It's only pre-season and we will be up there come September but here are my thoughts and concerns.

Tierney isn't an ideal fullback. Poor under the high ball and unable to organise a defensive line. Little if any link up in the attacking line as well. I suspect we will now see Sarginson playing fullback until S.Tomkins is fit again.

Tautai isn't Wigan quality. Slow around the play the ball. Far too many unforced errors and makes irrational decisions without thinking. This will be his last season with us.

Don't expect much from Willie Isa. Looked like an average Joe so far. Nothing awful but nothing special either. Signed purely as cover for when O'Loughlin is injured.

Our pack is (once again) still too small. Our biggest Achilles heel these past few seasons will hurt us again this year. We lack any quality go-forward props with a nasty edge who can stand up and be counted when things are going against us. That said, I have been very impressed with Ben Flower when ive seen him in the past two games.

We still struggle away from home. Will we still have the mental problem of struggling away from home this coming season? Our terrible away form has been something Wane has repeatedly failed to resolve.

Sam Powell isn't Wigan quality in my opinion. He has future Widnes player written all over him. If he wasn't from Wigan Wane wouldnt think twice about releasing him.

Let's not panic and it is tough to judge when you have the spine of your team sat in the stands.

Things I am pleased about, Manfredi, outstanding player more excited about him than I ever was about Burgess, no disrespect to Burgess, I just think this kid is very special. Gildart looks handy and capable of making a centre spot his own Flower has been fantastic.

Slightly random one but Mossop looks good to me. He looks interested and like he has a point to prove it has maybe not come across in the right way yet but I think it will as the season plays out.

Negatives.....almost everything else. Really cannot understand why we have failed to play our spine.

A lack of back up hooker again could be costly. Powell will do a job for us there but nothing special.

We are going into the season off the back of poor form less than ideal but it is now up to the team to perform vs Les Cats.

In relation to Tautai, I have no idea why we signed him to play Prop. He is not a Prop. He is an impact secondrow who can fit in at Prop. Give him free reign he is devastating, especially when running wide.

The bloke has pace to burn and is very powerful but is wasted in the middle. It seems to me we signed him off the back of 1 game without researching him or his style.

I think Flower is looking good already and should have a big impact this season. I also think Manfredi is looking good and will kick-on from last year. Gildart looks very solid just as he did last season and so I think he will kick-on. Tony Clubb still looks the business. George Williams looks like he is building in confidence and will kick-on.

Mossop played better than he did against Leigh but he will have to keep upping his game if he is to seal a starting spot.

Not too worried about the rest as they were mostly second string players. We will not see a team like that again in 2016 unless there is a severe injury crisis.

The most worry factor is that the first choice team will not have had a pre-season game runout together. Although I guess that Wane, on balance, is preferring to rest his key international players. I am sure he would say it is not ideal but equally we don't want our key players knackered even before they have really got going in what will be a long season ahead. If we win the first game against Cats then it will look like the right approach and if we lose then there will be lots of debate. We will just have to get behind the lads from the off and give them lots of encouragement! They certainly don't need the supporters being too critical from the off.

I went to the Leigh match, watched the Scholars and the Salford match on Wigan TV and one thing really stood out and that was how flat Wigan lie up even when supposedly on the attack. How we do not get pulled up for more forward passes from the acting halfback baffles me, some one posted on another thread that Wigan could not cope with Salford's line speed . With Wigan lying up so flat Salford were in the face of Wigan straight away.

When Salford had the ball they stood off at an angle which meant that they were all running at pace and therefore it was easier to go through (or put someone else through) the Wigan line. On the other hand Wigan are either running the ball in off a couple of strides or trying to move the ball across with defenders in there faces.
In the last season and an half the famous Wigan move seems to be more and more stifled by teams getting in there faces and thereby spoiling the move.

Fans will answer this by saying that the way we play has given us success over the last couple of years by reaching Grand Finals, but my view on that is it is in spite of the way we play.

I agree, I feel we play far too flat.

I think the first quarter of the season we will have to ride the storm a bit missing Sam. But as long as we dig in and pick up the points in any way shape or form it will stand us in good stead. I really hope Williams injury yesterday was just a knock we don't need any more disruption to the team. As long as the correct players are being picked for the good of the team this year rather than because they are an experienced player and still get the shirt the following week even when they are not performing well then we should be the team to beat. Im interested to see where Bateman will be playing because for me if he's on the bench it will be a travesty. Front rowers have to step up this year they have a point to prove and this is the department we need to be firing on all cylinders to win the titles.

Not too bothered about the defeat yesterday. I thought Salford played well, but as people have said we were missing over half of the first choice selection, and the most important ones at that.

Disagree slightly about Tierney and Powell. Think Tierney has done well in attack and his tackle on Carney was excellent as a try saver. He wasn't exposed under the high balls of Dobson, who is just about the best in the league. Powell is a good player to have in reserve. He isn't a starter, but he is a reliable substitute in case of injuries to Matty or Micky Mac. He has plenty of experience now and IMO never lets us down.

I agree that Mossop looked better yesterday, and Tautai was better than last week also. With Isa it's too early to tell, neither good nor bad so far.

From what I've seen I don't think Fell, Waterworth, Wells, Gregson or Ganson are ready yet. Bretherton and Marshall look the pick of the youngsters. I think Higginson may get a start when he is fit.

Gelling improved yesterday. Manfredi had a bit of a mare defensively as he missed tackles that led to two tries and dropped a nice offload from Gelling that would have put him in the clear, but that is most unlike him. I thought Joel looked good as did Josh.

All in all we may be undercooked but it's a long season and I expect us to win things after our customary poor start. We may well lose against Cats especially if their pack perform and Carney is up for it. Pat will kick everything and it is written that he will win the game by a 50 yard drop goal!!! - So let's not stress about it.

The real thing is that with Under 19s we've slowly gone backwards from 20 year olds looking to make first team in Pre Season to 18/19 year olds. It's not right.

Completely agree. And it has showed the last two weeks where it has been literally men against boys in both games. Hope fully the new reserve team games will help us, but it may take a few years to get off the ground with only Saints, Wire and Hull participating. Anyone know why Leeds aren't involved?

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