigh, one or two likely starters trying to strenghen a very immature pack? I would have thought that we needed to, at least, have xertain partnerships, like half backs, on the field at the same time and I have always thought the best way to bring youngsters through was when supported by more experienced players.

I think you'd have to trust that Shaun Wane and his coaches know what they are doing as they've been at it a long time now. Their record of bringing youngsters through is second to none after all.

When the game was planned they probably intended to play Tautai, Joel Tomkins, Flower and Joe Burgess for example. It was good for SOL and Tommy to blow the cobwebs off in the first half but nothing much to be gained from playing the whole game.

The result of the game is immaterial anyway. Last year we lost the same fixture but won our first five league games.

Your trophy cabinet would indicate that they do seem to know what they are doing - in the 'proper' matches.

The bit I can't fathom is why this match was shown live on Wigan TV - how on earth does that help Michael McIllorum?
This guy is has sustained a career threatening injury and appears to have been financially damaged by this decision.

They announced it later then usual and looking at our end it certainly didn't seem to do our numbers much harm. That was easily our best following for one of these friendlies.

And with junior development!

I was as frustrated as the next person sat watching a total miss match but then to read comments on here about the harm it'll do the kids makes me smile. It's a tough environment at Wigan and those young lads can now see the mountain they have to climb.

They're under the best coach in the business when it comes to helping young players do that.

it was still a disgraceful decision in my opinion as it inevitably resulted in a lower reward than McIllorum deserved.
Also not sure about your logic as the Wigan support may have been marginally up on last year but, if my memory serves me correct, the game was on Wigan TV last year also.