Anyone else watching on Wigan TV?

Great offload from Mago for the 1st try. Junior Nsemba is a big lad as well isn't he.

Yes good to have the rugby back.

Field has looked great so far at fullback. Mago with one try and a big hand in another although he looks very unfit to me - gasping for air after 10 minutes. No doubt the reason why they've played him today.

Agree on both points. I'm just hoping that it's more of a style / body language thing with Mago. Interesting to hear Ellis say that he's been a handful in training. He's certainly been blowing tho.

to be fair hes done most of the running

Undoubtedly and that's why I'm hoping/leaning towards him looking more goosed than he actually is. It was a good 15min stint.

Pierce-Paul looking good in the centres too.

Enjoying it so far. KPP at centre is an interesting selection, could be a good way of getting him in the team with Bateman, Farrell Isa.

Agreed with the above on Mago, showed some nice touches but fitness is clearly lacking. Hopefully he’s still building on this though

I think it's body language. Half an hour gone and he's still flying in.

Interesting selection isn't it.

Maybe done with one eye on Zak going to FB whilst French is away? Good to see options and reasons for guys to stake a claim. As mentioned before, Field has put his hand up so far.

Happy with what we’ve seen so far. Echo the points on Mago. He’s been a handful but clearly needs match fitness. The good thing about our pack is that it’ll be rammed full of guys who can do 80 minutes, so we can afford a big lad like Mago who might only do 30 minutes a game but will make an impact.

Good to see Harry Smith and Field having strong games.

Lovely from Brad O’Neill. He is a superb prospect for us.

He's got the "Dean Bell spin" off to a T

Agreed. I also think Mago is fitter than you might think. Nearly a full half so far an as effective in the last minutes as he was in the first.

Thoughts on Smithies at prop?

I know that last season he was played heavily at 13 (i.e. the extra prop), but for me he's not big enough to keep going down the middle.

With Havard being out and Partington missing most of pre season, is he being tested as a 4th prop option.

Ellis, Mago, Byrne + another?

Doing well against Newcastle but then they're not a particularly big pack. Good leg drive though so would be interesting to see him against a bigger pack.

On Mago: Great offload in the 40th minute there...

Edit: You've missed Singleton out of your prop options.

Entertaining rugby - praise the Lord. I remember watching the Salford friendly last year and being bored out of my mind so very promising signs from a team missing so many.

Good first 40. Looked direct and inventive in attack and obviously nilled them in defence. Extra attacking option with Mago's offloads. 2 excellent ones, resulting in a try and a drop out. I liked KPP at centre and Miski looking strong. All the new guys have gone well and we certainly have some young talent coming through!

Yes I have. Thank you. I knew there was another one, but his name just wasn't coming into my head.

excellent

Yes, pleasing stuff. KPP and Miski looking strong, some good combinations between O'Neill and Shorrocks, Mago hard to put down and with a decent offload, Smith looking lively. Field has been fine so far, but I do worry that he looks a bit weedy.

Great break from Junior Nsemba there. Zach Eckersley has been impressive throughout the match too.

Done it again.

Seems to play what's in front of him really well.

Not sure what happened to him towards the end of the last season (probably Lam), but I'm hoping he'll really cement a spot this year.

Harvie Hill with some great runs.

Yep, there’s no need to flog Powell for 80 mins every week.

Another interesting point for me was how well Matty Nicholson played for Newcastle, their best player by far.