One thing that stood out for me tonight was the energy and enthusiasum of all the players. They really looked "up" for it tonight and that's not happened for many years. Defensively we were excellent, our line speed was much improved and we were a lot sharper around the play of the ball.

In previous seasons we would have conceeded first, then built up a comfortable lead and then sat back and let them in for a couple of soft tries. Not tonight, we played hard for the full 80 minutes. No-one had a bad game tonight and if that continues we are in for a cracking season.

The only downside of tonights performance was that we looked a little rusty in attack, which is only to be expected first game of the season. We are still trying to force the pass when it's not on and there are still some unforce errors occuring. Hopefully these will be ironed out in the next few weeks.

If we can keep up the intesity we showed tonight for the rest of the season we will be there or thereabouts come grand final day. Overall, a very good start to the season which is very encouraging for us fans. For the first time in a while I can't wait for next week.

The one thing that really encouraged me last night was that link up on the right hand side of attack between Joel, Gleeson and Roberts. It looked our most dangerous side and we threatened down there all night. That makes a very pleasant change because we've been a side that normally does most of it's attacking down the left through Carmont and Richards but that was probably due to us having Hock.

Another players preformence that really pleased me was Phelps. He's had his knockers in pre season and people have questioned his place but that should have stopped for at least a few games after last night. I know he wasn't hugely tested at the back but in attack he was fantastic. He chimes into the line and adds pace, power, bravery and a real eye for a pass or a kick. He scored one and set 2 up last night and you can't ask more then that.

Madge and Lenegan have been striving to acheive a real family atmosphere at the club, I thought it was obvious last night that team spirit had improved, there was a real sense of togetherness and this is important in wining games. Individual efforts (as good as they might be) will not get results - it has to be a whole consistent team approach.
Last night after the game the coaching staff, team and wives (kids etc) all sat down for a meal at 11pm- something unheard of in recent years. This imo is another important step in the right direction.

I appreciate Crusaders are a weak side and a win was to be expected but the manner in which the team did it was significant. Onwards and upwards!

Team spirit seemed to play a big part last night, and after last nights game I noticed Tommy go to every player and pat them on the back when they was walking round the pitch clapping.

I like the sound of everyone sitting down after the game idea aswel.

Anyways the performance wasnt the best ive ever seen due to the opposition but we did what we had to do without causing too much fatigue and causing any potential injuries for next week which may of been an instruction from Madge and Wane.

Gleeson and Roberts look like new players. Roberts looks like he wants the ball so he can stretch his legs and Gleese looks like he also wants the ball to create problems for their defence and play in Amos.

Mossop Joel and Hansen put terrific stints in all night - How good to have 3 lads from the academy in our back row playing with passion for the club.

Sam was trying his best to get on the scoresheet, his run was superb and it was a shame he couldnt have finished it off. He can create out of nothing and this is going to be a great asset this season especially with Deacs directing us around the field - his kicking game is awesome.

Props looked alot more interested in running the ball in albeit against a poor defence, lets hope there upto running in against Galea, Newton, Morley and Carvell in the next few weeks.

Finally, Sean O'Loughlin - Quality... "..I want curly hair too"

Bailey,O'C, Goulding & Pryce must wonder when they'll get a game.

Bailey will have a real job to replace Joel, H or Mossop. Joel was the only forward to play 80 mins and was outstanding.
Goulding to replace Gleeson or Carmont must only be due to injury, same for Pryce whereas he can play all 4 3/4 positions.

Crusaders were very poor and hardly completed more than a couple of sets in the first 40.
Our defence is much harder now with us adopting the Aussie style of two men up top and one around the legs. They went down on first impact as happened at Wire, last year opposition players pushed 5-10 mtrs as no one was tackling around the legs. The tackles are going in faster and harder.

Considering the number of try scoring chances that were blown it was a very dominant perormance against a team who looked liked they'd never played before and apart from last week hadn't.

Looking forward to HKR next week, they have a warm up v Salford so we'll see how they go.

Positives
- Good performance against a very poor side, we applied a lot of pressure on them and forced mistakes, when last year we tended to make bad sides look good.
- I've doubted Phelps' defence but fair play he made a one on one tackle and collected kicks well today. Hopefully it will give him confidence for when we play the better sides.
- Fielden looked much improved and yet rusty, he looked 100% stronger taking the ball up but he didn't quite break the line and knocked on once. Having said that he got us a couple of penalties too. Looked better than in any game last season, let's hope he can carry it on against the big boys.

Negatives
- Not much to moan about really, though we did seem to give away loaaads of penalties in this one, and the Wakey friendly for that matter, we need to cut that out. Individually I can't think of anyone who should be dropped, I'd keep the team the same next week.

Amos Roberts looked absolutely fantastic! Surely we must have sent him back for repairs or something? He just doesn't look like the same player! He looks dangerous in attack and is taking the crossfield kicks with relative ease [Fair play he was lining up against Gareth Raynor, but still!]

Fielden is looking better, he broke the first line of defense a couple of time and even nearly scored! He looks more committed and fired up than he has done for a while. A new coach and the fact his spot ISN'T secured will probably have lit a fire under him.

Gleeson is starting to shine for us now, I think that right hand side may be more effective this year than our left was last year. I can see Amos getting 20+ tries if he and Gleese carry on like this.

Deacon looked shakey when he came on - nerves I suspect on his first home game, but after 5 or 6 minutes he was right into it. His kick for Phelps' try was nothing short of sensational. Something we have really missed was a decent kicking game down in the last quarter. This aspect will be what wins us tight games.

Joel had a stormer, he was busting people off left and right, looks to be making real strides as a backrower. Long may that continue.

Nobody had a bad game, the attack was a little rusty at times but this will come with more games played but our defense is solid. There was no way through for them last night. I reckon the lads got a right bollocking when they went in at half time for letting Crusaders in for that soft try. Bring on next week and let's see how we do against a better team.

Everybody played well but for me Joel was superb, if he can continue on in that form there'd be no better backrower in the competition.

I know Hogan was worried about are backrow before last night but if they can continue on like they've started we've no need to worry. It'll be a good test for Joel and Mossop next week against KR who for me had the best backrowers in the competition last year.

With a little bit more cohesion between Mossop, Joel and are ball players and those two will be unstoppable, the only other backrow comparable for size and strength would be Leeds with Eastwood and Lautiti.

If both can keep it up all season they'll be pushing for England spots.

Fielden's performance was good but the fact that his attitude and demeanour looked more like the old Fielden was the most pleasing thing.

Gleeson was all over the place, good to see him getting involved more.

J.Tomkins looked strong and skilful whilst Roberts as said looked very dangerous.

I made a prediction at the start of the year that come mid to late 2010 Wigan fans will want Phelps as our long-term number 1. Despite the misgivings in the friendlies about his defence, I'm still confident with this prediction because whilst his defence will improve with experience - his creative skills are a huge weapon for us. You can see why he was an Aussie schoolboys halfback, very good kicking and passing game and that is something that the likes of Sean Briscoe could certainly not provide.

In an interview last week, he said how he is much happier this year now his family is here and that he didnt go back to Aus during the winter, because he knows he was poor last year and this year we will see a different player.

It would appear he is now settled in and my what a performance.

In some ways last nights game was the polar opposite of last season as no one player really stood out from the rest. The major difference this time was that the whole team played at a level we rarely saw against opposition like the Crusaders.

Just look at the MOM thread and it’s clear it could go to anyone of about 6 or 7 players which shows just how well the whole team played. If any of those 6 or 7 would have played like that last season it’s fair to say they would have been the stand out candidates for the MOM award but this season it’s gonna take a real special performance to stand out from the rest.

The best part of the last night was that we got the job done easily and without any fuss. Everyone worked hard, the team worked well together and everyone did their jobs.

Just one point next for next week is that I hope we use Joel more. Every time he touched it last night he either bounced someone off for some big yard or made something happen for someone else. Although I don’t wanna go back to the days of over relying on one player like we did with Hock if a player is looking as dangerous as Joel was last night then we’ve gotta find a way of getting the ball to him a little bit more.

Overall I’m very happy with the committed, hard working and talented display we saw from all our guys last night. Long may it continue.

No point in going into microscopic detail, because everything that needs to be said has already been said on this thread - but for me the most heartening thing was that, in previous years, games like this have often been banana skins for us.

We apparently found it difficult to motivate ourselves for fixtures that were going to be 'easy wins' - the consequence of which was that we only just won or, more often, lost. It used to drive me mad that you could win at Leeds away, and then waste it by losing at home to someone like Wakey.

But last night we set about them in a professional, workmanlike fashion, and did what you should always do in games like that - have the points in the bank by half time. And even then there was no slackening off.

It was very encouraging indeed. Well done the training staff thus far, and in particular well done to the conditioning staff - because the lads all looked very fit, very agile and intimidatingly strong.

Joel Tomkins could be that ball playing, unpredictable back rower we spoke of going off last night.

He looked like a player that's had his shackles removed and told to use his attacking talents and passing game.

I agree, possibly.

Consistency is what Joel needs to strive for.

I hope so. I have never had a bad word to say about his attacking qualities, but in defence he has been shakey and inconsistent. The Pre-season games didn't offer much hope he had improved in this area, but last night, when it counted, he had a good game. Although he didn't have much to do, he still did what was required of him. I remember one incident where the Crusaders got in a good position and Witt put a towering bomb up in the air and there must have been about 3 or 4 players all chasing for it, but Phelps ended up with it. Sadly the play ended with a Crusaders penalty because we hit the kicker a bit too late.

Nevertheless having said that, we have to remember it was a quickly put together squad we were playing, made up of whoever was available. Phelps didn't have much to do last night and so the big test will be next week, when he has to defend the kicks from Dobson and Cooke who are both excellent in this department. Last night he didn't have much to do. Next week will be the real test and we will have a much better idea of whether he has improved defensively from last season or not. Let's hope he has.