We will get to see how brave the disciplinary are over the 3 strikes to the head of matautia committed by Austin as he should be banned for the cup tie and maybe more

Think we need more than just him being banned to stand a chance.

I'm afraid I agree.

Standing around hoping that Austin gets banned just makes us look weak, and it's not like it would make a lot of difference anyway.

Sorry to sound defeatist, but the Wigan class of 2019 is a long way short of challenging for silverware.

When IL said this would be a transition season, he clearly meant it. For whatever reason - and there are several to choose from - we are a shadow of the force we were last year, whereas Warrington have got noticeably stronger in all departments. Maybe it's best if we just slip quietly out of the Cup at this early stage rather than get shown up in a higher profile fixture later in the competition.

That would also help us concentrate on what matters most, surviving in SL.

I never thought I'd ever say that about Wigan, but we are where we are.

Come off it Cruncher! Survival in Superleague isn’t even a consideration. We sit 2 point off 5th and we’ve played our worst rugby. We can’t help but get better and when we do, we’ll give somebody a bloody good hiding. I’m not saying we’ll beat Wire but I don’t think we’re in anything like relegation standard.

I feel more like you do now than I did two weeks ago. But I still think we're on thin ice.

Let's remember that we were lucky twice against London, who fortunately were even worse with ball in hand than we were (despite the ludicrous over-bigging-up the Sky commentators gave them), while Castleford's performance last night puts our scrawpy win over them into some kind of perspective.

But I'll not feel secure in the league until we've won at least another couple of matches - and let's remember that our next 5 or 6 are all away from home, so on current form it could be a while before we see those vital extra points.

I'm not advocating we throw the Cup game, but I feel about it the way I did about the Good Friday game ... namely that the injured players who were suddenly all fit to face Saints would have been more use to us in the more winnable matches away at Cas and Wakey. I notice that Budgie is now, miraculously, expected to be fit for Wire. Personally, I'd rather he'd played against London.

But I'm aware that I sound like a pessimist verging maybe on the irrational, so I won't hammer this point.

I hope you're right. We're also 6pts from the bottom of the table. The table's quite tight, so let's give it until the end of the month before we rule out the possibility of a relegation battle.

London won’t get 12 points so I think relegation can be ruled out tbh. Not that it makes us a good side but still. I think the cup is our best chance although I’m not quite as confident as after Easter. Wire looked a bit wobbly but have bounced back and look pretty injury free. I thought then we may push them close but now I’m not too sure.

As for Austin I didn’t see the incidents but he’s shown in his time here already that he’s a bit of a grub.

I’ve got no argument with any of this to be honest. All I’d say is that if a player is not 100% fit they shouldn’t be risked in the cup game. Give them chance to fully recover and get stuck into a good run at the league. Despite having only won 6 from 14 games, we still have a positive points difference (just) and as I say, we’ve done that playing probably as bad as we ever will. My hope (and belief) is that we will hit some form and go on a good run at some point. We still have to play all the teams above us again and we can still have a say in the top 5.

He did not get to be put on report no yellow card just a penalty, matautia got up and did not milk it if you look proper it came off the top of his shoulder first will not get a ban.

The high tackle wasn't on matautia he just to went in to break things up it's at this point that Austin decided to punch him 3 times

The one thing in Wigans favour..is London they where always going to go down, not seen anything to suggest otherwise..and Leeds's implosion, they are worsened say far worse than Wigan at present.

Will Wigan go down?no and I've never thought they would either, but they could get pulled into the relegation battler very easily if their not careful.

It does not seem long ago that the regular doom mongers on here were wishing we were more like Leeds... Seems they have gotten their wish, tho' not as they imagined!

I’ve just caught up with last night’s game and I’d be stunned if Austin was banned. First hit was on the shoulder and went up but then he only pushed Matautia to the face. There were no punches thrown. Penalty probably right but no further action required.

Agree with what you say no ban.

Which game did that happen in?

Spot on. There was nothing in it at all, it just looked bad because his arm finished around the head area. Austin is definitely feisty, and that’s a good thing as he’ll be targeted. But he’s not dirty as far as I can see, just plays the game tough. He’s a great chap off the pitch as well apparently. He’s helping out with youth players and making a big effort in things he’s unassigned for- a real club man and rugby league man who really does care about our club and the game- genuinely one of our best signings in the 35 odd years I’ve been watching Wire.

Ah. I think I missed that game. What did you make of last night's nothing squeamish?

First look live I thought he'd done him good style, saw the replay and it's off the shoulder and catches him around the head.
On field penalty sufficient nothing to see here.
If he does get a ban for that we might as well wrap up.

Seem to remember Saints fans creaming their pants over Ben Barba about this time last year , that ended well .

is all I can do for that comment.

(For me), different kettle of fish entirely from Barba, and Sandow for that matter. So far, so extremely good. Austin seems to have his head in the right place.

Not trying to be a Wire troll, but he is fantastic. He puts the defensive hits in as well. Apparently he’s the quickest over 30m in the whole Wire squad. He’s the player we’ve wanted, for so many years to replace Briers and more,

Can only echo Gazwire.
He's in SL for the right reasons and he's been thoroughly professional about the move.
He's really is an asset for the game....unlike Sandow and Barba who were in it for themselves and their own naughty boy cameo ego trip...I'm sure Austin will fit in along with legends we still remember fondly, the likes of Brett Kenny, Peter Stirling, Mal Meninga, Allan Langer and RFU convert Jiffy Davis.
I always hated Wigan and Saints but I went to watch Meninga and Kenny play, not just against Wire but other teams...because they were great to watch and good for our game. And so many older fans of other clubs that went to watch Warrington, not because of Warrington but because of Bevan...120k+(102k official) fans at a Wednesday evening replay.

If we didn't have the luxury of Sky TV...and if Austin was playing for Wigan...I'd go the odd game just to see him play.

Yes, he's banned for the rest of the season.

Ooh a smart how long did it take you to come up with that

Was never gonna cop a ban for such a minor incident. Looks its down to Powell/Leuluai to "cannonball" him out of the game.