WN83

We don’t produce many with the natural ability of Will Pryce. The footwork, balance and pace of the lad are a joy to watch. You have to take the opposition in to consideration I suppose but he really does look like he could make a run at a squad place in next years World Cup.

Really looking forward to watching a few of these young lads play together. I've seen all of the Wigan lads games this year and Pearce-Paul could be a very special player in time. We seem to be able to produce good forwards as a country without too much fuss though, so it's Will Pryce, Lewis Dodd and Mikey Lewis I'll be paying particular attention to. It's lads like these we really need to see get better and better.

Something they won’t get enough credit for because it’s Wigan. As for the state of play for us overall, I don’t think we’ll have enough points in us to go too far in the play offs but we’re in a totally different place to where I expected us to be a few weeks back. Teams will have to earn their points against us and will need to be up for a battle.

I’m not sure what Wigan did to Carney or O’Connor at the end of their Wigan careers but it must’ve been terrible going off the huge downer they have on them. I was at the game today and the first twenty mins was pretty dire but I thought it was a good, competitive game after that. We defended extremely well and Hull blinked first. Our attack is pretty shambolic, I cannot deny that but I’m confident we’ll make any game in the play offs extremely difficult for the team we play against. His description of the game was pretty embarrassing overall. Abject would be two teams who didn’t care and both clearly cared a great deal.

They’ve not confirmed Wane and Peet but they have hinted massively at it when you read through the fans forum minutes. Talk of Wane having newly found business skills he didn’t have prior to his exit and how there are other roles he could come back in and a confirmation that Peet has been doing the scouting for signings from the NRL. Add in Lenagan setting the scene of him never having appointed a guy already in a head coaching position and they’ve pretty much confirmed the rumours. It all points to Peet in a role similar to Agar at Leeds, working under a director of rugby, with Wane playing the role of Sinfield. As for the Wire game, I think they have too many attacking weapons for us. I went to Cas and it was better but the attack still looked well off and it’ll be tough to keep Wire to a couple of scores (which is what we’ll probably need to do to win). Wire by 12

Saints have so many qualities to admire but the play acting and wind up tactics from guys like Bentley are typical of modern day rugby league and they’re class leaders. Makinson really embarrassed himself chasing the ref asking for a red card for Lineham, after Coote went down with a style Tom Daley would’ve been proud of.

Harry Smith needs to rid his game of the really basic errors he’s making on a weekly basis. Outside of those, he comes up with some amazing plays but they’re hurting him. He seems to take the ultra attacking option at every point in the game but he needs to learn to manage games and to pick his moments. If he does that he can be whatever he wants to be.

It was a hand written invite for the mild mannered Ollie Partington It was soft from Buttler though and warranted somebody going in on him. It’s been a tough old season for Leigh but with one hand tied behind your back, it was always going to be so. Maybe it’ll be a fair crack of the whip next season going off the rumours flying around. I hope so because in the current climate when we need all the income we can get, games between the two clubs will help each other out.

Decent enough from Wigan given how poor the attack has been and considering we probably had 6 of our first choice backline out (certainly 5 in French, Manfredi, Hardaker, Gildart and Marshall. The 6th between Field who missed the game or Leuluai who lasted 15 minutes). It was great to see Harry Smith play really well and kick really well. Leigh are dreadful mind but you can only beat what’s in front of you. Singleton and Ashworth will both cop a ban. I’d guess Partington as well but Rob Buttler should get the biggest ban for hitting Singleton from behind (with punches my old nan would be ashamed of) 3 times whilst he was being held in the melee. That’s what set Partington off.

We're awful at the minute, we're so short in the front row it's not funny and we're even worse off in the coaching position but I still wouldn't rule us out completely. If we get all our players back as expected pretty soon and then have a decent trot with injuries you never know. Making ground has been an issue, as has soring points but Hardaker at full back and Field and Hastings in the halves should go a way to solving that (although it's a big 'if' when it comes to Lam picking that trio). The props haven't been brilliant recently but there's been an upturn in performance from guys like Singleton, Havard and Clark and if we can get that first choice backline out for the first time this season (well minus French), we'll have a full back 5 capable of making good ground from our end (Hardaker, Manfredi, Bibby, Gildart and Marshall) and two halfbacks capable of cutting teams up. We've also seen Pearce-Paul come in and eat up the ground and Bateman could now come in at loose forward and add to that. In short the issues with making ground and scoring points could be solved but we'll be stuck with this coach until the end of the season. The players will need to get over that as well as some decent sides to stand a chance but stranger things have happened.

They’re giving tickets away for the hundred. I’ve got 6 free tickets for Manchester Originals vs Southern Brave on the 5th August. I don’t think the sales have been anything like they hoped and it will probably be running at a loss this year. It’s giving off a hugely positive vibe though and I think they’re speculating to accumulate in the years to come. Another freebie in our local area was to get a free hundred branded cricket bat and ball for the kids. It must be costing a fortune but they’re pushing the marketing hard.

Covid has been a brilliant excuse for the NRL clubs to hide behind for two years now. They will continue to ride it for as long as possible. What a depressing time for rugby league.

Let’s hope this is the night our attack finally clicks. We’ve been waiting all season (well in truth, we’ve been waiting since Lam came). We should have our strongest side out for a few weeks anyway, with Hastings, Powell, Isa, Bullock and Byrne all potentially up for selection. The emergence of a couple of cracking juniors in Pearce-Paul and Brad O’Neil gives Lam an opportunity to drive competition by being ruthless but I’m not holding my breath. Looking forward to it anyway. I’ve been to a couple of games since we’ve been allowed but this will be the first where you can sit freely with your mates and have a beer together.

Bevan French was playing NSW cup when he signed and he’s gone pretty well. The three of them have been or still are fringe players in the NRL but that doesn’t mean they’re poor players. Wigan seem to be going down the route of signings younger overseas players, who are looking to rebuild a career or kickstart a career before potentially heading back down under with an improved reputation. I would rather we did that than go head first in to signing 34/35 year old big names, who are coming over for a pension top up. I hear positive things about Mago and Miski looks dangerous, although he may not be first choice. I don’t know a great deal about Ellis but plenty of unknowns have done very well here. The beauty of what we have at Wigan is that we won’t be solely relying on signings. Kids like KPP and Brad O’Neill highlight exactly where our strength lies. We’re in a sticky patch at the minute but all the times the youngsters are getting more experience and will continue to improve. Our biggest signing for next season won’t be made on the field.

My favourite part was them saying Williams didn’t look homesick on a photo at a team function. how do you look homesick?