Not sure if it was Clubb telling Smith about the inside ball, or the other way round, but there was certainly a conversation between them.

More of this kind of thing!

I'm with still on JT. He has been a positive embarrassment a few times lately. He needs telling to let his game (which can be very good) do the talking.

And although improved on a low base, I don't think Matty Smith did anything on Friday that any 7 in SL couldn't have done. His kicking game, which used to his strength, now looks average at best.

At a recent away game IIRC I think it was Hull this bloke was having a right moan about Matty. This other bloke overheard him and said that he knew Matty well and would introduce them after the game and he could put his points to him then. Needless to say the invitation was declined. Ordinary fans have so little appreciation or knowledge of the professional that really most of the views on here are an embarrassment.

Matty organises the team from half back. He is a leader on the field and much more vocal than Lockers. His kicking is what keeps the team ticking over and is really what we have missed since Trent left. Waney identified this and found his man and has stuck by him because he's one of the vital cogs in the machine. He isn't flashy but does his job well letting others do the flashy stuff. Neither Hampshire or Williams are anywhere near to offering the team what Matty does. Without Matty we would be like a rudderless ship.

His place kicking is average, but don't let that cloud your judgement. In any case he's had the bottle to put his hand up and give it his best. Apart from his brain fast at Widnes for a few years now he's been an outstanding professional and a great role model. Why don't we give him a break?

Christ, you really do preach some utter bs don't you?

If you want to have a discussion let's hear your views mate. Otherwise keep your nasty little comments to the playground.

I've defended MS this season against what I've felt was some OTT criticism, but I'll stick to my view that he serviceable rather than outsstanding on Friday.

I think it's interesting that people in the game such as the England coach, the Wigan coach and the journalists who picked the Super League Dream Team seem to rate him more highly than a section of the Wigan fan base. I always think of Dave Hadfield's comment that people in Wigan think they know more about Rugby League than anyone else, in fact a new born baby in Wigan knows the rules of the game better than him!!!

You're talking about last season, when yes he probably was the form England 7 in the last 3 months of the season and rightly got picked for honours but this season he has been massively below par and his form has regressed (not the only Wigan player I might add).

Compare his try assists for example, over half of what he assisted last year.

This year was the year he should've stepped up and proven that he can be our 7 for years to come and shown he can organise us without Blake Green but he's been steady at best. Williams' running, passing and short kicking game is already superior, despite those things being what Matty was excelling at last year. He will be nowhere near the England team or Dream Team this year and there's not even been another 7 that has had an amazing season. He's just played himself out of contention.

See - dyou feel better for that? No need for the abuse. Perfectly reasonable points. FWIW I think Danny Brough and Todd Carney will be in the Dream Team but I think Matty will keep his England place, especially if we get to Old Trafford.

Wigg'n sums up my feelings exactly. MS was England #7 on merit, and did fine for us in the World Cup. But this season he's been a disappointment. I expect he thinks so himself.

I'm not suggesting for a moment that Williams could or should shoulder all the responsibility, and he hasn't thus far shown that he has the long-kicking game anyway.

As for England and the Dream Team, the options are indeed a bit thin on the ground. Who's been the best English #7? Luke Gale, maybe?

Todd Carney surely hasn't got enough matches under his belt to be considered for the Dream Team; you shouldn't be entitled to a place on reputation only.

Smith has been average playing behind a very below average pack, until last Friday.
I thought him and Williams controlled the middle of the field and their short kicking game caused Wire all sorts of trouble.
As for our Props, they were excellent Friday night. From behind the sticks what was obvious was the speed of the tackle and the fact that we are now getting 3 men in the tackle from minute 1 to 80. The ferocity of the Wigan tackling was something Wire couldn't cope with.
I do think Waney has got his five best props sorted now with Tautai and Tatrick missing out.
Maybe Sutton might not yet be able to manage a game a week until the end of the season and that's the only reason I'd have Tautai or Patrick back in the squad.

My thoughts exactly. And well done for deftly getting this thread back on topic.

Fantastic performance on Friday which was done through forward domination. I thought Tony Clubb was outstanding and Sutton, Flower, Tomkins, Farrell and Lockers went well also.

I've got to be honest and say as for Crosby and Mossop, I'm just not liking them at all. Mossop for me isn't playing anywhere near well enough to warrant a first team selection, he was invisible for the most part on Friday. Crosby - yeah I can see why some like him but I just don't think he's good enough to be a long term Wigan prop.

Having said that, SW made the right call in dropping Tautai and Larne Patrick - for the life of me I can't see why he brought in Tautai, he's utter garbage. If we could I'd ship out Tautai and Mossop and bring in 2 new props in the mould of a Chris Hill/Ashton Sims/Alex Walmsley. I think 2 props in that kind of mould really would push us to the top of the league.

Tautai is ordinary and Mossop useless. As I've said before, hard to imagine than an Academy lad wouldn't offer at least as much as he does. They could hardly do worse.

But yeah, big, big improvement from the forwards in general on Friday. I was delighted and proud to be there.

Which once again was the start of another very enjoyable weekend in Wigan for me. Shame about the weather, though; just torrential on the M6 Toll going home on Sunday afternoon. Good job I decided against taking the bike!

After lengthy analysis, I've come to the conclusion that Tariq is the only one of the Sims brothers who's much good.