|
Like I said on Wish
FM on Monday commentating on the game, I wasn’t too disappointed
with the performance at Salford. Of course it was yet another away
day without victory but I just thought, after the gruelling effort
on Friday against Saints, it was always going to be a tough ask to
back that up.
Despite their Sky
televised humbling by Saints earlier in the season, Salford are an
improving side and not the pushovers they once were. Arguably,
considering Saints finished Easter second in the table and Salford
third, we had the toughest Easter of anyone and we won one of those
and weren’t too far away in the second game either.
One thing also that
perhaps couldn’t be appreciated by those who didn’t attend the game
and were back in Wigan on Monday was the weather. I left Wigan in
mist and returned to a dull misty Wigan as well. It was hard to
believe that in Salford it was bright blue sky and hot sunshine
battering the pitch. That was tough on Wigan also after having
played in rain on a heavy pitch just three days earlier.
Of course it was
the same turnaround for Salford but a visit to play Huddersfield in
front of 6,000 just doesn’t compare physically and emotionally to a
derby in front of 24,000.
When I got home, I
returned to a few twitter comments from fans still worried about
our half back combination, and I could appreciate where they are
coming from, but I just think Ryan Hampshire getting in, and
looking good, at full back will begin to change things. I’d like to
think that more buzz from full back will help the half back
partnership of Williams and Smith grow going forward.
Hampshire getting
in at Full Back has mellowed me in terms of worry about this season
so far if I’m honest and so did the Saints victory on Friday. A
month earlier we’d lost horribly 42-14 at Castleford and every
technical thing we did wrong that night, we did right against
Saints, particularly in terms of discipline.
The fact Wigan held
their nerve for 55 minutes on a slender 6-4 lead, before pushing on
to get the victory, was a significant step I thought. Still not
perfect and a long way to go in some departments but a huge step
forward, particularly when if you remember that night at
Castleford.
I said last week
that I’d be happy if Wigan were in fifth place after playing
Warrington on April 16th and I still hold that opinion.
Let’s see what the next two games bring before fully evaluating the
Easter period. |
