Whilst i think his reputation on his defence is justified IMO, i agree that we should give him time in this team and see how he goes. I certainly think he has a future at Wigan but i do think he has to work very hard on this area of his game. I do think he is very good in attack, but we need players who can do both.

Well thank God someone posted this before I did because there would have been a queue forming to disagree if I had gone first!

I completely agree his defensive weakness is exaggerated and if he has been brought back because Cas are poor and this is considered something that is detrimental to his development, then this agrees with something I posted on exactly those lines in a previous Ainscough discussion about the value (or lack of) of sending players on loan to poor teams.

Someone else posted people only focus in the exciting stuff with Ainscough but the same can be said about other players such as Feka, TL and in particular Phelps. The latter is well liked for his enthusiasm and the fact he chimes into the line well on attack but until some doubts were cast about his defence in the recent Phelps thread after the Sheffield game he was never subjected to the same scrutiny as Ainscough and IMO defensively he has as many if not more issues than Ainscough.

So I agree with tugglesf78 that a bit more objectivity would not go amiss for exactly the reasons they state in their post and it needs to be applied to all the players because as they say the team as a whole have their bad points. Why Ainscough has people lining up to have a go at him when other players have similar or even worse issues is a bit of a mystery though I think some of it stems from Nobby supporters wanting to back him as coach last season so had to find fault in Ainscough to justify Nobby dropping him.

It's also important as has been said already to give him a run of several games in an MM coached team as he has not been benefiting from the mew coaching regime while at Cas.

Dave

I hope other critics stick to that and truely mean it. Ainscough is fighting a losing battle with some people IMO.

Shaun stood out in a poorly coached Brian Noble side that was doing that much. In fact, they hadn't won a game prior to Ainscough being given a shot. Mark Flanagan recently said that at Wigan it was just 'four or five drives and then a kick'. I'm interested to see how Ainscough gets on in a far better coached side & a team that is utilising their wingers more and is playing with a lot of confidence. Ainscough doesn't lack confidence and isn't afraid to back himself which leads to tries. His defensive errors have been very heavily documented on here and it will be interesting to see how he gets on. However he could get a hat trick, MOTM, but make one error and he would be crucified by some on here.

Good luck Shaun.

Hope he goes well and takes his chance. There's no doubt he has excellent try scoring ability and is an exciting player, just needs to improve on those aspects of his game that have been well documented by coaches and fans. I hope he does as we would have a fantastic back line if he can keep his place when Roberts is back to.

+1 Rooting for you Shaun Good Luck if selected on Friday

RE: Ainscough's defence. I think people need to look at the bigger picture. Defending high kicks is a teams responsibility and NOT just your winger. Apart from restricting the opposition to even getting in a position to put a bomb up close the line, the team need to put pressure on the kicker, so that he doesn't have the time to put an accurate kick in, then you need your centre to protect your winger when dealing with the high kick. It's what they do in the NRL and it's what we have done this season. Last season we quite simply didn't. There was no kick pressure on the last tackle - a notable improvement this season - and there was no-one protecting the winger, which left our wingmen exposed. The player running onto the ball has the momentum and time to judge the height of the kick. The defender doesn't. So Ainscough was caught out a couple of times, but it wasn't ALL solely his fault. Pat Richards, who is arguably the best catcher of the high ball, was caught out numerous times (Castleford away in particular springs to mind) due to our lack of defense/pressure on the last tackle kick player & so was Roberts as well (Leeds away Ryan Hall springs to mind). So although Ainscough does have areas in his defensive game that needs improvement they aren't as bad as some people make out. I think we he will fair a lot better in the current team now than the one he did last season.

People have their own opinions with Ainscough but I tell you one thing that's a fact not an opinion - he will be targeted on Friday especially when you consider the other option is Pat Richards.

There'll be no hiding place - I think its do or die for him. A shocker could spell the end of his Wigan career given the other options.

But it wasn't just the high kicks that Ainscough had the problems defending, it was also the short kicks in just behind him, and some of his decision making. A prime example was v Huddersfield for Cas a few weeks back when he was running the ball out on his own line. Instead of going to ground quickly he "stood up" and was forced back over the try line for a goal line drop out. Huddersfield scored in the next set.

I'm also not convinced that he's "the flyer" that he is made out to be, in fact I don't think he is in the top 5 fastest at Wigan.

As I said before it's a clean sheet for him and I hope he does well, and he'll get my full support on Friday.

Dont give him the 'bird' then !!!!!!!!!

I fully acknowledge that his decision-making and dealing with short kicks needs improvement, but I was just making the point that all the criticism thrown at Ainscough is quite harsh when you consider the bigger picture of how Rugby League is played. His decision-making I hope will improve with experience.

Ainscough is a quick lad, but it's his acceleration that is his greatest strength rather than his long distance speed. His confidence and the fact he will chase & try for anything leads to try scoring opportunities. The kick on for Castleford's opener against Hull KR being a good example.

A big game for Ainscough on Friday, but I don't think it will decide his Wigan career. He is a young lad for christ sake and has plenty of room for improvement as does any player - isn't Lee Mossop dropped for his defensive errors? I think the level of criticism for the lad is intense on this board & some people need to give it a rest. Yes, the lad has areas in his defense to improve, but that's no reason then to magnify every single error in his game & condemn him to exile from Wigan. Give the boy a chance (not getting at you here).

Aye. You're like the Gordon Brown of rlfans.

wonder how many people would be there paying out if there wasn't any "exciting stuff"!! If they were all working horses it wouldn't be worth watching - may as well go and watch the footy prancers! It's the exciting stuff that gets the crowd going.

He got recalled last weekend and it only got annouced today, as me and a a mate of mine saw him training with the first team sqaud at orrall on monday.

I find it a little surprising how short peoples memories, i also remember clearly Jason Robinson being a poor defender, but had that something special that the coaches identified.

It is possible to coach certain aspects of the game, defence is one, it is not possible to coach certain aspects and many of those aspects are what make him so potentially special going forward.

I have not seen much at Cas to think he could not make it at Wigan. On the plays where he was sucked in he had no choice, that close to the line with an overlap you have to make them pass the ball, he had to come in. He has been exposed on one kick where he air swiped the ball (another trait often displayed by Robinson in his early days.)

The big question is will he respond to the coaching, does he have the commitment to listen and work on his game. If he does he will be a try scoring machine for Wigan if he does not he will give a good returns but always have issues with his defence that will see him spend his career at mid table clubs.

Writing any player off with that special something is a massive mistake, the future is in his hands and hopefully he can rise to the challenge and forge a long term career at Wigan.