Thnx Andy.

no leeds player who IS PLAYING in the game on saturday has said anything in the press are they banned to

players are played to play not talk what MM will be doing is taking the focus off the crap that went on and put it in to the big game on saturday clever coaching and the best thing to do.

Apart from reading in a tweet from a journalist in your favourite newspaper - has this actually been confirmed?

I mean; the daily mail ALWAYS tells the truth and is never ever wide of the mark. Heaven forbid they make up a non-story - is Princess Diana on the front cover of today's edition by any chance?

Anything said to the press by the Wigan camp is going to be seized upon by the press - precisely because nothing has been said to date. Why dial up the tension and potentially turn what should be a classic game of RL into something that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons? I thought that Wigan were the dirty team and that leeds only wanted to play rugby? If so, then you should be applauding someone trying to prevent the game from becoming an 80 minute penalty-a-thon.

Maguire has spoken to the press and because he has some class and not started saying how the bloke who cleans the boots was really disappointed by McClennan's post match comments on sky or how Riddell rescues stray kittens in his spare time and sends present to all the other players in the league on their birthdays - there is nothing for people like you to pick holes in. Maguire knows that journalists will be desperate to quote something out of context (as they did with the Sinfield interview) to dial it up and sell more copy/get more hits. So rather than have his players worry that they might make a mistake when speaking to the press (take a bow Peacock); he has taken it out of their hands to let them concentrate on what they are paid to do.

The Wigan camp want to let the rugby be do the talking - rather than see the game descend into a soap opera style cat-fight in the press. If you think that's dull, then that's up to you. What I really think is that you want someone to say something stupid like McClennan has, so you can start all the "Wigan are cracking under the pressure" talk; which has been coming leeds' way so far.

Let leeds keep talking - it reminds me of Hasim Rahman ahead of his rematch with Lennox Lewis.

you are confusing two things, responding directly to McClennans and Peacocks comments and talking to the press at all.

You would expect Wigans players to be able to talk to the press and avoid or be diplomatic in their response to McClennan and Peacock. The only reason to stop them talking at all would be he didnt trust them to not say something they shouldnt in response to McClennan and Peacock. Wigan are the only team to have their preperation affected by it.

Maguire hasn't instructed his players either way regarding the Press.
The players aren't Banned from talking to the Press, Andy Coley gave an interview on Monday of this week!


However

I get the distinct feeling (And some of you may know where I'm getting this feeling from!), that the Wigan club decided at the start of the year not to get involved in any Public Slanging Matches and everything would be kept in house!

Richard Agar Comments - Nothing said by Wigan
John Kear comments - Nothing said by Wigan
Gary Hetherington comments - Nothing said by Wigan
Disciplinary issues - Nothing said by Wigan or Any Appeals (AFAIK?)
Referee decisions/controversy/choice - Nothing said by Wigan

Like I said, and in a couple of posts I made a few months ago which I can dig out if anyone would like me to, this has been the most impressive piece of "Management" that the club has overseen this year.

boxing references...........you are phil clarke and i claim my £10

I'll answer it then.

It shows that Madge wants his players to do their talking on the pitch.

Good tactics from the Wigan coach. If we stay calm and composed and don't fall for Leeds' cheap mind games beforehand and their "gamesmanship" during what will undoubtedly be the usual poorly refereed, dirty game at Headingley, then we will win.

Madge knows this and is doing everything he can to make sure the players know this too.

They werent at the press conference as they usually would, which regardless of anything means it has affected their preperation

only thing iv seen is the standard interview by sinfield which coley has given the exact same interview on wigans website expecting a tough game etc etc

I'm not confusing anything. Madge has decided to treat the comments with the contempt they deserve.

Sinfield has done another interview with the BBC, Ablett with SL, Burrow and Donald in the YEP

but none of them at the press confrence which was your whole point

They have spoken to the press and they didn't get drawn into it.

Your trying to make everyone think that Leeds have won some kind of Physcological War game when in fact there was only Team playing it.

Your trying to make out that Leeds have some Moral High ground here when every man and his dog can see they haven't!

Just remember, jus because your team have won the Top Proze etc for the last 3 years it doesn't mean that everything they do nad have done was the correct thing and vice versa what every other team has done has been wrong.
You may have got more of them right, but you can't be right about everything all the time (Unless Your Tony Smith of course! ).