Sat 9th Jul: SL-MW: St Helens v Wigan Warriors KO 16:45 (Sky)

[John Drake]

Discuss St Helens v Wigan Warriors here.

[Cw25]

St Helens 28-18 Wigan

[StandOffHalf]

Wigan 29-12

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

I'll say Saints by 4, but haven't a clue really.

[FearTheVee]

Saints by 8

[Chris22]

I'd expect a Wigan win. Reason being the game will be close and we will be going up by 4 points and Wigan by 6 points at a time.

I'm not sure we can overcome the absence of any recognised goalkicker.

[Fevrover]

Wigan by 12

[DavidM]

Champs by 6

[Josef K]

Wigan by 10. I haven’t a clue who is taking over the goal kicking at Saints but that could be a problem. Hopoate wont be match fit, and i think Wigan will put pressure on Davies(if he plays) & Hurrell. Neither are the fastest at turning around when defending. 
I hope saying this will see Lussick have a stormer and score a hat trick, because so far he’s been invisible in a saints shirt. 

[StandOffHalf]

16 hours ago, Chris22 said:

I'd expect a Wigan win. Reason being the game will be close and we will be going up by 4 points and Wigan by 6 points at a time.

I'm not sure we can overcome the absence of any recognised goalkicker.

Give 'em to Welsby?

Everything the kid touches turns to gold, hehe!

[Davo5]

Haven’t a clue on who will win this,just hope it’s as good a game as the CC semifinal (And the same result)

[Jughead]

Wigan, favourites for me. They’re in great form and injuries have bit at Saints, though they’re still winning most games. 

Tommy Makinson will be a massive loss for Saints. His game is a lot more than finishing tries and his carries in the early parts of attacking sets as well as returning the ball from opposition kicks. We saw it in the Wigan Challenge Cup semi-final, as he was playing with an impairment that day. Saints’ backline of Hopoate, Bennison, Hurrell, Davies/Matautia and Grace doesn’t look the strongest and they’ll need to have good performances to compete with Wigan’s current momentum. Goal kicking is also affected for Saints, so a close game could be decided by that. 

[Saint Toppy]

48 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Wigan, favourites for me. They’re in great form and injuries have bit at Saints, though they’re still winning most games. 

Tommy Makinson will be a massive loss for Saints. His game is a lot more than finishing tries and his carries in the early parts of attacking sets as well as returning the ball from opposition kicks. We saw it in the Wigan Challenge Cup semi-final, as he was playing with an impairment that day. Saints’ backline of Hopoate, Bennison, Hurrell, Davies/Matautia and Grace doesn’t look the strongest and they’ll need to have good performances to compete with Wigan’s current momentum. Goal kicking is also affected for Saints, so a close game could be decided by that. 

I agree I think the Pies must start this game as favourites. Saints have been struggling recently to get their combinations working, particularly across the backs and this week looks to be yet another changed line-up. Goal kicking is also a major problem with all the recognised kickers out injured in Makinson, Percival & Dodd. Absolutely no idea who's going to be having a go at it this weekend.

[FearTheVee]

14 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

I agree I think the Pies must start this game as favourites. Saints have been struggling recently to get their combinations working, particularly across the backs and this week looks to be yet another changed line-up. Goal kicking is also a major problem with all the recognised kickers out injured in Makinson, Percival & Dodd. Absolutely no idea who's going to be having a go at it this weekend.

We'll have our first choice (now Dodd out for the season) 1/6/7/9/13 out there.  No excuses re: combinations (other than Hopoate hasn't strung games together).

We'll also have a first choice pack (other than Sione moving to the centres).

That's not an insurmountable level of disruption - it's annoying the injuries are all in the backs (and particularly annoying it's all our goal kickers and our best kick returners in Tommy/Percy) but we've got enough and I'm confident we'll turn them over.

Edited July 8, 2022 by FearTheVee

[Saint Toppy]

3 hours ago, FearTheVee said:

We'll have our first choice (now Dodd out for the season) 1/6/7/9/13 out there.  No excuses re: combinations (other than Hopoate hasn't strung games together).

 

They're out there but necessarily playing in their best positions. We'll likely see 3 playing at FB, 1 playing at SO and 6 playing at SH. This wouldn't be a major issue except the whole backline changes week to week. I can't remember the last time the back's managed to put the exact same team out positionally for consecutive weeks ?

[WN83]

I expect Saints to fly out of the blocks after the slow start in the cup semi final. There's no doubt they have the edge in the middle of the field but if we can get as close to matching it with them in that area, I'm hoping we'll have too much on the edges via the second rowers and the backline. I expect Field will start at 6, so it's a bit of a different dynamic from the last two games, with the double threat of him and French being able to attack guys like Hurrell and Davies, as well as the second rowers. One major difference for us from the semi is just how much sharper Bevan French is now that he's match fit. He should have a much bigger say then he was doing at that point. 

I'll go Wigan by 2 points in a classic. 

[FearTheVee]

2 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

They're out there but necessarily playing in their best positions. We'll likely see 3 playing at FB, 1 playing at SO and 6 playing at SH. This wouldn't be a major issue except the whole backline changes week to week. I can't remember the last time the back's managed to put the exact same team out positionally for consecutive weeks ?

We’ve lost one spine player - Welsby is a half for this season, Hoppa a FB.

Hopoate, Loax. welsby, Roby and Knowles is our first choice spine for the rest of the year and it’s playing Saturday. And it’s a very good spine.  With a first choice pack.

saints by 8

[Loiner]

Looking forward to this game I just hope it's not ruined by the ramblings of Jon Wilkin. Every time Welsby touches the ball he will have to go change his underpants.

[Davo5]

Isa picked in the centre’s is a worry.

[EagleEyePie]

For all the talk of Saints missing players that's still a very strong team they've named. The outside backs are strong with Bennison the only youngster and to be honest he looks like a very handy player already. Welsby and Lomax as good as any halfback combination and even with Walmsley missing out a front row of Paasi, Roby and Lees is one of the strongest in the competition and stronger than Wigan's front row. Sironen, Batchelor and Knowles is a pretty good back row too. Wigan probably have the edge on the bench and hopefully if it's a tight game that's what could edge it for us.

Wigan have had a very good run since the cup final but we've played beatable teams so I'm not sure you can read too much into it. The key will probably be whether Saints can dominate in the forwards (which they are more than capable of) and whether they can defend at their best and limit our scoring chances. Do that and our defence will probably leak enough points for Saints to get a win. The tide hasn't turned just yet. Saints will probably win if they are at their best but I think Wigan have done well this year to close the gap and I expect another close game.

[Fevrover]

7 hours ago, Loiner said:

Looking forward to this game I just hope it's not ruined by the ramblings of Jon Wilkin. Every time Welsby touches the ball he will have to go change his underpants.

Yer not wrong lol.

[Scubby]

Bill Arthur "Here is Alex Walmsley in the halves" WTF  

[andyscoot]

Not the best start for Wigan. 5 minutes in and a handling error with 2 penalties.

[Davo5]

Sad to see both famous clubs playing in colours/kits that have no bearing to their rich history.

[johnh1]

4 minutes ago, Scubby said:

Bill Arthur "Here is Alex Walmsley in the halves" WTF  

That's what I thought he said, but thought that I must have misheard