couldnt get to the game so interested in his performance.
sounded like he took his try well, and he certainly didnt appear to meke the mistakes that joel did at times.

interested in thoughts of those that were there

I would also like a rating. Marsh highlights a weakness in Maguires coaching, he drops some players yet Finch gets a different treatment. Wigan need to develop Marsh, Goulding & Charnely into international class centres and then we can put Joel back into the 2nd row.

What do you mean by Finch gets a different treatment? He's been one of our best players for the last 5 or 6 weeks.

I agree that we need time to develop centres but to be fair, Charnley is scoring for fun at the moment with Joel on his inside.

I would be aware of having a back line of Marsh, Goulding, Charnley & Sam. There is no size or power in that back line.

For me, one of them will be kept on a long term and currently, Charnley holds the torch.

Marsh was Marsh. He threw himself into it at 100mph whilst coming up with a mixed bag. On the good side he made a couple of half breaks, took his try well, chased kicks for his life and in the main defended well and on the bad side he never looked up with ball in hand and did fall of just 1 or 2 tackles(but his pace helps him out in recovering).

Without doubt a winger and he could be a pretty good one at that.

OK lets look at Finch, the Cas match, falls for a dummy from McGoldrick = try for Cas, dummies a play of the ball near the end of the match = penalty to Cas.
The Huds match, wigan score & receive ball back from kick off, throws a pass to no one, Huds score.
The Catalan debacle at the DW, the Cats run at Finch and score a try at will on every occasion they run at him.
The DW match against the wires, the Wires run at him and score on each occasion. Special treatment= doesn't get dropped for big defensive errors, and plays an important match for which he wasn't even fit to play = pally with Maguire.
Organisation skills are coming on strong, however at Times he looks as slow as a carthorse. Watch who Warringtion attack in both of the up and coming matches, it will be Finch.
It reminds me of when we had J O'Neil and Matty Johns, big signings who we had to play because we paid big money but weren't up to it.
Get Chase in the side before Leeds sign him up

Not sure what you have against him but you're mad. Every player makes mistakes in games but he's been fantastic lately.

We need a good pair of centres, and not playing Marsh & Goulding hinders us next year. But he doesn't play them why? Because they make mistakes? Finch has cost us in all our defeats this year but keeps getting picked. Its not Finch I have a problem with its Maguires double standards

All you have done is list mistakes that Finch has made, yet you don't mention any of the fantastic passes, kicks, breaks he has made, or the experience he brings to the team? I'll admit he was poor against wire and Catalans, I was one of those who questioned his signing at the time. But as those who knew better at the time said, he needed game time to get over his serious injury and he would come good. He probably shouldn't have been thrown in against wire, it was a risk that probably didn't pay off, although he did score a try didn't he? Quite frankly the whole team was awful at home against Catalans, should they all have bden dropped? What about the way he has led the team across the pitch in the last couple of months, the man of the match performance away at saints? Quite how this relates to marsh I'm not sure, I haven't seen yesterdays game, but for me Marsh is never a centre, he simply doesn't have the awareness when he has the ball, it's head down all the way. I do think he'll make a good winger though.

To compare the gametime Marsh and Finch have got is surely ridiculous, one is a young back who is still learning, the other an experienced pivot who has a very important role in the team.

That's the most 1 sided load of rubbish I've read on here for a long, long time.

You've isolated 3 games there to slate him for - 1 was his debut, and another where the whole team were pathetic. He's played out of his skin recently, absolutely running the show against Saints, playing fantastically against Hudds and Cas, and was like a dog with a bone in his defensive attitude yesterday.

Look at the way he links up with the attack now he's found his feet and fitness. I could list individual instances where his decisions alone have got us 6 points, not unlike you did with his flaws, but I won't.

Frankly, with the way he's performed in the last 6 games or so, it would be a long list.

The saints game was won by Mossop and Prescott. Yesterday a under performing Deacon took charge.
No the issue is - if Marsh has a good game he will be dropped, whereas Finch is guaranteed his place. When Maguire started last year he said he will never pick a player on reputation. Finch does, and the likes of Goulding & Marsh aren't allowed to build a reputation,
I think some people have short memories.

It's not as cut and dried as that with Marsh.

He played due to an injury to Carmont, who was in top form before missing out. George has scored in 6 straight home games, 2 of them within 5 days last week.

So, assuming he is recalled for Wakey on Friday, Marsh is being replaced by another player in form, and one who's form has been longer sustained than Stefan's good game against Quins.

Let him off, he's from Bryn

Ive always thought Georgie could have 6 weeks off injured and return to the team and play amazing rugby, because he is class. However he won't be here next year and Wigan have a few "easier" games for Marsh to gain some confidence. We have to start building for next year, unless we have a star signin in the pipeline? We also need strength and depth, as its been pointing out above, Wigan dont have the size or power at the quarters but experience helps.

We're also conceding tries down our right hand side.

You're also ignoring Finch being voted MoM 3 times already this season by us, which is only bettered by Sam.

Look at the Goulding thread, its the same story. Both Goulding & Marsh don't get enough game time to improve. Wigan won the SL last year with comfort. We all thought these 3 ozzie signings would strengthen the squad, but have they?
I think Goulding, Marsh, Farrell & Tuson are losing form and progress unnecessarily. Hence these threads appear scrutinising our younger players and its a sad shame, these lads would have been playin much better this year without the new signings, Lima being the exception due to Fieldens injury.
Im not ignoring MOM performances I'm reminding you of the clubs ideals made last year, lets win the SL with local young talent. So give them a chance....

I can't believe you are serious - Hoffman on his own has been one of the best signings in recent Wigan history and his experience has carried us in a number of games. Finch has been improving steadily to the point that he is now an integral part of our attack. Lima has been a solid and effective workhorse, equal to all but Mossop in our front row. All three have been influential in us maintaining a position towards the top of SL in a season when an adjustment had to be made to adjust for the loss if the services of our workhorse prop (Fielden), prime distributor (Riddell) and key right centre strike threat (Gleeson) of last season.

We can all dream about a team full of Wiganers, but it isn't going to happen and don't let it blinker your views on the quality and contribution of imports. Of the four names listed, personally I think only Farrell has a long term future at Wigan.

Look at the Saints they play & stick to their youth policy where we maybe losing sight of ours. Andy Gregory sits in our club and has nothing but praise for Finch, however he also reminds us that he himself never got signed by Wigan as a youth, because of the "stars" they already had in the team, it took a certain Mr Laughton to recognise his talents.
Lets make sure that never happens again and play some of these boys in the up and coming fixtures, remember these boys are playing for a place in the team, they have a point to prove, Also do you not want Great Britain to win anything? Wigan & Saints could build a GB between them with all the quality youngsters coming through. Also remember, Finch & the Hoff haven't won us anything yet, whereas Farrell, Goulding, Marsh & Tuson have. I rest my case

Yes.


Probably they would, but the team would have been a lot worse. Farrell & Tuson have been getting plenty game time, in any case, and Goulding's already played almost 100 games for us.


Who's keeping Marsh out? A Wigan lad (unless you're seriously suggesting dropping George).
Who's keeping Goulding out? Another Wigan lad (unless you're seriously suggesting dropping Pat).

Farrell & Tuson are competing against each other, unless you're saying they're better than Hoffman or Hansen.

Finch is a complete red herring, since we don't yet have a halfback ready to come in (Mellor is a great prospect, but not quite yet).

Losing sight of our youth policy? Are you being serious? I suggest you look at the quality of some of the young players in the first team squad, as well as the youth teams. By GB I presume you mean England? The success of the England team is not the responsibility of Wigan, the success of Wigan is! Yes Farrell, Goulding, Marsh and Tuson were part of the championship winning team, but Ricky Bibey has two challenge cup winners medals, four players does not a team make. Should we have kept Ainscough, Bailey and Palea'aesina as they were in the championship winning squad? We should play the strongest team we can in every game in order to win, this is professional sport not an after school club. If a player is good enough they play, if not they wait for their chance. I would love an all English Wigan team, but if we don't have 20+ English players good enough, I'd rather we play the best team can in order to win games and titles.

Saints have started a transition period and are gambling on a lot of unproven youth, we tried the same between 2003-2006 and it didn't work because of the lack of experience and quality in key positions. Wigan are in a position of strength and real contenders to win honours for a good while, but you need experienced players to supplement the talented youth we have.


The unpredictability of youth development, the salary cap and the hotbed of raw talent in Wigan will always mean that one or two slip the net. We've also had some decent non-Wigan youth players that we've pinched from under the noses of other clubs (i.e, J. Robinson and McIllorum).


Playing youngsters that aren't at the same level as experienced players and don't have the potential to be anything above average won't help Wigan or England. My priorities remain with what is best for Wigan and I think the league table tells the story. Bit harsh to evaluate Hoff and Finch based on an incomplete season and also completely inaccurate to suggest Farrell, Marsh and Tuson were major reasons for Wigan's previous success. Goulding I'll let you have, but with the caveat that he was flattered by the quality of Gleeson on his inside. Charnley is a much better player already.

You make excellent points.
Tomkins is no centre, so play Marsh. Rest the HOff against Wakey & Bradford play Joel & Tuson. Let tehm get some game time

If Finch gets injured then we play Sam, at that point you may have to play charnley at FB or another youngster.
Goulding scored as many tries as Pat last year so why drop him? Is it because Joel doesn't give him the assurance in defence or anythin to feed from in attack ? (see the Goulding thread)
We need to address the lack strength and depth in the quarters & the salary cap, and everyone is supporting the Ozzie signings Its mind bogglin.
We need to compete with Saints and stick to the policy on local talent.

Its a good discussion, but doesn't if feel that much better when a wiganer scores the winner against the Saints?

How many of Saints local talent are going to make it as international class? Lomax and ...the rest are extremely questionable. They also have a dearth of emerging talent and quality in the forwards, the likes of Ashurst, Dixon, Macgennis, etc, are barely SL quality, nevermind the foundation for SL success. We had superior forward potential in the likes of Lockers, Hock and Hansen in our poor period and still struggled. I fail to see how Saints are the current benchmark to follow.


It does, but not at the expense of a Wiganer scoring in a heavy defeat to Saints due to the lack of experience and quality, and an unwillingness to look for talent and experience beyond the Wigan Borough boundary.