Interesting to hear Coley after the match talking about burnout. He seemed to think that there was lots left in the tank and room for improvement.

Now obviously he is going to say that.

However, will be very interesting to see what happens come the playoffs.

I'm not sure burnout is the issue, more the ability to handle pressure.

If we can do that, then we will have a very special team on our hands. If.

Our two weeks off due to the CC will be crucial. If anything i can see the CC finalists burning out come the playoffs

The fear i have is 'choaking' in a big game. Weve not yet proven we can handle pressure when the heat is really on IMO

would you not class wire and saints away as big games???

Yes but games against the top teams towards the end of the season are a bit bigger as is coming towards the crunch. The playoffs are even bigger still so we will see. We need to beat Leeds next week whether they are trying 100% or not because it will give the team a boost mentally imo if we turn them over.

All this talk about peaking too soon is bs we lost to a side what played better than us

Leeds and saints both lost to each other when both where top no talk about this then

I'd agree that the two weeks we'll have off because of the Challenge Cup will do us a great favor. Any little niggling injuries or just a few weary body's will have time to recover.

Maybe it's just me but Joel looks a little worn out to me, and a couple of weeks rest should do him the world of good.

That is why I am quitely confident about Leeds on Friday. We can go into the game knowing we have a week to rest the body up so we can chuck the kitchen sink at Leeds. Can see Leeds leaving a bit in the tank for their big game against Saints in the semi's the week after.

I think you're right. Our Achilles heel does seem to be the pressure of very important matches.

We need to lay down a marker in one of these games soon. Leeds for example. It would be very nice to take Leeds to the cleaners in front of their own crowd. We're capable of it, but we've developed a tendency to freeze on these big occasions. Leeds away could be a signal fixture for Wigan, for all kinds of reasons.

i agree , although i wouldnt call it 'choking' , its more a case of poor choices being made at crucial times that put us on the back foot at critical stages in the games we have lost

if , we dont go all the way this season , obviously i will be dissapointed , but look at where we have come from with almost the same team as last season

[uthat is the truly amazing fact[/u

the loss against bradfut earlier on in the season did the team a power of good for me , look at the attitude of the team since then , because les be fair , we took the foot of the gas at HT in that match

madge , and to be fair the rest of the back room staff have worked wonders with a inherited squad .
my mouth is watering now for next season when he moulds them more into what he wants with [ihis [/ichoice of players

in madge we trust

The fear i have is 'choaking' in a big game. Weve not yet proven we can handle pressure when the heat is really on IMO'"

Saints and Wire games cant compare to a final, no matter what spin you put on it

Leeds we played well true but we still lost, hardly damming evidence

I don't think its choking, i think it is simply not getting the bounce of the ball. We have been so close to winning the lot that it can't be choking, and afterall we have been playing good teams. I think choking is banded about to much, any team that loses a big game, are automatically chokers, its a bit daft.

Looking forward to next week, I think the players will really be up for this, and the coaches will have them wound up, hope the conditions are good. We put down a marker last night, admit Hull were under strength, think we will put down another marker next week, let's see if Lee Smith is celebrating next week.

Looks like Wire have peaked and burned out...

every club, after a big loss use it to spur them on the next time they play that team, on the Wire board they are saying the loss to Catalans will help them in the cup. It can be the psychological difference between winning and losing when big teams are involved who are close in terms of natural ability. Using this logic we need to let Leeds beat us next week and then we can go on to beat whoever we face between Warrington, Saints and them in the playoffs ultimately lifting the championship trophy at Old Trafford. If only it was that simple

The only concern I have is that in two games now (Saints and Wire) we've had 20 minutes of pressure and come away with just 2 and 6 points respectively, whilst our opponents have had 10 minutes on our line and scored two or three tries.

In the playoffs we will need to turn that 20 minutes into a match winning position.

Really?

What basis do you have for this belief?

0-46

top of the league ALL season ?

Just touched on this on another board but against Saints in particular we were our own worst enemies during the opening period and ironically it was Leuluai who was man of the match who imo was to blame. There were about 3 times in the opening half where, on the last tackle, we had a clear 2 or 3 man overlap on the left hand side and we didn't score from any of them. Now as we have done so many times this season a long pass to the wing or a shorter pass to carmont would would have been a certain try but with Lockers being out, I felt at the time and watching it back on Sky confirmed it to me, that we had it in our minds to play to the right as much as possible. Instead of doing the obvious Tommy decided to kick to the far right hand corner, where we were low on numbers due to the overlap on the left, meaning the pressure was wasted and Saints were able to make easy yards counter attacking. There was a point in the game where this tactic changed and we started to score down the left as a result. I seriously think we made the absence of Lockers more of an issue than it needed to be.

Against Wire their pack did really getting big hits in on our props just as Huddersfield did against us in the opening stages of the Murrayfield game. Under normal circumstances, as happened in the Hudds game the early pressure would have an effect later on in the game but With Coley out and Fielden getting hit so hard he didn't know if he was on this earth or fullers but having to stay on, this didn't happen. Also, we were still attempting to play our normal passing game but making mistakes but the only alternative was to try beat them up the middle which was never going to happen.

And the date Hull morphed into the 3-peat Champions?

The Challenge Cup Quarter Final.

Full stop.

The hiding we gave you at the start of the season.

Full stop.

The fact that we've already done it once this season. Nothing else needs to be said.

Gave us? We're not discussing the Bulls. Just the Champions from the last 3 seasons as much as it pains me to say. And the team who dumped you out of the Cup, given that they couldn't have played much worse and Wigan not much better.

As for the hiding: the giant 24-4 drubbing against a team missing 7 regulars? Oh. Yes, yes I missed that drubbing.

Excellent.