Exiled Wiganer
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Posts posted by Exiled Wiganer
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My thoughts on the game:
- one of the good things about Wigan’s win is that we have done nothing that any of the top 9 teams can’t do (those teams being Wigan, Cats, Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Hull KR, Leigh, Hull FC and Huddersfield, purely on the basis of their ability to invest in their teams, with apologies to other clubs who may have too many constraints to do so). We have developed our own players, and Peet has improved them and all of the overseas contingent (none of whom was a top class NRL player before joining us). This success was earned not bought, but there is no reason to think Wigan will be dominant in the years to come;
- linked to the previous point, Wiganers have embraced the team and the club in a way that I cannot recall since MaGuire’s days, or arguably even further back in the mid 80s when we were improving year by year. Much of this feel good factor comes from Peet, but there is also a much more professional (and ambitious) regime in place. Now we own the ground, and control what the footballers do, and have vast resources, we are able to market better, communicate better, attract better sponsors, make match day experiences better. There must have been 40,000 Wigan fans there last night, which is great for us and very good for the game. Nearly 60k against the Cats was a triumph that I am guessing saved the RFL’s bacon and will delight many club treasurers;
- our lot were heavily invested in the outcome, of course, and the outcome was good, but I thought it felt like an epic game from inside the stadium. These were clearly 2 very evenly matched teams, with potential for danger at all times. Nothing between them, until the dam broke, through the clinical reading of a potential weak point and going through it over and over again. Particular credit to Peet. Going into half time, we were all saying that this was when he would have to show what he was made of. Whatever he said, worked perfectly; and
- going into this year, for various personal reasons, I was very gloomy about the prospects for the game and Wigan, as there was pretty much universal consensus that Saints would win their 5th in a row. Through a combination of Wigan and Cats lifting their game, and Saints seeming to dip, that hasn’t happened. Though of course they did bring glory to NH rugby by winning away in Penrith, which is an achievement for the ages. Post-Roby, for the first time since KC laced up his boots, I wonder who the iconic player there will be, and whether they will become one of a very strong pack of clubs. Which would be good for the game.
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6 hours ago, Old Frightful said:
He only heard of them when they sang "Spirit of Radio"....
(Wanders off whistling innocently...)
I am sorry I can only give that one “like”.
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13 hours ago, Ullman said:
Theatre of Dreams or Temples of Syrinx?
You are clearly a man of discernment.
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23 hours ago, DavidM said:
Wigan 22-12
I think it will be 21 12 with moving pictures afterwards of Wigan’s farewell to King.
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10 hours ago, Leonard said:
There's a Leigh in Sussex and Kent near me.
Del should take them on the road to all the places in the UK called Leigh - like the Harlem Globbetrotters and use his private jet.
We must be neighbours then. We are between a couple of them, and I often pass through Kent’s version on the way to Tonbridge… I can’t get used to the way they mispronounce it. They do have a train station, though.
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4 minutes ago, Bamboozle said:
In the way of taking French youngsters on trial in their academy teams?
Have you been a poster on here before with a different name?
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I think that the game missed a trick and continues to miss a trick in not involving themselves more in the development of the game in France.
As to how many overseas players they should be allowed it should be the GREATER of:
- few enough as to encourage the broader development of the game in France, following a game wide strategy; and
- enough to beat Saints.
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8 minutes ago, Jinking Jimmy said:
I have to disagree. The fact that he got it wrong surely suggests that he should have referred it to the video ref straightaway to check it. Had he not done (after protest) then the wrong decision would have been made and a fair try would have been disallowed.
Looking again at HKR’s try, the HKR players must surely have been offside. The kicker did not play them on and all that happened was the ball bounced. Not that it mattered, but it seems curious to me that attention is paid to a demonstrably correct decision, as opposed to one which - to these often bewildered eyes - more clearly followed a mistake.
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Coming into this year, with a large cloud hanging over my heart condition, I could not see beyond another Saints procession, and more years (which I might not have had) before we caught up. How wrong I was, happily, on every front. Since the start of the year:
- we have been bought by a billionaire;
- we have regained full control of our ground again, as our owner owns the lot;
- on the pitch, we have integrated French as an excellent 6, thus giving us a wonderfully balanced spine of Field, French, Smithies, O’Neill and Smith (the last 3 home grown talents coming on a treat);
- we have got the best out of Mago and replaced Singleton with Dupree, with the effect that we now have size and the ability to do real damage up front, freeing up time and space for that spine to strut its stuff; and
- we have recruited brilliantly, with Thompson, Walters, Dupree, Leeming, Kheighran and Chan in for Singleton, KKP (sad to see him go), Powell, King (good luck to him) and the forgotten man Cust. That is trading up everywhere.
I know Wigan’s success is not generally welcomed, and can understand that, after our unprecedented period of dominance in the 90s (a long time ago). But we haven’t won that much yet, and are far from certain to win next week, or anything next year. I do think that we have done what I have been frustrated about for years - work towards Saints level standards across the club. We have invested in quality, and retained most of our own best talent, and have sorted out our back office. And we have improved massively under a young British coach, playing attacking rugby.
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1 hour ago, Gomersall said:
How many from east Hull?
20,000, all of whom were better in every respect than any stray Wiganers.
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I might have misheard, but I think they announced the crowd as 15k. That’ll do nicely.
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Wigan are on it today. Smith particularly has steered us round, kicked brilliantly and made his tackles. I haven’t seen anything to suggest we will have any bans (famous last words), and I suspect the only selection head ache will be whether Havard is fit to play. I do think we lack a Tomkins, been there, seen that player, but we had enough for the CC FInal, so maybe the collective will be enough.
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13 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:
That was a knock on from the first kick, clear as day here on my phone. There’s no excuse for that sort of error
He fumbled the ball, and regathered. It never hit the ground.
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I have a genuine question. After a kick if the ball bounces, does that play people onside? It’s just that before HKR’s try, it looked to me that the chasers after the kick Field misjudged were offside, unless a bounce ball makes everyone onside.
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Unbelievably it looks as if there are some Wigan fans, and some of them seem to be singing and cheering. How can that be?
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Have decided to go with Channel 4. They are a breath of fresh air. Looking at that Tomkins try, it was an absolutely fabulous run: there were 7 Saints players in close proximity at some point.
Thinking back to the semi, we absolutely need to keep 13 players on the pitch. We have lost the last 2 semis and didn’t turn up for last year’s. I think the warm and dry weather gives us a chance. In Peet we trust.
V nervous.
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1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:
That was some moment for him and a reminder of why he's a modern British great
It's the decision making under pressure as much as the physical / stepping bit....deceptively strong too against 3 defenders
We'll miss him as a player but hope he stays as a pundit.....I know he's been a t*rd in his younger days but I also like him on Sky now too
I didn’t think he had the zip to do what he did. I do object to the suggestion that he was horrible when he was younger. He was competitive and feisty, but he wasn’t a cheat, or a danger to other players. His flaws were exaggerated, in my humble opinion, because he played for us.
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Sam rolling back the years. The beauty of a semi final is that, however it pans out, if it’s close the tension ratchets up and up. A moment of genius and the south of France is in raptures.
I was reading the Guardian report, and they stated that Roby was Saints’ best ever player. He’s no Joe Egan, but each club has its own standards I suppose
Roby has been a fabulous player, over a long period of time, but I think Cunningham was better. He was a one man pack. There was nothing he couldn’t do and no game was truly lost while he was playing.
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Our group will be there regardless.
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I think the better rested home teams will win these, simply for those reasons, in 2 very evenly matched games. Oh, and the likely good weather will work in favour of those sides.
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30 minutes ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:
I going with KR on this, they are a team in form but more importantly their fans act as the 14th man. Wigan fans by contrast are more somnolent. This game could end up being about Wigan's need to quieten the away fans for the longer this game remains close, the more the noise from the oppossition fans will increase.
Just to be clear you think Wigan’s fans are rubbish? Hard to know where to start with a response to that.
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12 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:
Aye you’re right I can see the meaning now, sorry fella, my bad read
Looking forward to Saturday, will be a great game.
It’s set up like the Panthers v Broncos, with you as the throw it anywhere Broncos. If it’s half as good, it will be a treat.
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5 hours ago, GUBRATS said:
You do realise last time they had 16 players rested ? , the lowest numbered shirt was 17
I was referring to the semi final. “That one” referred to the last game referred to at the end of the previous sentence “the semi”.
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3 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:
I'm desperately hoping the Wigan coaching team have as much hubris as many of their fans. Unfortunately though Peet is a good coach, and respects his opponents.
We're peaking now, as are they to be fair. Hull KR are now back to full strength, barring Coote (but Walker's been immense) and perhaps Abdul not being fully fit (but "Schneider and Lewis" seem a better balanced pairing than our early season "Abdul running 90% plus Lewis as occasionally- contributing sidekick" combination). We've won 6 on the trot, and we're 2nd in the form table to Wigan and only on points difference. Home advantage makes Wigan small favourites, but this game should be a cracker. We've beaten them twice this season, it's very possible.
I am happy to clarify what I thought was conveyed by my original post: the last one I was referring to was the last semi final - and we know how that one went.
Sat 14th Oct: Super League Grand Final: Wigan Warriors v Catalans Dragons KO 18:00 (Sky)
in The General Rugby League Forum
Posted
For Penrith, we are likely to be able to field a fit and firing Thompson and Havard, plus our motivation is likely to be higher than theirs. I would not under estimate our chances. That said, back in the real world, I can only see it in the range of a very narrow backs to the wall wigan win to a 40 point Penrith one. Saints’ win was definitely in my highlights of the year, as it mean the NRL = GODS crowd had to give their heads a wobble for a while.