Sat 24th Feb: WCC: Wigan Warriors v Penrith Panthers KO 8pm (Sky/BBC/SuperLeague+)

[meast]

Congratulations to Wigan, enjoyable game, both teams giving their all.

I haven't read the thread but I suspect I'm not alone in being pretty sure the Wardle/May tries should have been the other way round, but it is what it is, Wigan probably just about deserved it.

[Damien]

Watching the game back this morning I did think the refeering would be a lot worse given what I was reading on social media. Ultimately I think there were a couple of contentious decisions and Wigan did get the rub of the green.

The Wardle one for me he does get over the line but its a clear double movement. I don't see how Wardle's arm would have been dragged over the line by the Penrith player. I thought that at the ground and saw nothing to change my mind.

The Wigan 2nd try certainly had a forward pass for me. I was practically in line with it. Not the worst I have seen let go by any means.

The Penrith no try was a clear no try. That again is fairly straightforward and I see nothing that disproves him being held up.

So yes I'd agree that Wigan got some 50/50s going their way but I'm not sure it was much different to many games we see, both in SL and the NRL. Other than that I think the ref was okay and both teams got calls they should/shouldn't.

[Odsal Outlaw]

Just finished watching the game, huge congratulations to Wigan. What a performance. The territory was so heavily in Penrith’s favour they should really have been out of sight but Wigan were fantastic in defence and so resilient.

And the high shot in the first half where the referee said to Wigan ‘it’s under international rules’ when not giving a card. Great. 
 

Could that be the last great game of rugby league on these shores as we now revert to uk interpretations for the SL? Maybe. 
 

 

[Exiled Wiganer]

58 minutes ago, meast said:

Congratulations to Wigan, enjoyable game, both teams giving their all.

I haven't read the thread but I suspect I'm not alone in being pretty sure the Wardle/May tries should have been the other way round, but it is what it is, Wigan probably just about deserved it.

You are alone, but we did indeed deserve the win. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

By the way, French is onside when Smith kicked the ball. They picked the wrong moment to freeze the frame. 

That said, taking nothing away from Penrith. I agree with Cleary that they would almost certainly be one of the top 3/4 sides in Super League. 

[Dave T]

3 hours ago, Phil said:

I agree but in some areas of soshul meeja it’s just a huge pile on, lots of it by English fans and I don’t get why.

A great night for Wigan but also for English rugby league in my opinion 

It's a chance for some English RL fan's to bag the RFL referees. As long as it involves criticising the RFL they simply don't care about anything else. 

[redjonn]

A clarification point...

Watching the game again this morning I notice how often Panthers didn't attempt to PTB with the foot... just stepped over it.  Edwards I don't think ever did a proper PTB... This no doubt part of why they were able them to play so quickly and make so many yards...

I guessing in international rules the PTB is not policed as it should be... what is the rules for PTB in international rules.

Edited February 25 by redjonn

[Padge]

2 minutes ago, redjonn said:

A clarification point...

Watching the game again this morning I notice how often Panthers didn't attempt to PTB with the foot... just stepped over it.  Edwards I don't think ever did a proper PTB... This no doubt part of why they were able them to play so quickly and make so many yards...

I guessing in international rules the PTB is not policed as it should be... what is the rules for PTB in international rules.

The laws state:

Play with foot (e) When the ball touches the ground it must be heeled (i.e. backwards) by the tackled player. The ball must not be kicked or heeled by the player marking them. The ball is in play when it has been played backwards.

All laws are open to interpretation though, the current interpretation appears to be a reasonable attempt at 11.10.e above will suffice. Which is what is being used in RL in the UK. 

[Dave T]

40 minutes ago, redjonn said:

A clarification point...

Watching the game again this morning I notice how often Panthers didn't attempt to PTB with the foot... just stepped over it.  Edwards I don't think ever did a proper PTB... This no doubt part of why they were able them to play so quickly and make so many yards...

I guessing in international rules the PTB is not policed as it should be... what is the rules for PTB in international rules.

Interesting how the NRL has previously been held up as a shining example of how to PTB, and now that seems to have flipped in recent weeks. 

[Father Ted]

Lots of fans will be upset with the officials as they probably wanted Penrith to win. I thought that last "six again" with only seconds to go was tough on Wigan.

A Hull FC fan sat next but one to me and when Penrith scored he jumped up, punched the air and screamed "Yes".

So what's happened to the "Grapple tackle"? Marshall nearly got choked to death in one tackle. A few seasons ago that would have been a clear pen and may be a yellow card.

A great night and made a real event by the Wigan club. Noticed Ivan Cleary mentioned the occasion in his pressy and suggested that the WCC should be held in this country.

 

[unapologetic pedant]

5 hours ago, Damien said:

The Wigan 2nd try certainly had a forward pass for me. I was practically in line with it. Not the worst I have seen let go by any means.

I'd question the claim of "certainly". If you mean the pass from the centre, it's one of these that has opposition fans shouting "FORWARD" but when you look at it closely out of the hands, it's a long way from certain. If you mean the one back inside, there's a degree of allowance for momentum. Again, a long way from certain.

I reckon both calls were fair and logical. Encouraging that none of the Panthers complained. We don't want passes called forward on suspicion.

[SilentAssassin]

i really don't get some of the outcry on social media about the reffing being totally one sided. i'm no Wigan fan, but watching the game i thought he got a few decisions wrong for both teams that pretty much evened itself out over the game.

yes he probably got the winning try wrong, but the last call was perfectly fair imo. no way you could say for certain that ball was grounded and all the camera angles backed him up, no evidence so no try.

 

i find it insane that so many fans from this country are in outrage over this, seems way ott for what actually happened. anyway, as much as it pains me, well done Wigan great effort on the night and deserved victory.

[Coastal_Geordie]

Just watched the highlights again.  Always support whichever SL team against the NRL.  Always nice when the “underdog” from SL beats the wealthier NRL side.  
 

The only negative I can see is SL players becoming even more attractive to the NRL.  There must be some NRL sides with chequebooks loaded for the likes of Field.

Last year the ground and atmosphere and all at Penrith looked and sounded terrible on TV.  This looked like a real big event.  Well done Wigan.

[Damien]

18 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I'd question the claim of "certainly". If you mean the pass from the centre, it's one of these that has opposition fans shouting "FORWARD" but when you look at it closely out of the hands, it's a long way from certain. If you mean the one back inside, there's a degree of allowance for momentum. Again, a long way from certain.

I reckon both calls were fair and logical. Encouraging that none of the Panthers complained. We don't want passes called forward on suspicion.

I'm talking about the one from Keighran. I was right in line with it and it was definitely forward. Everyone around me said the same.

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, Dave T said:

Interesting how the NRL has previously been held up as a shining example of how to PTB, and now that seems to have flipped in recent weeks. 

Almost as interesting as you doggedly insisting there was no difference when it was the other way round.

Notwithstanding the offending behaviour of several Panthers, Harvie Hill was still the worst in class.

[Padge]

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm talking about the one from Keighran. I was right in line with it and it was definitely forward. Everyone around me said the same.

Watch the momentum of the players.

[unapologetic pedant]

8 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm talking about the one from Keighran. I was right in line with it and it was definitely forward. Everyone around me said the same.

I don't think it was for certain. Keighran gets his hands well out in front and Miski takes it slightly behind. These two factors affect the optics. Looks forward frame-by-frame, not forward at full speed. Impossible to call. Play on.

[Dave T]

32 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Almost as interesting as you doggedly insisting there was no difference when it was the other way round.

Notwithstanding the offending behaviour of several Panthers, Harvie Hill was still the worst in class.

I suggested it wasn't a big deal and there wasnt a big difference. It appears that those claiming that the RLWC would be a farce because of this were wrong. It wasn't an issue. 

It still isn't really. 

[George Watt]

38 minutes ago, Padge said:

Watch the momentum of the players.

Is Stevo's momentum rule re emerging?

[north yorks trinity]

6 minutes ago, George Watt said:

Is Stevo's momentum rule re emerging?

There's nothing new here and nothing re emerging. The rule is (and always was) that the ball needs to be passed in a backward direction relative to the passer (i.e. not relative to the ground). The so called "momentum rule" was simply Stevo explaining this concept.

FWIW I thought at first viewing that Wigan's second try had more than one forward pass but IMO the replays clearly show the hand movements of the players making the passes and all were good.

[Dunbar]

On 24/02/2024 at 17:20, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

Wigan by 4.

Not bad.

[M j M]

16 minutes ago, George Watt said:

Is Stevo's momentum rule re emerging?

The concept of momentum when a runner passes the ball was never new and never went away.

[unapologetic pedant]

30 minutes ago, Dave T said:

 It appears that those claiming that the RLWC would be a farce because of this were wrong. 

Who made that claim?

[Damien]

39 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I don't think it was for certain. Keighran gets his hands well out in front and Miski takes it slightly behind. These two factors affect the optics. Looks forward frame-by-frame, not forward at full speed. Impossible to call. Play on.

I'm a Wigan fan, I'm quite happy that it wasn't given as forward. Just saying as I saw it. I've also seen worse not given and seen ones like it pinged. Obviously I'm happy it went our way on this occasion.

[unapologetic pedant]

9 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm a Wigan fan, I'm quite happy that it wasn't given as forward. Just saying as I saw it. I've also seen worse not given and seen ones like it pinged. Obviously I'm happy it went our way on this occasion.

I'm happy as a general RL fan that we don't rub out great tries for no good reason.

Said it many times in relation to things like this - if that try had been scored in a RU game, nobody would have thought there even might be a problem.