I wouldn't really put it down to whos inside him, as the thing thats worried me most is when he's had ball in hand. He hasn't gone for the corner when in the past he would have scored, and when he does get half clear he doesn't seem to put his foot down. I dont know, this may be down to injuries or a slight lack of confidence. I just dont think he's been the same player this year.

You have to bear in mind he is getting on now, and doesn't have the pace he once did, especially since the Achilles injury. He hasn't really been the same since that. I think this year was the right time to leave, honestly.

Richards hasn't been the same player since he got injured in the grand final for my money. He's still solid enough to keep his spot but little more

.

Yep, which is why I was surprised he got an NRL offer.

Farrell much improved last night.

How the hell did Richards get man of the match? The corporates must have been tipsy

Thought Hansen got sponsors MOM.

They are always way off!

Ridiculous sometimes.

The Sponsors MOTM is who they want to meet after the game. It rarely has to do with personal performance.

I think Hansen got MOM. John Monie used to have words with the sponsors and explain who deserves mom and why.

At the game my mate said he couldn't believe Richards had got MOM then I heard them announce Hansen.

I'm thinking they may have made an error and announced it twice.

Im bumping this thread. Both awful again.

Im struggling as to why nobody has picked up on Farrell's bad form the last 5-6 weeks, it doesn't seem to get a mention. The lines he ran last night were awful.

I agree with you on Farrell and the lines he is running. Green got a lot of stick last night for feeding Farrell time after time and not going out the back - but Farrell just wasn't hitting the gaps! His drop in form is a big worry.

It's hard to be critical of Richards, he does a winger's job. A few times last night we worked an overlap, Thornley drew the man and didn't pass to Richards in space. The service to him (in recent weeks) has been crap.

I thought Wigan did very well to hold Shudds until half time. Apart from Charnley, who I think is currently the best winger in SL, you were lacking any world class players. Plenty of solid, reliable players - Farrell, Hansen, Goulding, MMc, Mossop types - some great young kids, and some living off past glories - Richards, Luauki (sp). You desperately missed O'L and Tomkins.

Im still a huge fan of Green and I think its unfair the stick he is getting. Last night he was missing Smith, Lockers and Sam out of the attacking line, he was trying everything on his own in the second half. Every time he looked to hit Farrell on the outisde he was either stood still or ran the complete wrong line. Green must be really frustrated at the minute, the first half of the season I think we saw the real Blake Green, a classy 6 who can hit his outside runners and create space.

One problem I think I can see is the difference how Wigan line up in attack when Sam plays and when he doesn't.
When he plays Wigan seem to position themselves deeper which gives the second rows and outside backs that bit more time to see the gaps for Sam and other players to exploit.

When he does not play Wigan are so flat that when an outside player receives the ball the defence is in his face, hence the amount of ball dropped in the man and ball collisions.

When Wigan tried to get in Hudds faces their halfbacks kicked us to death with their little chips through, Wigan only seem to try the little kicks when they are within 10yds of the line.

Richards hasn't done anything wrong, he might stand a chance if he ever got the ball. He must miss George Carmont like mad (as do we all)

+1, add on top of that the really poor performance from Powell who isn't ready for SL just yet, Hampshire on the other hand is. Blake & Smith have suffered from injuries (from late shoulder charges) and shoudlnt be too harshly judged, however as a fan its sooooooo frustrating to watch.Farrell & Green need synch training they are on completely different wavelengths at the moment. They lads know they are better than the last half a dozen peformances, but I'm getting a sense that either Wane hasn't learnt anything from these last few matches or he hasnt got any other choices available to him- and that would be a sad situation to be in for the business end of the season.

I have seen him get the ball plenty of times this season, when was the last time he went round his opposite winger? There are many times when Charnley would have finished the chances that Richards has had. He is still solid, reliable etc but just hasnt the pace these days to be a top winger. In fact I am staggered that he has got a gig again in the NRL.

Pat used to get a lot of his tries by catching a bomb to the corner. I don't remember the last time he got one of those.
As for his pace, he lost that after the Grand Final. He's been a great servant to the club for many years, but it is time to replace him.

I'll be honest, I can't remember ever seeing him do that. Give him space and an open field and he can finish, always has been able to do that, but put a decent tackler in front of him and he'll get tackled. He's never been a winger who could beat a man with a step or drop of the shoulder.

I think we're letting Richards go at the right time. He hasn't been as good as in previous seasons and as others have said previously, the Achilles injury he suffered seems to have had a big negative effect on his game.

He never was the quickest of wingers but he's really lacking pace now. Possibly a combination of increasing age and that injury. He doesn't seem as dominant in the air and just in general across all of his game it seems he's at about 70% of what he used to be capable of.

There was a big difference when Burgess played on the left - he was much more dangerous when given space as his pace allowed him to ease away from defenders. A winger without pace is only really going to be effective from close range.

C.P, where do you sit on the Burgess / Manfredi tussle. Somehow I'd like to see both of them given a chance. I wonder if that is in Wanes thoughts with Burgess playing centre yesterday, or maybe that's my wishful thinking.
Certainly any team that had Burgess, Manfredi, Charnley, Hampshire and Sam in the backline could do some damage.

i think part of the problem is without oloughlin and sam, we really struggle getting the ball to the left effectively. means neither pat nor farrell have had the ball in space recently as the matches where both sam and oloughlin have played have been few and far between. green specifically noticably favours passing left to right.

It seems that selection is pretty simple. Manfredi plays on the right and Burgess on the left, so with a left centre out this weekend Burgess ended up at centre.

If I had to pick one to play on the wing it would be Burgess. I know Manfredi is a stronger tackler but Burgess just has that raw pace and excellent acceleration. He's also brilliant in the air and that's the one thing that puts him ahead of Manfredi. These days someone weak under the high ball will almost certainly be targeted and it can be the difference between making it at the highest level and not.

If I had to pick one to play centre it would be Manfredi. He's got great strength and as I already said, his tackling is very strong. No idea how his handling is for a centre because the U19's provides no real test. He can just try to run through everyone (and usually does).

I can't see them playing in the same side this year unless Charnley and Richards are both out. I don't think either are quite ready to be used at centre.

What I would like to see is Burgess given a game at fullback if (or should that be when) Tomkins misses another game. Hampshire has shown great creativity there but it's not ideal. I don't think he's quite ready for Super League physically but he's at the mercy of onrushing defenders at fullback.
Burgess is just a little bit stronger, much safer under the high ball and his pace should make him a threat from fullback. He might not have the handling skills of Hampshire but his handling isn't poor.

Burgess should bulk up over the next few years and when he does he might be an option at centre. I think he's the most likely to be capable of playing anywhere in the threequarters.