Hampshire hasn't physically developed enough to the stage where he can play hooker. He has a much slighter build than Williams or Powell.

Are the other two though? Soliola ran over the hooker for the crucial try in the second half to put us in the lead.

What makes me laugh on here is how certain you all are thet if Flower does not get sent off you win the game , far from it in my opinion , possible but not certain

What is certain, is that Stains struggled to close out a game against a team a man down....

Or did they have the conviction of keeping it in the forwards was the way to go and we'd get the win eventually as Wigan would miss a tackle or make a mistake like not jumping for a kick?

Either way, whatever your view, what is certain is that Saints closed out the game.

I said they struggled..

HTH

They did struggle as our remaining half back had gone, lots of positional changes having a second row at scrum half a full back at stand off and a prop forward at centre, you are not going to get a creative game.
Take Bowen, Smith, Green and O'Loughlin out of the team I think would Wigan would struggle a bit in a grand final.

Saints only had one option to play down the middle channel in offence and defence. When Wigan attacked out wide we had players quick enough to offer a scramble defence, as the Wigan players tired Saints were able to close the game down.

In theory a couple of days before the final Wigan were probably good for a 20+ points win, but with MM out of the final that margin appeared to be less................then the 2 min madness turned everything upside down.

Powell doesn't seem to have developed his game though. Simply not good enough to be a replacement for Green or McIlorum. Lacks pace, a kicking game and any physical threat to be a success at Wigan.

But Powell is not a hooker is he?

How good is Micky's kicking game? How much pace has he got? How much pace has Green got for that matter.

Let's judge Powell when he has had a chance to play in his preferred position for a while. Or if we aren't going to do that, then at least compare him fairly to the likes of Green and Micky.

Do you not think Bowen and Smith were a bit off par on Saturday, with the key pivotal positions of 1, 6,7, 9 and 13 only Green and O'Loughlin came up to standard.

It was Tierney who had to do the walk along with Hopkins. I believe it was a fine imposed by the players for being late for training.

As far as Smith goes, I think it is pretty hard for a SH to shine when he is playing behind a pack which is a man down.

Bowen, apart from the odd flash of brilliance, has been a disappointment to me all season.

I can tell you Hopkins was in a shocking state when he came back to us, Leigh. I understand you have an option after next season so it will be interesting what happens in a FT environment with us next season as to what you do

Players come and go, some fit in and some don't.
Those that don't, for whatever reason, leave.
Taylor wants to leave so why play him when others can develop their game. At the start of this season Flower and Taylor were our starting props. Up to last Saturday it was Flower and Crosby. Crosby, IMO, has improved massively since going to starting prop and replacing Taylor.
Next season Flower will be missing for a time so, coincidently, the games played by Crosby have served him and the club well. Who starts with Dom has probably still to be decided. We have Tautai arriving and Greenwood returning so maybe Sutton will step up as well.

This action is endemic of a club were not toeing the party line results in bullying and humiliation. Disgusting, Wigan. Wane out!

It's going to be a looooooong off season.