i thought wigan tried hard and at times played well, but roosters were a different class, as someone said they hardly got out of 3rd gear, too many errors which sydney were happy to capitalise on.

I'd seen enough of Bowen against Hudds to make my mind up on him. Crap! Was hoping Hampshire would be picked even though I knew that was futile.

Didn't jump for a high ball and got made to look a prat.
Jumped for one but just turned his back and didn't actually go for the ball.
Shocking amount of fumbles.
Poor positional play

But more worrying for me is:

Doesn't look like he wants the ball or to run with it
Zero passion

I thought that was a very good effort from our lads. The gulf in class between the NRL and SL is pretty big and we where on a hiding to nothing today.
The problem with our first half performance was too much lateral play and not enough go forward. When we went back to basics in the 2nd half we made yards and caused them problems.
For me all of Wigans attacking structures are based around Tomkins. Bowen is no Tomkins and looks lost in our attacking structures. Either Bowen needs to adapt to our structures or we need to take a good look at Hampshire. I'm not going to write Bowen off yet as he is a class player but the pressure will quickly build on him.
For me Wigan are still the team to beat this year. A young pack with plenty of potential a lot of squad depth and a wing centre partnership of Burgess and Sarginson which seems to be flourishing. Don't write us off yet!

they certainly are so far

that was just our annual home loss to Huddersfield. Always happens

I thought Wigan put in a gritty performance, especially after a nightmare start. Roosters looked a bit sloppy after going so far ahead, especially SBW.

I’d still prefer this game at the end of the season though.

I just wish we'd have played our best rugby but it wasn't to be. That probably wouldn't have been enough but we could have come away with no regrets.

As for the individuals, Bowen needs to improve but to write him off so soon would be ridiculous. We're lucky we have such a good back up waiting to come in with Hampshire though just in case. I thought Sarginson and Burgess looked potentially a really good pairing and good prospects for the English game. Overall our best player though was a one legged Sean O'Loughlin! That was an immense effort from him and he proved just how good he really is today. I just hope we can get him fit now for some other games then just finals.

I am right though, even though I posted just after half time and they did improve.

I have watched the roosters plenty of times and they have played a lot worse than that before.

In summary the Roosters were in a league of their own without being that clinical. Wigan got themselves out of getting hammered. And on Bowen Wigan fans should not worry IMO because he is a class player. I have been watching the NRL for a couple of years now and he has really impressed me.

The match,and the analysis will make Wigan a tough proposition this year.
They will learn and take on board what happened and will implement it against other SL teams.
Wigan are going to be there again this year when the domestic season concludes

Wigan turned the ball over a lot, with the Roosters often beginning sets at around the half way line. In Superleague, a team like Wigan with a decent defensive structure can afford to do this - playing against a top NRL team, you simply have to make them work the ball away from their own line - give them any field position and they'll make you pay.

Wigan battled really well and can be proud of their effort - but today they played against a team far superior to the usual superleague dross. Phil Gould alluded to it in commentary - if Wigan played in the NRL, they'd go ok, and get better once they got used to high intensity week after week. Unfortunately, there are probably only 3, 4 at a push other teams in super league that could also hold their own.

Super smashing lovely, he played more like Jim Bowen. The RFL inadvertently did the Roosters a massive favour by choosing to disregard his attack to the neck of Scott Grix and letting him play in the game.

im sure wigan fans wont take the defeat too hard, after all this was just a warm up game for the game that matters.... their next game

Is it just me or the wcc trophy was too small?

The Wigan side was outclassed by one of the greatest club teams of the past 20 years. But note that the Roosters were very rusty, and not at their best, and will improve greatly in the next few weeks.

If Tomkins, Richards and Mossop had been playing for Wigan the contest would have been much closer. It would also have drawn a bigger crowd (though 31,500 was not bad). That is one reason why the matches need to be played at the end of the season, two weeks after the respective grand finals.

BTW Charnley was looking for an NRL contract. His humiliation by fending from Michael Jennings didn't do his NRL prospects any good.

Charnley would get eaten alive in the NRL.

He's quick - that's it... I still can't believe he was preferred over Briscoe in the World Cup.

He's soft in the collision (I actually think he looks scared sometimes when taking a hit up), not great at attacking or defending kicks (or just defensively in general). Additionally, as he's fairly small, he'd be rag dolled into touch playing against good defences.

I'm sure the Wigan fans will be up in arms at this, but I fail to see what he brings other than being a bit nippy given a bit of space. His finishing of decent chances is good, the rest of his game is average to poor.

The reality is the gap between the game in the northern and Southern Hemisphere is growing year on year. Not really that surprising when you consider:
Registered players 400k + touch v 100k inc touch
Avg club income $16mill v $9mill
Peak body income $250mill v $45mill
Pokie jnr club funding v govt jnr funding
RL main game in 1/2 country v domination of soccer in UK
RL bigger than union v union bigger than RL

When you consider all things the SL clubs and England/France actually punch above their weight most times.

Wigan were bitchslapped into submission by the rowdy roosters.

Bravo!

Made up with the result.

Sincerely

Mr Bitter and twisted not a true fan

Mr Wireyed, you're finally correct

By the number of posts he makes, he is clearly working on the "Infinite monkey" theorem of correctness.

I prefer stopped clock theory

So are we in agreement that the aussie's are a million times better than us as they won this year.

As opposed to when an SL team wins, then they couldn't be bothered

First of all, I'm English. And even though I follow the Roosters here. I want an English side to beat an aussie side.

What makes me laugh is that when an English side wins it "it's only a trial" but when the aussies win it they are...