WN83

Fair play to Huddersfield, they may have had a tough season but they've given us two great games. Their effort and energy were improved ten fold on their last couple of displays. I always thought we'd be scrappy. Plenty of kids out there, which is easy to forget and I think the main area I always felt would leave us vulnerable is having a full forward pack of middle forwards. There's no fluidity when we move the ball through that second row area, although Partington and McDermott gave it a real crack. Positives to take from it for both sides.

I'm still unable to sleep properly from the last game, so you'll have to forgive me for thinking we might not win by 50+. I think I've got some form of Rugby League PTSD.

Correct. There are too many kids and lads out of position for it to be some sort of 50/60/70 point runaway win. Looking forward to seeing Marsden again but having a pack full of props/loose forwards (plus O'Neill) makes it difficult to see any sort of fluidity with the ball. Wigan by 16

I'd love to know if Wire in particular but also Wigan knew that Magic would be moved when they were planning this and put in this date of 24th April. That date would've worked nicely in this season but not as well now in 2027, due to Magic being brought forward. I also wonder if that date is pretty much set in stone or will they consider moving it forward/back a few weeks. I think that would be a wise move.

Tell me your criteria and I'll let you know. The term 'World Class' is thrown around but without any criteria or context as to what you're looking for, it's impossible to say. Are we looking for the best player in their position in the World? one of the best five? best ten? If the rules are that nobody can be World Class if they don't play in the NRL, then we'll go back to 'why bother asking the question'.

What's the point in the question because you have already set your stall out that anybody who didn't or doesn't play in the NRL can't be judged as top Rugby League players anyway. If James Roby, Paul Sculthorpe and Andy Farrell weren't, what hope does anybody in the comp have.

A move is something I think he absolutely needs. We're seeing again that Sailor is a fullback, not a halfback and the same goes for Welsby, so Saints carrying both looks lunacy really, especially when you factor in that I think Robertson is also a fullback. A major rebuild is needed at Saints, at a time where it's near impossible to pull off multiple high level signings. They have great kids but I've seen it in the past at Wigan, that they can fall away if they're in a struggling team and not fulfill their potential.

I had Welsby in my squad but more in hope than expectation and because we're really short in that position but he can't be on his current form. I'm not sure I can think of a bigger drop off in performance levels since Stuart Fielden.

Wakefield excellent and HKR looking a shadow of last years team. There's time in the season for that to change but they look short of confidence.

Kendall looks in a bad mood today.

Great to see him getting collared. A Wigan fan on another forum said he worked with the guy previously and he has history for it, so whilst I'm sure the bloke will always be a moron, he's hopefully at least had a shock to the system. On a side note, I'd have liked to see Saints come out and condemn it as well and put on a united front with Wigan. Club rivalries shouldn't matter but they've been completely silent on it, which I find disappointing.

The depth at Wigan was a big worry going in to the season and earlier in the year, a lack of trust in the youngsters from Peet made things more difficult than they needed to be but it's turned in to a fantastic season in terms of setting the club up for the long term. The kids look a mixture of potentially good superleague starters and squad players, with a couple of them looking like they could go to the very top in a few years (O'Connor and Kerr).

Saints bench looks like it'll be full of kids, so Toulouse need to make sure they don't go 20-30 points down in that first half and try to take it deep. If they manage that, I think they have a shot of pulling off a shock win but Saints still likely to have too much. Saints by 8

Close close game. Wire haven't been great recently but Wigan have lost 7 players in 2 games and it's started to look a bit disjointed in attack. Much will rest on Harry Smiths shoulders and if he can help open up the Wire defence but I don't see there being loads of points. I'll go Wire by 2.

The whole talk from Harry that Superleague is so far below the NRL it's not worth bothering comparing or taking in to account Superleague performances is a nonsense in itself. Yes, it's inferior, no doubt about it but this isn't the Premier League verses the Conference League and the top players here can go and play in the NRL and manage it comfortably and we don't need to see them in that comp to know they'd be fine. Like players going both ways, there can be mitigating factors that mean players don't settle and they can struggle on the back of it but if they do, there are few issues for the better players that go over to the NRL. There are players far below the level of quality of guys like Roby, Sculthorpe, Farrell, Cunningham, Peacock etc who've gone over and done really well. It isn't a league where every side has 17 Superhumans in it, however much some people want you to believe it is. If it were, we wouldn't have won the last three WCC matches (and yes, I know we have plenty of advantages in those games but these freakish NRL teams surely can overcome those?).