Saints v Wigan

[Vambo]

Congrats to the Saints fans.
You ****** all over Wigan and fully deserved your victory :bravo:

I had high hopes prior to the game but they were soon dashed.

From a Wigan point of view all I can take out of the game is a good performance from Hansen who is developing into a very, very good player.

Highlight of the game for me though as to be Maureen being monstered by the smallest man on the pitch :lol: Fair play to Maureen though for getting up and giving ***ch the thumbs up :bravo:

 

[St Helens RLFC]

On the Fa'asavalu hit - it was a very good tackle. I thought ribs had been broken. Fair play to the big man though, he gave the runt the thumbs up. I would argue that the impact would have been the other way round if Maurie wasn't juggling with the ball because he wasn't set. Still a great hit though.

It was the only thing that was great about Wigan, who were abysmal. Saints were totally dominant from start to finish, save the first ten minutes when it was hailing so badly I had to avert my eyes and watch the game on the big screen! I think the players were not a fan either. Other than that thought we were in cruise control when we scored and then we just kept on picking Wigan off when they gave penalties away left right and centre. I said after the Warrington game that Wigan are the least disciplined team in Super League, and I provide the case today me'lud. And this is without Braindead Hock, the walking penalty machine. I had never seen anyone get sin binned for persistent offside in Super League's years, now Wigan have done it twice in four weeks. Utterly incredible. That lack of discipline is going to kill Wigan for as long as they push their luck.

Ignoring Wigan though, Saints were outstanding this afternoon. Sean Long kicked them to death and his ball for Meli's first try in the corner was a joy to behold. Wilkin, who was excellent, got MOTM but I thought Long was head and shoulders above everyone. His try also put to bed any hope Wigan had of getting themselves back into the match when he capitalised on Colbon's error and general ineptness.

The Wigan Walk was in full swing after 65 minutes and I'll bet they were at home to watch, for me, the best two tries of the match as Leon Pryce jinked his way through and young Kyle Eastmond rocketed his way through in the last minute from just inside his own half, burning off the entire Wigan team in the process.

That wasn't a good friday - it was a FANTASTIC friday!

 

[Vambo]

The Wigan Walk was in full swing after 65 minutes and I'll bet they were at home to watch, for me, the best two tries of the match as Leon Pryce jinked his way through and young Kyle Eastmond rocketed his way through in the last minute from just inside his own half, burning off the entire Wigan team in the process.
[/b]

As much as it pains me to admit it I will have to agree. Pryce's try was class and Eastmond looks a real prospect.

 

[Dream]

I watched the highlights after work and have to say Sean Long looked fantastic (not his stupid hair-do though!!). Saints played some wonderful Rugby at times and Wigan couldn't live with it. Wigan's discipline was poor again, which must anger Noble no end. The Super League is gearing up for a fantastic year and if some of the England boys can keep this form up maybe, just maybe, we'll cause a bit of a surprise at RLWC08

 

[Fa'atau82]

I am getting into RL a little, and i thought Eastmond showed some amazing pace.. he was going supersonic!

 

[St Helens RLFC]

I watched the highlights after work and have to say Sean Long looked fantastic (not his stupid hair-do though!!). Saints played some wonderful Rugby at times and Wigan couldn't live with it. Wigan's discipline was poor again, which must anger Noble no end. The Super League is gearing up for a fantastic year and if some of the England boys can keep this form up maybe, just maybe, we'll cause a bit of a surprise at RLWC08 [/b]

I thought that was one of Sean Long's best ever games yesterday. It was an outstanding performance. He kicked the vermin to death time after time and his passing, normally his weakness, was brilliant as well considering it was blowing a gale. Poor hairdo though.



A lot of Wigan fans seem to think Noble is behind the poor discipline. I also blame their skipper - O'Loughlin was told by Mr Silverwood to sort out the persistent offside and he didn't even say a word to his team. Poor work from a poor captain.

I am getting into RL a little, and i thought Eastmond showed some amazing pace.. he was going supersonic!
[/b]

He's a quick lad alright. If we look after him he could be something special.

 

[Georgeous1]

Yeah Wigan were truly terrible and Saints made us pay. Even with the 'weakened' Saints pack they just ran all over the top of the likes of Fielden and Bailey, coupled with our disgraceful discipline and some enterprising back play from Longy the hedgehog we certainly deserved the stuffing we got.

 

[jeffb]

<div class='quotemain'> I watched the highlights after work and have to say Sean Long looked fantastic (not his stupid hair-do though!!). Saints played some wonderful Rugby at times and Wigan couldn't live with it. Wigan's discipline was poor again, which must anger Noble no end. The Super League is gearing up for a fantastic year and if some of the England boys can keep this form up maybe, just maybe, we'll cause a bit of a surprise at RLWC08 [/b]

I thought that was one of Sean Long's best ever games yesterday. It was an outstanding performance. He kicked the vermin to death time after time and his passing, normally his weakness, was brilliant as well considering it was blowing a gale. Poor hairdo though.



A lot of Wigan fans seem to think Noble is behind the poor discipline. Poor work from a poor captain.

I am getting into RL a little, and i thought Eastmond showed some amazing pace.. he was going supersonic!
[/b]

He's a quick lad alright. If we look after him he could be something special.

[/b][/quote]



So true, unfortunatley. To me, he's no skipper. Does not motivate the players enough in my mind.

 

[Vambo]

So true, unfortunatley. To me, he's no skipper. Does not motivate the players enough in my mind.
[/b]

Or bollock them enough neither! Faz used to give the team a right bollocking if he felt it was needed.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

Farrell is the epitome of a captain. Farrell, Chris Joynt, Jimmy Lowes... those are captains. Does O'Hairbear belong in the same sentence as them? Of course he doesn't. Farrell was always in his players' faces and it got results. Wigan have not had a proper captain since his departure. I'm not saying some of the steamrollerings that have happened to Wigan in the last five years would have been avoided, but I think lessons would have been learned from them.

It's not the case though. I overheard some absolute cretin leaving the ground yesterday blaming Silverwood for the loss. And one of his own fans told him he was talking rubbish. Wigan are at fault for the penalties that go against them. You get the occasional ropey call granted, but Wigan's discipline make a John Kear side look wel drilled. Until it gets cut out, you don't see how Wigan are going to compete with the Saints and Leeds' of the world.

 

[wigan_rlfc]

Silverwood was Saints 14th man in the first half, but I'm not saying we'd have won with a different ref.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

Wigan were our 14th man - by continually being offside, not square and lying on. We all know Silverwood is whistle happy so your lot should have used their brains and thought on.

We weren't getting pinged half as much as you because we kept our discipline.

 

[wigan_rlfc]

There were plenty times that the Saints players hadn't come back the full ten and Silverwood didn't blow, but he pinged Wigan as often as he could.

A ref should never slow a Good Friday derby down as much as that.

 

[Vambo]

Personally I think Silverwood is one of the better refs. He's certainly more consistent than the likes of Ganson and A Clown who have both ruined plenty of games with bizarre interpretations.

Wigan were there own worst enemy at times... home teams are always gonna get any 50/50 calls and marginal decisions so the emphasis has got to be on the away team to be squeaky clean.

I didn't agree with all the penalties (Fielden's so called flop was an incredibly gay penalty... how soft as RL become that we give a penalty for touching a tackled player making no effort to get up and play the ball anyway?) but we can't always point the finger at referees who at the end of the day are just applying the rules of the game.

 

[St Helens RLFC]

There were plenty times that the Saints players hadn't come back the full ten and Silverwood didn't blow, but he pinged Wigan as often as he could. [/b]

But the penalty count was 12-9. So I think you'll find he did. You can't blame the ref for Wigan's indiscipline.