I also think the close relationship that the clubs owners have is mirrored by Radford and Wane. The relationship between the clubs probably made this whole venture run a lot smoother!

Spot on. Going to be a pivotal couple of years in front of rugby league I reckon. Just glad that AP seems to have embraced the mantle of being a rugby league club owner, and seems keen in driving things forward. The two Challenge Cup wins won't have harmed his standing in the game.

Year after year, yeah 2 trips to Wembley back to back winners is getting a bit boring.

I Hear you
My thoughts are for those many fans who didn’t have too much to cheer particularly in the 2nd half
We were gagging for a fight back so we could roar the team on to victory
Errors really didn’t help and injuries cost us

Imo wigan looked lke a team who had played 6/7 games where as we looked like it was our 2.clearly the better team, but we tackled our hearts out and injuries didnt help. Though GRiffin was our best back and manu best forward, shaul gotta learn from that game to that you cant give a speedy winger that much room, Its only the second game and we will get better, What a turn out from the fc supporters well done,

Injuries i can take and it meant we didnt stand much of a chance

What i cant take though is the amount of dropped ball - we was worse than amateur in that department and made things 10x worse than it already was

The happy clappers on here can pat each other on the back saying valiant effort, great defense etc (whilst mocking Tim Sheens for doing the same) but almost everyone ive spoke to about our performance has described it as terrible. The fact that most can only single out Manu and Griffin as having good games says it all

Only the second game we have played so not gonna get to down. Doom and gloom club are the same as the happy clappers depends which wy you look at things, radders had it right when he said you win 2 matches your world beaters lose 2 and its a crisis,

I agree we were rubbish. But the comment from your mate was just wrong. The players tried very hard. Some of it was the disruption and tiredness caused by the injuries. Some of it may have been Wigan dealing with the distractions of the trip a bit better than us. Some of it was just straight up poor play. But the effort wasn't in doubt. If we couldn't be d it would have been 50.

We fought hard, we did some good things, we did some bad things. Wigan were better than us on the day. I cant get too worked up about it.

I think having perspective on a loss against a major rival doesn't make you a happy clapper. Just realism.
I wish I could have gone. Those that have gone would have had an amazing time I'm sure, regardless of the results of the two games.

Strange game. It felt almost like a friendly match at the beginning.

The Faraimo injury was critical, not because he got injured (injuries happen, and we've coped with Talanoa leaving the field before), but the time it took us to adapt. Connor to wing and Washy to Centre got ripped to shreds, even when Hadley went to Centre it didn't quite fix it. 2nd half Radders must have sorted it out, but a lot of the damage was done with Marshall's tries.

The injuries were a factor in the game of course, it was a strong Wigan side we were up against, and to play with reduced interchanges messes everything up and saps the energy of the forwards playing big minutes, particularly in that heat. However, the amount of errors in the tackle and penalties were unacceptable, plus I don't think we were creative enough, or took enough chances.

That said, the effort was huge. If being fair & acknowledging a huge effort from the players makes me a "happy clapper", then great.


Decent attendance, 8,000 locals attended according to reports, and a massive contingency from Hull. My Whatsapp suggests they're all having an amazing holiday, with the added bonus of seeing two RL matches. On to Sydney.

You did see Wigan dropping the ball on a regular basis, didn't you?

You did hear the commentry team mention how humid it was and there fore the ball will have been a bit like a bar of soap?

You do at least recognise that with a player off after 2 mins, another goes mid way into the first half, that rotation plans go out of the window and error rates are bound to increase do to fatigue?

It was a poor performance, but there were mitigating factors. Granted I'd be livid if that showing was with out the factors mentioned. But given the circumstances, its not something to get your knickers in a twist over.

.... you can probably add Scott Taylor to the list of mitigating factors, as he was feeling unwell before the game, apparently.