We won't get a re-build if it costs money so we'll have to work with what we've got.

In truth I think we'll be fine. Things have been so disrupted so far and we look like a team struggling to find any momentum but there are reasons for that-

7 England Tourists last year

Injured/suspended players

Team changing every week including in critical positions

Taking part in the WCS

Too many errors



I've already stated in other threads out discipline is poor and that needs fixing up urgently but those reasons above have lead to a sloppy start. As the pitches firm up and Wigan get the likes of Lockers, Flower and Sarginson back we'll improve hugely.

I certainly wouldn't write Wigan off yet.

I think you're right. Even without SOL in the back row, you stil have Bateman, TOmkins and Farrell.
Crosby, Flower, Tautai and Mossop are four good props and then you've got Patrik to slot in where needed.
You've not got a perfect set f backs, but its not really achievable in a salary capped game.

Looking at the stats. HKR had almost 50 more play the balls than Wigan. That's an unbelievable amount and I'd guess that the second half possession would have been something like 2:1 in their favour. As for the missed tackles 44 ouch!! Wigan had to make 97 more tackles than HKR, almost 40% and that was all due to dropped ball and penalties (some absolute stupid) To actually only concede four tries off stats like that shows that they didn't defend that poorly. www.superleague.co.uk/report/11026

Looking at the stats. HKR had almost 50 more play the balls than Wigan. That's an unbelievable amount and I'd guess that the second half possession would have been something like 2:1 in their favour. As for the missed tackles 44 ouch!! Wigan had to make 97 more tackles than HKR, almost 40% and that was all due to dropped ball and penalties (some absolute stupid) To actually only concede four tries off stats like that shows that they didn't defend that poorly. www.superleague.co.uk/report/11026

Defense isn't the problem.

It's the stupid penalties and the idiotic game management. We should have just simplified everything, played rugby in the right areas and cut out the pens.

Our game management is simply shocking and It's not a new problem either imo. Wane needs to get it sorted but I very much doubt he will (he's not done kit yet so why should we believe he'll start now).

It's like Noble has taken over again.

word for word, this is what i thought before last season, and begrudgingly they did bloody well. AS you say though, it catches up, eventually.

Didn't go yesterday but reading this thread it looks like a Widnes re-run.
Poor handling maybe due to different combinsations every week. Poor and cold weather might be to blame. That can come right and we did score some very good tries with excellent handling.

Where there is no excuse are the numerous penalties. Hand in at the ptb, lying on, being sucked in to a push and shove situation, away from home it's an easy penalty for the ref to give to get the home fans off his back. Chester's remarks that he told them to "get into Wigan's faces and pressure the ref" is that getting Wigan to retaliate was his game plan. Trouble is from reading all this that it succeeded and we fell for it big time!
One remedy is for the management/coaching staff to financially fine players who concede penalties. Our pen count against would drop like a stone. Was done some years ago I think by Leeds and had the required effect.
Noticable in the Saints/Souths game that when there was the possibility of a bit of push and shove the Souths players turned their backs and walked away. They also walked away with the trophy! Not easy I'm sure but that (a low pen count) can be the difference between winning and not.
In one sense we are ahead of where we were last year. After those same three opponents 2014 we had one League point now we've three.
We have a massively talented squad with plenty players to return and 27 games to go.
Sort this problem out now and it will be a very successful season.

That has to be an error. Embarrassing if it's not. Ditto Larne Patrick - and he only made 13 tackles. Both need dropping.

No charge thank God, insufficient evidence.

Granted you scored in the 1st minute of the 2nd half but if you wasn't at the game you wouldn't know the conditions that both teams played in. In the 1st half Rovers where kicking into a very heavy wind. We went in 14-6 down which was a testament to how hard Rovers worked in that 1st half in the face of some extreme weather.

In the 2nd half Wigan had to kick into the awful wind and on leaving the ground listening to the radio the commentator apparently predicted that the wind was a 12point advantage for the side playing behind it, That is effectively what happened. Rovers simply played better with the wind in the 1st half and if it wasnt for that 5 minute collapse in between halves where your team scored 3 tries then the score would have been much more convincing.

Defensively Wigan where quite solid as Rovers forced many GLDO's during that 2nd half.

Also talking about wigans poor game management how about when the game was 6-0 to us we got a penalty 20 out infront of the sticks turn the chance for 2 points down knock the ball on on 3rd tackle Wigan come up our end score and then get on a bit of a role so maybe poor game management from us let you into the game?

At the time with the conditions been against us I thought we made the correct decision not go for goal. Guess the team didn't account for a possible early knock on.

Trouble is wigan are to easy to wind up, get them scrapping and the penalties come and then the points which is when losses mount up, discipline is the main issue you need to address.

Agreed

THat's true, and credit to Rovers for their tactics, but we simply should have adapted to the conditions better than we did - Smith's bomb into the wind when an easy dink into the in-goal area was a much better option; risky passes that ended up being dropped; those sort of things are OK when you need to gamble, but with a big lead safety-first, high-percentage rugby is called for.