Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 8:19 am  

DaveO wrote:

Sarginsons back spasm was last week. With Bateman ill he brings back Tomkins so he had obviously decided to rest him originally while doing so at the same time as leaving other key players out as in Faz, Sam T and Flower. Other teams seem far less afraid of the plastic pitch than we are and have hammered Widnes at home this season. We always seem to make a lot of changes and in the past we have a lost and drawn games there and only just scraped a win tonight. I doubt leaving players out tonight will have any bearing at all on who we have available in the playoffs. It's April and a games rest when there are something like 20 odd fixtures left (league, S8's and cup) isn't going to make any difference and as I said he could have used his bench to rest players in the game had we been cruising. The best that can be said of tonight's game is he got away with it.

Far be it for anybody to say SW got the selection right eh? It’s not about resting players, it’s about not taking unnecessary risks. We lost Shorrocks for a full season due to a knee injury on that pitch and we lost Gregson with a knee injury for the season on that pitch. Now it looks like we may have lost Burgess long term with the same injury as well so it appears last night’s selection may well have a bearing on the play offs and I totally understand the club’s reluctance to take unnecessary risks.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 8:20 am  

Grimmy wrote:

I couldn't make the game. Did Tautai play well, or just pop up with the winner? Would be great if he's started hitting form

He did have a good game, and it was his offload that put Escare away for his try too, if I remember rightly.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 8:25 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

I’d love to see him in tandem with a creative player like Tomkins going forward but I honestly think he’ll be back out the side next week. Wane made a point of saying he’d done some good things but was rusty in others and has things to work on.

Our halves made so many wrong choices it beggered belief (in the first half especially) and I’d have thought it was those two in particular who ‘have things to work on’.

Last night has me pretty worried about the HKR cup tie. We just can’t get going in games first half and in a high pressure cup game it’ll be tougher to come back. Hopefully that knock out element will help give them some focus.

I’d keep Sam at fullback and play Escare at #7, with Powell and TL rotating at #9. Wane seems to notice faults in his play that we don’t see, though. His try was classic halfback support play a la Shaun Edwards.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 8:35 am  

Geoff wrote:

I’d keep Sam at fullback and play Escare at #7, with Powell and TL rotating at #9. Wane seems to notice faults in his play that we don’t see, though. His try was classic halfback support play a la Shaun Edwards.

I’d love to avoid criticising Wane because there’s times when the bloke can do no right in some people eyes but his treatment of Escare has been ordinary this year IMO. Out of our options in the fullback, halves and hooking roles he seems to be the fall guy and I don’t get it. When he’s played he’s offered a real threat with the ball and even if it’s just as an impact option from the bench, he should be in the side.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:16 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

I’d love to avoid criticising Wane because there’s times when the bloke can do no right in some people eyes but his treatment of Escare has been ordinary this year IMO. Out of our options in the fullback, halves and hooking roles he seems to be the fall guy and I don’t get it. When he’s played he’s offered a real threat with the ball and even if it’s just as an impact option from the bench’, he should be in the side.

Yep, I’ve defended Wane a lot over the years but I don’t get how Escare can be left out at times, especially given that after 12 games, Powell has created nothing. His defence is unquestionable but he seems bulletproof where SW is concerned. I’d love to see Escare given an opportunity.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:19 am  

Waney can't leave out Escare after that game and his try. OK he was out of position for their try scored on the wing but if he's rusty as Wane said then leaving him out will not help him improve.
WE got away with that win but the RFL need to look at Widnes and the injuries their pitch is causing.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:19 am  

Waney can't leave out Escare after that game and his try. OK he was out of position for their try scored on the wing but if he's rusty as Wane said then leaving him out will not help him improve.
WE got away with that win but the RFL need to look at Widnes and the injuries their pitch is causing.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 10:22 am  

Sadly I think he will or he’ll do what he did with Hamlin and give him ten minutes next week and when he doesn’t offer as much in that ten minutes as he did in an extended spell (or full game in Escare’s case) he’ll be left out the following week.

Wane gets more right then wrong and in terms of wins and entertainment you can’t knock him this season in most respects but as the years roll by (and the injuries have dried up) he gets more and more Brian Noble esq in his team selections.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:45 am  

The halves again weren’t up to much surely one of them and at this point I don’t care which need a spell out and let either Sam or EScare have a bash in there,wigan have to start as well playing from the off once again a better side would have closed them down and had done with it,Widnes thankfully weren’t that side.

Good game though plenty to get excited over I’m not a fan of resting players I always think it disrupts the teams flow for weeks after the game Wane makes the change for but onwards we go.

Re: Wigans 19 to face Widnes, Wigan make 4 changes. : Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:46 am  

Did Hamlin get decent minutes here?