Look at the team Wigan won with in 2003 - it's means nothing in these games. What would worry me if I was a Stains fan (thank God I'm not

) is how reliant the team is on the go forward of Graham and Puletua, and Roby working off the back of that. When they were off the pitch the momentum completely changed to Wigan for the 10 minutes either side of HT. I can see big problems as it looks increasingly likely both will be in the NRL next season.

Yeah, because Wigan fans never do that.



Oh ... apart from when they were battling against relegation, when they did it all season.



Never mind. Better luck next time.

Totally agree Andy. The loss of Graham and Puletua for Saints would be catastrophic.

Different how? No Cunningham and No Gidley? Big difference otherwise





Saints played well, but the youngsters coming in are the same ones that have been losing GFs to the Wigan academy teams for the last few years. They are used to losing when it matters so will fit right in.

i know its not representative , but 2 i spoke to wouldnt have sam in their team today





oh dear

I think you'll find there is a rule about heading the ball.



That action was made illegal and equivalent to a knock on after Saints used it.



So no problem with that penalty, it's in the book, so try another equaliser.

Actually, the Saints youngsters you saw today by and large were in the academy side who beat Wigan in the Academy grand final a few years back - I think it was 2008? Foster, Magennis, Lomax, Ashurst (who all played tonight) as well as Dixon (played in the GF last season), were all promoted from the Academy to the first team when they were 18. For the two years under Potter they all got a lot of game time because from about the second half of the first season under Potter we began to have really serious injury issues. Wheeler and Eastmond were in the previous cohort and both played in Academy teams that beat the Aussies in their own back yard.



We only pick the best of our u20s lads for first team action. We may not beat you in u20s grand finals, but that doesn't mean we don't have very talented young players in those sides. Most of them, though, will be average and possibly go on to other things. IMO it is far more important to extract the really talented ones and promote them to the first team than to win u20s GFs.



Given that you are the reigning champions and had only two of your players missing, as Wigan fans you must be very worried that you could only beat such a young Saints side by the score of a try obtained from a forward pass that even your coach recognised as such. But us Saints fans are delighted by what we saw. And to think, Makinson is only 19 and that is only the third time he has played in a first grade match, and he has yet to play a full match at this level. In terms of talent and commitment, these are very, very encouraging times for us.

What would worry me if i was a wigan fan was that you dont look a patch on the side that won superleague last season.Your forward line looks weak and will get outmuscled in a lot of games this season.Add that to the fact that referees are starting to clamp down on your tackling technique you might find it a lot harder to get to old trafford.Saints were in total control up until wellens and wheeler got injured and with the likes of price,perry,flannery, clough,gaskell and eastrmond not playing i thought for them to get back in the game and nearly win it took some doing.

It depends on which GF loss you are talking about. I could go back four years or to last year. If we take last year then no Wellens (for 50 minutes), no Flannery, no Clough (no Hargreaves, no Dixon). In addition, no Perry, Pryce or Eastmond with Jammer and LMS playing on injections, and Makinson on his derby debut. Oh, and our fifth halfback partnership of the season (all of which were different from last season, including the GF).



Oh, and our coach has changed. You might have noticed that in the 30 minutes when we had our stand off and fullback playing.



So yes, there IS a big difference in the team playing today and in last year's GF.

www.therfl.co.uk/~rflmedia/docs/ ... 2007_%20(2).pdf SECTION 10 KNOCK-ON AND FORWARD PASS Heading the ball 4. It is illegal to head the ball in a forward direction. Just because the Sky dumb dumbs don't know the rules, that's no excuse for the rest of us.

www.therfl.co.uk/~rflmedia/docs/ ... 2007_%20(2).pdf SECTION 10 KNOCK-ON AND FORWARD PASS Heading the ball 4. It is illegal to head the ball in a forward direction. Just because the Sky dumb dumbs don't know the rules, that's no excuse for the rest of us.

Saints used the heading tactic to score tries a few years ago, forget who, but I think the rule changed as a consequence.

John Harrison if memory serves me correct?