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.