I honestly can't see what the problem is.

Wane fields some young players against a relatively weak club. It ends up costing us the game.

So what?

The regular round friendlies are the ideal time to experiment.

wane said only last week on gmr that he would put his strongest team out every week,short memory. personally for the future of the club it doesnt bother me.the young lads will only learn from the game today.first team rugby is completely different than reserve rugby.blood em young

With you on this Brett.... I can't see the issue. Sadly we have to work within the Cap, so the sooner we learn how these youngsters respond the better. Would you rather that they came in for a first game in the frickin playoffs!!!! These lads are around the first team all week, they will know the plays and the setup. BUT, its in a game situation where you find out how people react. Thats what they are doing. Wise up people and smell the coffee!!! Some of these young men will be the backbone of our team for the next ten years. Get behind them, and the coach. Incidently, i don't believe for one moment that Wane will not have discussed this with IL. They will have known the risks.

Yes its annoying we lost the game and its our fault but a fine? Don't be ridiculous

Well if you had not noticed majority of opinion is saying that while blooding youngsters is a good idea against a team struggling like Widnes blooding so many is just not necessary and it cost us the match.

Now I don't know about you but I go to see Wigan win, not lose and when a defeat is basically self inflicted by a stupid section policy I think you can see why many fans are pretty angry about it.

There was no need to do this and the idea we needed to blood so many at one go is just not correct. There was just no reason to do it.

As to finding out how they will react all we know is how an inexperienced Wigan team will react not how the likes of Russell will fit into the first team set up. So it was a pointless exercise IMO (in more ways that one!).

These players are not going to be playing all together in the team any time soon but will be introduced gradually as players leave so there was just no point in doing what Wane did today. Chucking them all in the deep end is about as old fashioned an approach as you can get and should it be necessary for them all to cover for injuries in the play-offs I can tell you now we won't be doing very well in the play-offs despite them having this game because they are just not ready. So the idea we will be better for it should that happen is very wishful thinking IMO.

I have never known any club any certainly not Wigan adopt such an approach to blooding youngsters.

As to the result itself not mattering Wane's view pre-season was he wanted to cut out losses like this but he has engineered such a defeat instead. So which is it to be?

They also matter because not many fans adopt BK's view that the league competition is a complete waste of time. Fans pay their money to see the top players play not the reserves and few adopt the attitude the result does not matter.

We should be thankful the clubs are not that cynical and most of the time do try to win every game otherwise you may as well shut up shop. Wanes priority should have been to win the game and he could still have done that if he had made fewer changes.

Wane dropped a clanger but the worrying thing is he seems to think he didn't.

It used to be the case it was against the rules to field anything but your strongest side. A few seasons back the RFL tried to fine Saints £25K for not doing that until it was pointed out to them that the wording of the rules had been changed which basically meant you didn't need to any more.

That fiasco is what led to coaches having to name their teams in advance and have to pick it from the named 19 so fans didn't turn up expecting the 1st team only to find a team of reserves playing instead.

The trouble is even with a 19 man squad as we saw today you can still end up with a surprise selection and players such as Lockers dropped unexpectedly meaning the fans still feel short changed.

So while it is highly unlikely Wigan would be fined I certainly would not mind them getting a letter off the RFL telling the club not to take the mickey. Anything to stop Wane making the same mistake twice.

The rules are very clear you must put out your strongest team a 4 point deduction and a fine

Can you please provide a link to that or quote the relevant passage from the rule book? Thanks

I agree with DaveO

How angry am I today? Exceedingly. I found out on Friday that Pat and Tommy were out, today I see three more first team players 'rested' and I spent over £120 in fuel and tickets to watch what was basically an under twenties game. I saw these guys for free at Aldershot last year playing against London.
As DaveO has said, I've been ripped off. Where's Wane's promise that he wants to win every game? What a joke. Yes there's a time and place for bringing the youngsters through, but IMHO Wane needs to admit he completely screwed up today.

i can't believe people on here basically saying 2 points don't matter in march, if that is the case we might as well stop going to matches until august/september. how come all of a sudden a game doesn't seem to matter at this stage of the season. does that mean if we lose to warrington and saints that won't matter either.

The rules state a club can pick any of its nominated first team squad of 25 any time it likes. That covers the selection of several of the younger players today.

They also state to pick any players outside that squad of 25 because of injuries or illness the club has to give written medical evidence to the RFL.

I am certain Wigan will have complied with all of that.

So the RFL's rules on "full strength" are very broad to say the least. Hence the kind of Wigan team we saw today while clearly what people consider to be a reserve side certainly wasn't against the rules.

I felt sorry for Finch today, everything was put on his shoulders and it wasnt really fair. At the end of the game he stormed off into the changing rooms without the rest of the team, dont think he was happy with the selection process either. Wouldnt be surprised if that was the final nail in the coffin in him leaving at the end of the year.

He was all class in the spell after half time but he was swamped in the end!

After half time he came out and had a brilliant spell to get us in front before the terrible discipline returned and we decided to help them up the field. I imagine he was also pretty annoyed at throwing the game away with a minute to go.
Don't think he was the calming influence that some of the players needed or gave them much encouragement after going behind. He got a little overwhelmed.

As good a player as Finch is. It comes across to me at least, as though he could well have a real attitude on him.

On a side note, I would love to know Lenegan's feelings on today's debacle.