thought it would've been a thread regarding refs bottles red card for a top 5 team!

How does the ref not show a card !!! It's ridiculous tbh

Mcillorum is a dirty 2@ free facials with every tackle! How they get away with little niggles in front of the cameras.

Both teams rubbish. Our brutal, super organised defence allied to our slick, free flowing attack will make it look like we're light years ahead of them. radford to be "top of the props" when it comes to coaches

Is wigans departures over the last 3 seasons finally catching up with them......ok,only 1st match but they didn't look good and the pack was distinctly avrage

Not the same team without Sean o loughlin . I still think they will be at the business end when the end of the season comes

Good old jake you can rely on him!.

The funny thing regarding the red card call was that he said he never saw if it connected. Judging by the "Ref Cam" it clearly did.

Also what's with the video ref calling out there decision?

If it had been Grix or any other full back in the competition they'd have walked. Everybody knows it and everybody saw what happened, Silverwood included.

That would mean giving out an automatic ban for the World Club Challenge, putting it on report means they can let him off with a warning.

If he gets a ban, I guess he can use his 'get out of the charge plea' I won't do it again honest

Well, Stevo never saw anything dirty about it.

Mind, he's set his stall out once again with his fave teams sparkling at the front and the ones he's not interested in in a dusty box kicked underneath the wallpaper table. Classic Stevo when he proudly announced Thursday Rugby League on Sky when we'll be watching Warrington take on St Helens, then on Friday we'll be seeing, er, erm silence whilst false teeth rattle... oh yes it's Catalans! We're seeing Catalans on Friday!

The thing is, from Wigan's point of view, last night's result is fairly unimportant in the grand scheme of things. It's what they do in Sept/Oct that counts, not February.

The Champions ultimately come from a mini tournament played at the end of the season. The only criteria for the major clubs (Wigan, Wire, Leeds specifically) is to make sure they are in that mini tournament somewhere (which they will be, barring a catastrophic implosion). As Leeds and Wigan have both shown in recent years, the regular season finishing position is almost irrelevant for the top stream of clubs. They will back themselves to come out on top when it really matters.

Ultimately, last night's result didn't make the slightest difference to Wigan's chances of retaining their crown in October. That's the drawback of the current play-off system, although the situation may alter next year with the introduction of a top 4 play-off. The matches between the elite may take on a slightly greater significance with the reduced number of play-off spots available.

I agree , a dismissal then would have ensured a loss for Wigan at that point, the ref bottled it.

As regards the result , you don't lose the league in game 1.

2 video referees has been brought in to stop mistakes like the Ganson Magic Weekend one. (I can't remember fully)

Odd how he was one of the video refs last night.

So, one ref on the field, a fourth official in the stand, 2 video refs with SIX camera angles and 2 linesmen and the best decision was to put Fatty Bowen on report?

If you try and tell me there is NO top 5 bias, I think that proves you wrong.

Why cant they make decisions based on evidence before them? A try can change the outcome of a game in the same way as a dismissal. So why not adjudicate in the same way as a try?