Burgess 4???

Really.

I thought Kendall was awful. The new PTB rule just encourages messing around

Bibby was very good
Hardaker was very good
J Burgess did nothing wrong until he lost that ball in last minute Imo and did ok (I'd give him 6 or 7)
Isa was very good

Bibby grew and grew as the game went on I thought. He cut down some good attacking positions for Wire in that second half.

Hastings needed to take charge and make sure they drove at the posts for him to knock over the drop goal. We had three sets where we could have done it from memory and kept turning the opportunity down so they still had a chance right till the end.

He was very solid at the back and grew into the game, as you say, making that excellent break towards the end. I thought Zak looked strong too at centre. Definitely seems to be growing into the position. Factor in Gildart's return and with Hank in the wings we have some genuine competition in the centres for a change.

French and Hastings were dangerous all game. Real threats with the ball. Can't wait to see how they get on over the season.

Marshall is so unorthodox as a winger but you cannot fault the lad. Burgess really needed to finish some of those opportunities today. Would have done his confidence a world of good. He will get a run of games before Manfredi comes back into contention. Should hopefully push him to work harder.

Hardaker and Gildart this season at centre should be exciting. I like Hardaker. Real competitor. Bibby time will tell for him. He had a good debut for me. Grew into the game.

George Burgess will get hammered for that but he should not have played. Way off the pace physically (what conditioning has been going on in the off season). Shows Lam's naievity for me. We havent signed a dud though, no need to panic yet. A fully.fit George Burgess will be a handful for teams this year.

Willie Isa is fantastic. I love him as a player. Competitive and gives absolutely everything. Yes he is not a world beater, but in a salary cap sport teams need a Willie Isa.

Young lads consistently give their all. Some great young forwards at Wigan. We just need the senior lads (Burgess, Flower, Clubb etc) to step up to support.

Here we go again, another season and the same two players from last season already being targeted.

No prize for naming the two!

Burgess is a confidence player. I've seen enough from him tonight to know he's still got some top class performances in him. He left Charnley for dead, only the last ditch tackle on a diagonal run stopped him. Him dropping the ball was unfortunate but good from the Wire defence on that one.

Budgie did plenty of good things tonight. He left Charnley for dead and only Ashton's speed prevented him from scoring; got held up over the line; and made a couple of good tackles when Wire broke through. As for the dropped ball with less than a minute to go, I am sure that Gelling knocked it out and it should have been play on, I shall watch the replay. My view was that he was much better than his opposite number and there are definitely signs that his form is improving.

I was surprised when Bullock missed out but I’m sure he’ll be in for George Burgess next week. Partington fell off quite a few tackles so hopefully he fixes that up.

Warrington were by far the better side and if they don’t go down to 12 they win quite comfortably. It does concern me a lot that not a lot seems to have changed, still plodding up the middle making hardly any yardage and no real plan for attack.

Defensively we looked alright in parts, poor in others and greats in some. Bit mix and match really.

Have to remember it’s the first game and a win is a win, regardless of the manner of it. French and Hastings were excellent and off last night should be our half backs. They had a fantastic partnership.

French - 8
Marshall - 7
Zak - 6
Bibby - 6
J Burgess - 5
Tommy - 5
Hastings - 8
Partington - 7
Powell - 6 (hard to score but looked ok until being decapitated)
G Burgess - 4 (really needs to get fitness right. Not to be wrote off just yet)
Isa - 7
Faz - 6
Lockers - 5 (well below usual standards)

Havard - 7
Byrne - 7
Smithies - 7
Clubb - 5 (same old, same old)

He's soft as $hit that's why. No wonder Saints fans called him Josephine.