So we haven't scored more points than anybody else (except Leeds) so far this season?

So you thought before the season kicked off, with all the loss in personnel, that we would be in such a good position?

So even with the unprecidented injuries this year you think we should be in a better position?

Sorry pal but you need to be realistic. The season as a whole is going ok all things considered and on last night, we can improve! We were beaten by a team with a big point to prove after Easter and the Catalan mauling.

We move on.......

Very disappointing to lose, and i hate losing to stains. But we have lost to the team who have gone top, so despite all their whining they can't be that bad, can they. We did look very predictable, but as some stains have been acknowledging, you know what we are going to do, but it's still hard to stop. You could use Beckham as an example of something similar, you knew he would make half a yard then cross, but was hard to stop. MM's control, and Greens guile were missing of course, but i thought that the young lads, stood up well. Young Doran looked very much at home, and his passing was crisp and accurate.

So, disappointed, but certainly not downhearted.

He was tackled though

I dont think we were particulalry bad as such but just defended poorly on our own line at times and didnt execute in attack. I thought we dominated and controlled much of the 1st half and should have led at half time. Saints did well though to weather out the first 30mins or so especially with Walsh going off and were the best team in the 2nd half.

I'm in no way blaming this moment on the result, but some people call Sarginsons defence bad. Which at centre can be true. But the missed tackles from Burgess and Bowen were awful which allowed Makinson to score. He should have been straight into touch and Im still in shock that they both managed to fall off the tackle.

Overall I thought we played ok and won't be too worried. Saints' defence was good and in the end they deserved it as we gave away two stupid penalties at silly times which basically handed them the game. In the end it came down to two kicks being the difference.

I dont think Sarginsons defence was half as bad last night as I have heard some make out. My main gripe is in attack, he doesnt even look to pass and he just hasnt got the instinct to play centre and it shows. I actually thought Gelling's defence was worse last night and it was only because Smith kept saving him that he got away with it. Smith himself isnt normally the best defender but he made some cracking tackles last night and one was very Leuluai like.

I don't want to turn this into a 'ref fest' but the penalty count isn't the only decisions that a ref gives. The 2 back to back knock on decisions he got wrong for example helped Saints enormously at that time. As for the penalties; you pointed out yourself that up until the last 12 mins when Saints were desperately hanging on that it was pretty even. Are you saying any of those last five pens were wrong decisions?

It was a close game only decided by kicks. We could have won it after the hooter on the very last play of the game. That's the sort of match we should have every week. I think it'll be interesting the next time the two teams meet!

When a game is that close I think every error/lapse in judgement is amplified especially against Saints. With that being said I don't think we were out enthused or poor in defense or attack Saints were just a little bit better on the day. It was a couple of errors by players who otherwise played brilliantly that may have swung momentum, Smiths kick after that phenomenal running by our pack for example or that mistimed pass that hit Flower and lead to a knock on, in the end it's these moments that decide close physical games.

Obviously I saw lots of things the ref didn't but that is always going to be the case due to the shameful bias I have for Wigan

I have no doubt Saints fans feel the same way.

I do think we have a few players in there I don't think have nailed down what their positions should be. This isn't such a bad thing considering the age of the squad and in time they will improve but Gelling as brilliant as he was didn't create space for Charnley. Same could be said for Sarge, I love his running style and if he was doing it from FB I think people would be singing his praises but a needs to be a bit more direct imo. I am being overly critical here though as both had solid games (perhaps I'm just trying to find areas to improve)

As for having players out, injuries no excuses whatsoever (this is rugby ffs) but I'm proud to be a Wigan supporter as we promote talent from our home town and lead the way in this regard. To complain about injuries is to do a disservice to these kids who put their body on the line.

Overall a very positive performance and I won't panic if we come up against Saints later in the season, I have no doubt it will be a close game but I think we have the talent to win it.

Wel im not sure which game a few of you watched but I though the game was lost when our props lost their heads. A Dudson penalty and a Ben Flower swinging arm cost us 8 points in short succession. You just cant afford to give away these silly penalties in BIG GAMES! Matty Smith who I thought really stepped up from a poor performance against Wakey and was probably our best player Friday apart from his kicking that also let us down and would have won us the game. I lot of people have jumped on Jack Hughes a the scapegoat for Friday I think your totally wrong there he made one error all game but it didn't cost us the game. Call a spade a spade people and less Kop Outs please!

For OP: wigan.rlfans.com/news.php?readmore=2657 wigan.rlfans.com/news.php?readmore=1147

For OP: wigan.rlfans.com/news.php?readmore=2657 wigan.rlfans.com/news.php?readmore=1147

Saints won 12-16 with three trys each plus two goals to Saints.
The difference in the scoreline are the two goals.
Just read in the trade press how super duper fantastic Saints were and we were well behind. Saints were good, for them, and the better team won. Whether they can repeat those kind of performances for the rest of the season remains to be seen.
However as far as Wigan are concerned, we had seven players out of our best 17 missing. Once we have Goulding, Thornley, Green, McIlorum, Farrell, Clubb and Pettybourne back we will have a far stronger squad than played last Friday. Add to that Joel Tomkins who will return at the end of the month and it looks a very strong squad indeed. If we can get those players back and match fit plus stem the injuries there's every hope for a good end to the season.

Ignoring any players missing (their loss of Walsh early on evened things out a bit) I think more of a factor on the night was players playing who were not fit.

Players will always play carrying knocks but there were Wigan players who were visibly not right.
Lockers, Powell, Charnley, Gelling & Bateman were nowhere near 100% imo. I didn't think the game was as good as is being made out, the quality from both teams was poor at times. We can play a lot better but I don't think that was Saints best either.