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

[Waynebennettswinger]

16 hours ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

And I think he did it in the Cup Final too. He certainly did it after the Saints “man” had succeeded in getting Singleton sent off. It’s a blight on the game. 

Putting to one side the game defining incident, though, I was very happy with what we tried to do. Our handling was well off what it should be, which meant we couldn’t cut them up as often as we would like, but we are years ahead of where I expected us to be.

We just need to keep doing what we know works, and have already had a successful season. The game at our place is a great chance to show what we can do. In Peet we can trust. 

Second time you have made this sort of comment about a “man.” Perhaps you need to address your own insecurities? 

[Exiled Wiganer]

5 minutes ago, Waynebennettswinger said:

Second time you have made this sort of comment about a “man.” Perhaps you need to address your own insecurities? 

Err, maybe. Please do send your bill for psychiatric services to the usual address…

I am not sure if you remember Paul Sironen, and I am not sure if they are related, but the contrast between the behaviour of the 2 of them could not be starker. 

As it happens, I was watching the game with a friend over from Sydney, who mentioned (once I had picked up my toys and put them back in the pram) that if that was the NRL some teams coach their players to take a dive till the Bunker takes a look and others don’t. But that if that had been reviewed it would have been a definite yellow because of the point of contact but not a red as he couldn’t do much/anything about it (reckless/careless rather than deliberate). Interestingly, with a yellow we would have been back up to 13 at a time when we were in the lead. 
 

As EEP says, it may well become the norm for players to lie down. I know that Farrell takes a dive, and think it’s rubbish that he does so, but with a combination of a draconian crackdown on all contact and having seen Saints win the game off the back of it makes it inevitable that this will be a staple unless clubs and players choose to play the game. 

[FearTheVee]

18 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

having seen Saints win the game off the back of it makes it inevitable that this will be a staple unless clubs and players choose to play the game. 

It’s charming that you actually think you lost the game because Sironen didn’t bounce to his feet after a direct shoulder to the head (the first “man” in RL history to look like he’d taken a direct shoulder to the head after taking a direct shoulder to the head) rather than blaming Singleton for reacting to being bullied the entire game (racking up his usual 3m average gain) by trying to be tough second man in.

Edited July 10, 2022 by FearTheVee

[bobbruce]

10 minutes ago, FearTheVee said:

It’s charming that you actually think you lost the game because Sironen didn’t bounce to his feet after a direct shoulder to the head (the first “man” in RL history to look like he’d taken a direct shoulder to the head after taking a direct shoulder to the head) rather than blaming Singleton for reacting to being bullied the entire game (racking up his usual 3m average gain) by trying to be tough second man in.

We are only a few pages from Wigan being the moral victors again. 

[Davo5]

6 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

We are only a few pages from Wigan being the moral victors again. 

Nah he used all those posts up last week after the Catalans game.

[Jughead]

I find it more worrying that players are having to stay down to bring pretty obvious incidents to the attention of the officials, who’d otherwise play on. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

1 hour ago, FearTheVee said:

It’s charming that you actually think you lost the game because Sironen didn’t bounce to his feet after a direct shoulder to the head (the first “man” in RL history to look like he’d taken a direct shoulder to the head after taking a direct shoulder to the head) rather than blaming Singleton for reacting to being bullied the entire game (racking up his usual 3m average gain) by trying to be tough second man in.

He was fine. He took a dive. As did Farrell later on. 

[Jim Prendle]

There was plenty shithousery going on. Welsby throwing the ball at French's head after scoring a try as an example.

Saints have always been great at this sort of stuff. I was talking to their greatest exponent the other night, Tommy Martyn, and he was very open about it.

[Josef K]

A few of my Wigan friends were fuming when Isa lost the ball as he went to play it. 

They should’ve hauled him off and played with eleven, because if he plays you know there is a good chance he might cockup during the game. He reminds me of Vila Matautia, he was a liability as well. 

[Wirral Warrior]

Obviously disappointing to lose at such a late stage but in some ways it was inevitable. We often need a points cushion to offset late rallies eg Wakefield last week.

Like in any sport there is often a trade-off : Wigan flair v Saints attrition.

Bateman didn't need to offload, but he chose to because that is the style of play we have chose to adopt as reflected in the playing squad. Light mobile pack and exceptional speed from the back 3.

As long as we learn and make progress we cant be too disappointed given the clubs exciting brand of play this year.