I'd rest the majority if I were Brown. Ultimately a win or a loss doesn't really matter on Monday. I kept saying it last year, 1st or 4th, it doesn't really matter. The advantages are almost the same and rests for players in the weekly rounds are more important then finishing 2nd as opposed to 3rd (for example).

Brown looks like he'll play the guys who've annoyed him today. Turner and LMS must be guaranteed.

Monday,s game will be very much back to basics whichever players we select from.
It wasn,t so much passion or attitude a lot of it was basic errors, wrong options and bad finishing alongside lazy defence.
In the last 20 mins of the game today I think we only completed one set, the consistent basic errors in the second half was the worse I,ve seen this season.

Back to that myth again.

you should watch it back he was immense and probably out scooted Roby. In defence he just controls the line speed (which killed you yesterday) and he just kept us going forward all day.

To clarify. i'm not saying every Saints player is better than every Wigan player, but as a squad as a whole.

But you know it's not Roby marking MM right ?


I know Wigan is a football town and you rent off at football team but man marking isn't rugby league, it's football.

Individual handling and defensive errors costs us. We just weren't at the races. I don't think Wigan had to play particularly well.

That's been coming for the past 3/4 weeks.

Anyway, if I was a Wigan fan I'd say that we were distracted by the cup.

I've just posted on another thread how the Easter fixtures are tough unless your Wigan and it's crazy having the cc the week after Easter.

Wigan rested players against London last week for Good Friday. They can rest players at home to the bulls on Monday and then rest players against another championship side the week after Easter. Also add the championship side they played two week a go.

The RFL have been very kind to Wigan over the busy Easter period. Why other teams are preparing for two local derby games in four days then cc the following week, Wigan have had the chance to rest players for a month.

only Wigan fans can use the 'distraction' excuse!

But yes, fixture list and the draw hasn't been kind to us at all

The mind boggles with you thinking 1-25 you are better than us on paper.Severely deluded!We have a winning mentality installed at wigan these days in certain games in jst glad it works on games against you.

I do think this was a definite factor.

I also think that psychologically if the players have been told that Mondays game will basically be an under 19's fixture for Saints that they will have had less focus on Wigan because they will know that the cup game is the clubs key priority.

Certainly I noticed that Saints players were not keen to go for a number of 50/50 balls, almost as if they didn't want to get injured and miss next week. Wigan players had no such qualms. They knew they could put 110% into this game then relax over the next couple of weeks. This included going in hard on tackles. If a Saints player went high in a tackle he could get a 2 game ban and miss the Leeds game. If a Wigan player went high or clumsy they would merely miss a training run against a championship side that they would not even have played in anyhow.


On a side note. I reckon that Wigan already have a 50% chance of getting to Wembley, as I think there is only a fully committed Saints or Leeds team that could provide a serious threat to halting their progress to the final.

It certainly plays a part as we have to plan for 3 very tough games in 9 days where Wigan effectively only had one tough game in about a month.

A good post my views exactly. Some at Saints take a bad defeat and can’t admit that their assumptions about both teams could have been wrong. The facts are that both teams are amongst the best in SL, but to which is the best only time and the season as a whole will show. All I would say is that I do think there is more improvement yet in Wigan as there may well be in Saints, but we’ll see!

Some bitterness going on there! If I could pick a combined team I'd go:

1 Bowen
2 Charnley
3 Turner
4 Makinson/Burgess
5 Makinson/Burgess
6 Lomax
7 Walsh
8 Walmsley
9 McIlorum
10 Flower
11 Soliola
12 Farrell
13 O'Loughlin

14 Taylor
15 Roby
16 McCarthy - Scarsbrook
17 Bateman

So about half and half, there are some class players in your squad but they don't play with the same intensity as ours, that will need to change for you to win trophies IMO

You'd have Turner and LMS in ?

Not sure who else to pick. Goulding, Thornley, Pettybourne and James aren't that good either. You see more of Turner and LMS than me though! I suppose maybe Crosby ahead of LMS

Turner on his day can be decent but he's bang out if form. LMS been very poor!

Would pretty much agree but I'd Lomax at 1 and playing Green at 6. Probably play Makinson on the wing and Goulding at centre but apparently he hasn't been too great for you recently. And of course you have seen more of Makinson than i have of Burgess so if you think he is a better player then fair play. Stick Amor in there too.

An incredibly arrogant remark. The reason why Wigan could play with a higher intensity this week is the fact we've played the 2 inform teams in the comp, and last years league leaders in the cup - compared to dewsbury and London - your obviously going to have more in the tank, and have had plenty of time to prepare (this is why it's my absolute pet peeve Wigan are the 4th team on the run we play the week after they play London) - we have proven in previous weeks we can play with an intensity to beat anyone, particularly in the Leeds game, who like it or not have far more big game intensity than Wigan, but I'd rather we won 4 of those types of games in September/ October than now, when everyone has the same sort of matches!

Also, turner is probably capable of being the best centre over the 2 clubs, but is bang out of form. Jones is the in form centre out of the 2 clubs ...

bitterness again. Arrogance is saying Saints are 1-25 better than Wigan and there are only two Wigan players who would make it into the Saints team. Most Saints fans predicted you guys to win ahead of the game as well. Strange how we keep beating you really despite your obvious comprehensive dominance in all aspects of the game!

I don't buy the having more in the tank arguement.

It was not a quick turn around and the players knew they would get the monday off.

Leeds maybe a distraction excuse (along with the league process) however, some of the stuff was just plain sloppy. That is about having your mind right, which has diddly to do with having the body right.

Not going to compare squads as the teams on Friday where not 1st choice for either team.

But from Friday's line up, my combination would be

Lomax
Makinson
Thornley
Jones
Burgess
Green
Walsh
Walmsley
Roby
Taylor
Sia
Farrell
SOL

Masoe
Bateman
Richards
MM

However, like I say that is from the 2 line ups.

But then you throw in an Amor Manu and some of the Wigan blokes would drop out. Charnley would have factored but probably replaced Burgess.

Percival would need some game time to see if he is enough to force out Thornley as he has been out for a good month now.

As for this thing of Wigan keep beating us, this is over a very short term. So far this year we have played one competitive match. The cup will be a factor. I was quite surprised how soft our defense was. It was the one part I expected to hold up.

We beat you last time we played you at LP :s I'd of contended we'd of given you a better game than Leeds did in the playoffs to. You deserved your win yesterday, there is no bitterness, but there is no magic that Wigan possess that saints don't that "we need to learn" - on another day, and another bounce of the ball, we could of won, and come the playoffs saints will be another prospect.

I have never said saints are better 1-25 :s and I never predict the games

I'll give you Charnley. If I were picking a starting XIII from both squads, I'd go:

1. Lomax
2. Charnley
3. Turner
4. Jones
5. Makinson
6. Green
7. Walsh
8. Amor
9. Roby
10. Walmsley
11. Soliola
12. Manu
13. O'Loughlin

No Farrell, bias at it's best.

1. Lomax
2. Charnley
3. Goulding
4. Percival
5. Makinson

6. Hampshire
7. Walsh

8. Amor
9. Roby
10. Flower
11. Sia
12. Farrell
13. O'Loughlin

14. Taylor
15. Walmsley
16. Masoe
17. Crapilorum/Lance

About half and half for me.