I may be wrong but AFAIK he's a Cas fan so yes it is a stitch up.

All the times we have had thaler there has been no favouritism shown to wakey that's for sure.

The referee won't be a factor in any team taking the points and shouldn't be. Looking forward to the game.

That was a fine display by Wakefield, the coped with the pitch, some dubious refereeing, some dubious tactics and a big widnes pack.
Thankfully all the pre match omens, came to nothing, and Widnes will have to look elsewhere for their first points.
For Wakefield all our key players showed up very well, and they also roughed it out as a team when they had to, a real team performance!!
Widnes tried to and were allowed to rough it up far too much throughout and benefited from some terrible refereeing in the first half in particular. They looked shot in the second half, but that will improve as the season progresses I'm sure.
The dream has ended and now it's the reality check of life in the fast lane, and I wish you all well.

What a wonderfully typical one sided view of the game.
I think if Widnes had shared the same luxury as Wakefield in having both of our first choice halves in the game then the scoreline could have been strongly in our favour by HT. From what's been seen of Watts he adds a bit of guile into the attacking line and I think we would have converted a bit more of the pressure.

I also think one of the refereeing decisions went your way when it so easily could have come down in our favour and there were two clear opportunities for us to score were we simply over-ran the ball. Whilst the scoreline looks impressive in the end, lets remember that at least two scores came whilst we were down to 12 men also.
So as for wishing us well. I will do the same to you. You may well need it yet.


It was a bit of a make-do side really with Clarke coming in at SH and then White moving to this position removing our ability to interchange the hooker.

As for the ref... if your side keep up the gesturing to try and get opposition players sent off you may well become one of the least liked sides in the league.

What I will add is this... at times some of the rugby that Wakefield played was very good to watch indeed. The fans turned up in fantastic numbers all things being considered. We were at the western end of the North Stand so couldn't really hear them but undoubtedly they were making a lot of noise and supported their team fantastically well.

Considering how many newcomers you have in the squad, the team looked well blended together already and the players have a good understanding which will improve yet again as the season progresses. No small amount of praise should be given to Agar for doing this already.

I'm genuinely looking forward to the return match at Belle Vue.

its a shame the rfl could not appoint a ref that was not from the wakefield district and a well noted wakefield fan . I fined this very strange by the rfl the second half wakefield got nine penalty s on the bounce which change the game .

The ref doesnt just award penalties for fun. Wakefields discipline was very good thats why we got no penalties, on the other hand ours was not so good. Mr Cross should also know better than to argue with the ref.

I thought the TV ref was more of a wakefield fan than the one on the pitch

It's funny isn't it... there were also plenty of times when a Wakefield player should have got a talking to, but didn't.

I mean, it's fine.. you've just got to accept that a referee from Wakefield, who listens to Wakefield players for decisions is not going to be too pro the opposition. I thought Lauititi's pat on the referee's back was cute too. Nice to say thanks and good manners to.

thought Thaler did well to ignore the countless obstruction from Widnes in the first half. Not that it made a difference like

I enjoyed the game. It's a good ground and Widnes did well to get all the support back after a few years in the doldrums. Certainly a better start than I bet Salford get in there rebirth tonight.

It's just a shame about the pitch, because it made for a cracking game but the grazes and cuts may cause you problems as you go through the season.

Thought we were the better side overall but it was still anyone's game with ten minutes or so to go, so the score doesn't reflect the tension.

And I went to Paul's Widnes Fish Bar on the way back to the car. Very nice.

By the way, on the subject of the fish bar, what on earth is a "wet" and what the heck is a "mixture"?

Great game great atmosphrere, worth the 140 mile round trip, went in the car and got home for 11.00. Both teams supported well and good noise came from both sets of fans, nisce stadium but I stood for the length of the game, can't see the point of seats in the end stands

Really enjoyed the game yesterday (obviously)

However, I personally think Widnes will improve as the season goes on, getting the likes of Watts, Phelps, Kite and Briscoe back in the frame will lift you.
Danny Craven should keep his spot next week, played outstanding for you guys last night and definitely one to watch.

Good Luck for rest of season (except from when you visit Belle Vue )

Lets also remember 2 of your 3 try's came from mistakes / luck in mathers not booting ball out and the charge down other than that, there wasn't much created.
I thought Widnes had a tall imposing pack but their tactics were a bit old school.. leading with elbows, head high tackles. I think Widnes like ourselves will be much better later in the season when they have gelled and have their better players in.

Good Luck for rest of the season..