WN83

Cust was excellent for Wigan. We’ll score points again but will need to be sharper defensively. Salford bombed a few but I wouldn’t be worried with the scoreline if I were them. I thought they looked a real threat with the ball but they were a bit lose at times and that’s understandable in pre season.

He was a brilliant junior for us, possibly a better prospect than George Williams at one point but for various reasons it just didn’t work out. Him wanting to be an out and out halfback didn’t help and it’s been ironic that he’s been a utility player everywhere since. I do wonder if he’s thought what could’ve been over the years had he stayed and accepted that role. I’m expecting him to be pretty desperate to take this chance and I know from watching him as a young player, that talent isn’t an issue.

A utility back, at a good age, who has a point to prove, on a short deal and will be hungry to earn another and will likely be 2nd or 3rd back up in most backline positions. I’ve read all the weird signing, bargain basement, championship signing comments and just sat there as a Wigan fan thinking the deal makes plenty of sense and is a no lose option for us but there you go. It’s like a football fan getting eat up over signing an experienced, cheap, third choice keeper. I doubt I’ll lose much sleep tonight.

They’ve a shot. Saints might have a slower start than usual with the WCC trip and Wigan have very little depth. Wire are a bit unknown, Catalans start with some injury problems and I’m not convinced Leeds will have enough to challenge for it. Huddersfield have depth that is almost unheard of in the current salary cap era. I would worry if they quite have the required match winners to turn a potential top spot in to a Grand Final win but they should be really consistent.

Much improved showing from him in comparison to his couple of superleague appearances last year. He was far more composed, kicked well, backed any half break up and managed a couple of fantastic pick ups from those kicks through in the second half. We'll probably shift Field in to the halves should Cust or Smith go down but Astley gave me far more confidence that he is an option in there and I expect he'll see more games this season. As for the others, I thought Harvie Hill and Zak Eckersley looked ready for first team appearances as well. They both look like they could develop in to terrific players in time.

I ordered towards the back end of the World Cup and didn't even get a confirmation email. I emailed them after about 2 weeks and they sent a tracking number straight back, so presumably sent it out upon getting my email and then I got it a few days later. A mate of mine ordered the same day, had to email them 3 times and eventually got it after about 4 or 5 weeks of waiting. All very in keeping with the overall amateurish feel of the World Cup organisation.

I'm pretty much just going with what I expect to see. I like Byrne but I personally would pair him with Cooper as starting props and then you have a good mix of defensive grunt and good go forward. I don't mind Singleton tbh but him and Byrne don't offer enough go forward to pair them up. Havard is a guy I'd also like to see step up as a starter but to do that, he needs to really put a marker down early doors. He's so talented and has some games where you think he should be an international but he does then seem to have a few quiet games. He just needs to push himself a bit harder IMO and he could be anything. Mago is Mago, I don't think we'll ever see anything more than the odd moment unfortunately but he might surprise us. Ellis is another I'd put alongside Havard in that he needs to push himself harder every single week. There is the making of a really good player but he plays within himself for me. I think the two bans he got might have put him in his shell a bit. I really hope we see more of Brad O'Neill this season. If we look at that home game against Saints before the play offs, he was excellent and offers more threat with the ball than Sam Powell but for some reason, he seems to be seen as back up and no more. I'm not a Sam Powell basher by any stretch but I also don't see him as a guy who has to start every week and has to be play long minutes. He should be sharing that role as more of a 50/50 or 60/40 split with Brad O'Neill in 2023 for me (but I'm not at all convinced we'll see it).

It's really difficult to predict our first 17 at the minute with the Bateman situation. Moves clearly were in the pipeline with them saying they won't announce the squad numbers until the squad is 'finalised' but as you say, rumours now seem to be picking up pace that Bateman may be staying. It needs sorting one way or the other asap though. If the squad we have now is what goes in to that first game at HKR, you'd imagine we'd line up something like- Field French King Wardle Marshall Cust Smith Byrne Powell Singleton Bateman Farrell Smithies subs Havard Ellis Cooper Pearce-Paul Having a couple of natural centres should really make a difference for us in 2023. The attack was good in 2022 but it did revolve pretty much solely around 2 players and the lack of ability from guys like Bibby and Isa to hurt the opposition limited us in games where French and Field were shut down.

Impossible to say how he'd go. In terms of publicity it would be great but I'd rather spend big money on current league players. I think the Tomkins comments were from an honest spot but I always look at Owen Farrell and think 'too small for the pack' and 'too slow for the backs' but If he'd played the game over a long period of time, I guess he would have played a role similar to Kevin Sinfield of mixing between loose forward and halfback and controlling his side. I wouldn't be surprised if this happened one day but even though he's 31 now and some would think that's too late, I still think it maybe in another couple of years. Andrew Farrell apparently said at a recent club function that Owen's plan has always been to play out his last few years in league but things change.

The best stand up in the biggest games. He’s been reasonably quiet by his standards throughout the tournament but he was excellent tonight. Surprised how quiet Munster has been throughout the World Cup. Maybe I’ve missed it but every time I’ve seen Australia play, I’ve rarely noticed him.

People talk about teams bottling a situation sometimes and it’s not always the case but I did feel like we bottled that game somewhat. I didn’t see a lack of desire or intensity, I just saw a team go in to panic mode from the moment Samoa scored the first try. We didn’t seem to settle from minute one, right through to the winning drop goal. Whatever it was, it was so disappointing. Ot really hit home for me tonight, sitting in a very good atmosphere, thinking what could’ve been.

It’s something we can be very proud of. England vs Samoa, NZ vs Samoa or similar, in Australia and you’re looking at sub 20-25k.

Absolutely correct. Wanes teams don’t get ahead of themselves and this one simply panicked in a tight game because they weren’t used to that situation.

I’m with you but ultimately they have been made and we can’t change that now. If the next person can’t use our last 2 home world cups and 2017, to formulate a World Cup we’d all class as our best ever, then they’d have to be a total moron. Pulling all the good bits from those 3 comps should be easy work.

I didn’t think it was complacency at all, I felt we were totally switched on for the Semi but we panicked. Not having a test beforehand hurt us but the main disadvantage is our lads not having that week to week, high quality league to play in, where the big games are as tight as a drum. The best NRL lads then get to perfect that in Origin games. In that game last week we dug ourselves out of a hole and got it to 20-20 and simply needed to play basic, error free, rugby league but we couldn’t do it. That was not complacency at all IMO, it was a team not conditioned for those circumstances. We have some lads in the NRL but obviously none in Origin and very very few playing at the best clubs.

High-being at the wheelchair final last night. An honour and a privilege and comfortably the best game I’ve seen across the tournaments. Low-probably sitting at Old Trafford tonight listening to the buzz in the crowd, the excitement when Samoa got near the line, the roars when they scored but all the while thinking ‘this place would’ve been an absolute cauldron had England been here’

A mixture of very good, some bad and some ugly. There are some really big lessons to take from the tournament. The next person in line to plan a World Cup here should be in a privileged position. I think they could pull bits from 2013 and from 2022, find a middle ground, throw in the fabulous new parts, that are the womens and wheelchair comps and come up with an amazing tournament.

Looked and felt great in the ground. Lesson to be learned from the tournament-you can charge a decent premium for big events like an opener, semis and a final but currently, the game is in a position where everything in between needs to be affordable and aimed at getting new eyes in the grounds. Ultimately I think I’d file the whole tournament under a heading of ‘acceptable’, it could’ve been worse but it also could’ve been far better.

I watch many sports and have done for 30+ years and I’ve never seen anything like it. What a disgraceful bloke he was. He shouid not be allowed near the sport again. I thought he was really disrespectful to both sets of players because they don’t deserve antics like that, at a time when they’re finally in the spotlight and their sport is being lauded.

Feel privileged to have been there tonight. The venue, the atmosphere, the game, the French loon and the win. It must’ve been so emotional for the players to see the place packed out and both sides served up an absolute treat. Here’s to the the future of the sport.

Every time I go to London for an international I feel the locals put us to shame tbh. We can split hairs over the actual crowd today all we want but at worst there were 32-35k in there and that’s a big uplift on what we got in the heartlands last week. It felt like 80% of the crowd today were non RL fans and were just there to support their country at a sport. I think they’ll have enjoyed the day and would come back but if there are no games here next year, what are they meant to do? We don’t build any momentum from any game. We get a decent crowd on, the players put on a show and then the administrators pee it down the drain. It’s rinse and repeat!

Best side won today. Who is the better side overall is up for debate I’d say. If it were a boxing match, you want a trilogy and why can’t we have it? If this were a three game series people would be buzzing for a third test. A hiding, followed by a classic and then followed by a decider. International Rugby League needs to become a planned norm.

I’m keeping everything crossed. I was at Warrington last Sunday and in London today and who wouldn’t want more of that? I’m just shy of 40, I’ve watched Wigan win everything a few times over and I’m ready to watch more games like those two and the game last night. It’s just the best IMO.

Sometimes you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I’m gutted, I wanted our big day out next Saturday but I’ve been in Leeds and London in the last 36 hours, I’ve seen two incredible games and I feel privileged to watch the Sport. We need more of this, we deserve more and hopefully we’ll get more.

I think we’d love that but will the NRL allow it? They call the shots and want To’o, Luai, Taumalolo and co well rested.