You are right and he can bounce back, Darren Lockyer in his first game for Australia at fullback was far worse than Murphy was v Leeds.

well that rules tomkins out then

I am disgusted that some Wigan fans are making Murphy the scapegoat on only his 2nd appearance. We have some great fans but I really do think we have some of the worst as well. Once again we lost it in the forwards, had an awful kicking game and had little/no direction from half back. For some reason we also played a different style than what we played all year and our centres barely touched the ball. Its much easier to blame a young inexperienced kid though I suppose.

Murphy's couple of dropped catches weren't good and really should have been collected. Having said that, they didn't cost Wigan the game. They may have given a breather to Leeds and taken momentum from the home team but what cost the league leaders the game was some good tactics (and execution) by Leeds and Wigan's inability to burst through a paper bag.



Thought the forwards were poor (where were O'Loughlin and Hock?) and when there was a bit of speed and potential to take control in the second half, sometimes the wrong option was chosen. Just one of those nights.

I'd blame the coach for selecting him, he may well be a future star but this wasn't a game for throwing in a young inexperienced player and certainly not at full back.



Pat Richards could have gone to No1 with Thornley or Gelling coming onto the wing, you could even have put Charnley at the back.



Young Murphy was solid for the most part and looked likely to break the line on a few occasions, he wasn't anywhere near to blame for spilling a bomb, that's happened to the best of them.

Bingo, I said before the game Murphy was between a rock and a hard place making his second appearance in this game, and I've said all year that we lack depth at 1, 6, 7 and 9 because Wane was unwilling to play Murphy, Powell and Logan even though there were plenty games where we hammered the opposition when we could have given these lads a run

Actually he is to blame for spilling the bomb. The point is that despite it resulting (in a roundabut way) in two points for the opposition which won the game, the player shouldn't be lambasted....as he is being. Its the fruits of the preceding seventy odd minutes that left Wigan in a vulnerable position and some players in the team haven't done what they claim they can do (play rugby to a good standard) for long periods of that game.



Hopefully the player will recover from the ensuing week's critique and fulfil his (clearly visible) potential.

I worded that poorly, I meant he wasn't to blame for the loss jüst because he dropped that bomb"

Still can't find any news as to why Sam was out...

Murphy dropped the bomb, yes.

But last night so did Hodgson, and today so did Slater and Barba. In all cases it was more down to the kick quality rather than poor catching ability.

If anyone want to put any blame anywhere it should be Finch who gets it for not putting the ball out of play on the 6th tackle up the other end of the field in the set before the kick to slow the play down and make Leeds start from the 10 metre line. Instead he did that ridiculous inside kick when we were the ones leading. Very poor decision making from such an experienced player.

Partial tear ( Grade 2) of knee ligament.



Collateral Ligament Tears/Sprains



These ligaments supply stability to your knee for side to side movement and even during normal walking. Injury to these areas usually occurs after a strike from the side such as a football tackle. The pain is usually located over the sides of your knee and is worse during any activity and is better with rest. Swelling can be anywhere from very mild to quite significant.



Tears of the collateral ligaments are graded on a scale of 1-3:



■Grade 1: A minor stretch ("sprain"icon_wink.gif of the ligament.

■Grade 2: A partial tear of the ligament.

■Grade 3: A complete tear of the ligament.



There are two collateral ligaments in the knee. The medial collateral ligament (MCL) is located on the inside of the knee. It is the most frequently injured collateral ligament. Usually, the mechanism of injury is a blow to the outside of the knee, while the foot is planted firmly on the ground. Sometimes, stepping into a hole can also cause the twisting necessary to tear this ligament. The good news, however, is that it often can heal on it's own, if properly protected with a hinged knee brace. Sometimes, an MCL tear is associated with a tear of the ACL and a meniscus tear. This is known as the "unhappy triad".



The lateral collateral ligament (LCL) is located on the outside of the knee. It is much more rarely injured. Milder injuries can be treated with a brace as well.

I said more or less the same thing on the well done Leeds thread.

I blame Mathers