Been slightly concerned for a while now about our defense down that right hand side... Every side seems to walk through Joel Tomkins and Josh Charnley. Last year it wasn't a problem as we had Gleeson who was superb in defense and Goulding on the wing who coped well under the high ball. Seems incredibly weak at the minute though.

It might also be a coincidence of right handed half backs naturally wanting to pass the ball to the left hand side of the field which coincidentally is where Tomkins and Charnley defend.

It is a weak link in our team, but all teams have certain chinks in their armour, unfortunately that side is ours.

We've only conceded 11 more points this year than last year. Hardly walking through them really.

There's been a few games were try's have been scored down pats side when Joel and charnleys been solid, but no 1 mentions that why it's pat

J Tomkins leaves Charnley woefully exposed at times. This stated, he is not a centre and is doing a very good job at the moment.

I don't think there's that much of a problem with the defence. The right hand side gets targeted more but that doesn't necessarily mean it's very weak, it just means that it's the side that teams think they have the best chance of scoring on and also it's easier for right handed players to pass from right to left.

Deacon tends to be the one who takes the wrong options but given that the players are taught to put two or three men into each tackle you can't really blame defenders for moving inside on occasions. Good attacking play often forces defensive players into making mistakes. Generally this year Joel Tomkins has been pretty solid defending at centre. There have been some errors but even Richards has made defensive errors, the same with Carmont. In fact, as good as he has been, at times during his time at Wigan Carmont has made some very basic errors, particularly with one on one tackling. Even the older players learn and improve so I don't think much criticism can be aimed at Tomkins or Charnley.

For me the problem lies with Deacon. When he's sat matches out and been rested the right hand defense has been much improved IMO. At present Joel and Hansen are really having to watch Deacon's back in defense. In contrast with the other side where Finch is one of the best, if not the best defensive half in the league.

No doubt in my mind, Tomkins and Charnley both make some bad decisions in defence. It tends to culminate in Charnley not having confidence in Tomkins' ability to mark and tackle his man so he ends up getting drawn in way too easily. We definitely need to sort this for next season.

The centre and winger are often the ones who get blamed when tries are scored where they should be defending but very often the problems are created further infield but go unnoticed. This happens a lot with a sliding defence, where one player letting their man get in between themselves and another defender can cause havoc with the rest of the defensive line with players unsure as to who they should be marking.
Take the two tries scored down our right side in the Challenge Cup. Neither of them were the fault of Charnley or Tomkins but both were scored past them. That happens quite a lot. Sometimes a forward being slow to get back into the defensive line in the middle of the pitch can cause a try to be scored on the wings.

Sick of people blamig Charnley though, joel is still playing like a second rower and he struggles to stick on his wing in defence! Hardly a major problem though - 1 defeat in 14, we all teams have weakspots and this is ours

Got to say i really disagree with that.

I think it is a bit of a myth that Deacon is weak in defense. Dont get me wrong i have seen him wrong footed on the odd occasion but generally in a 1 on 1 situation i think he is pretty solid. As you say Finch is an outstanding defender for a small halfback, but even during the game on Sunday, i thought Deacs matched him.

I honestly think the issue is more a case of eagerness by Josh. As a back rower is naturally used to jumping out the line ready to meet large immobile attackers head on. He still has a bit of that in him and that can lead to a staggered line.

If you watch Carmont he is slightly hesitant to hit the defender and is happy for them to try and take him on, that's when he pounces and takes them down. Joel needs to mimic that more and more. Cant knock his enthusiasm though.

It's not Deacon's one on one tackling that is the problem, it's his decision making. Too often he jumps back inside or rushes up too eagerly which creates an overlap out wide and making it much harder for Tomkins and Charnley.

I would argue that the blame lies with all three then as they should be working overtime to sort it out as a unit. I do think it is a myth about deacon being a bad defender however.

I think it's more about communication and cohesion than anything else. Hansen and whoever else defends inside Deacon on the right side has to take some of the blame for that side too. Hansen can motion to Deacon to keep away from the player he's marking with a movement of the hand. There just seems to be a lack of communication and a lack of cohesion down that side but that's probably to be expected. O'Loughlin defends brilliantly and communicates well with the players around him, which was why against Saints when O'Loughlin was defending quite often on the right hand side that side looked much stronger as a whole.

Was it just me who thought Deacon did pretty well in defence this week?

The trouble is coming from further inside them two from what ive seen. Often its JT and Josh left with 3 on 2 against them which makes them look bad.

Deacon is the weak link on that side and Joels inexperience at Centre in my opinion. When Deacon didnt play a few weeks ago we looked much more solid there with Tommy defending there aswell. In fact I cant remember who it was against (maybe Wakefield?) but the only try we conceded in that match was on the other wing.

Joel will get better the more he plays there but Deacon is struggling IMO. Im surprised hes not announced hes retiring yet, maybe another year could be on the cards?

For me, Joel's defensive decision making has been getting better week on week. That side does seem to be getting targeted more by the opposition than the Pat/Carmont wing, but as an attacker wouldn't you rather go for the unproven kids than the old hands?

Nobody did well in defence this week, hence us getting hammered by dire :-/

You've all generally targeted your right hand side as being the defensive weakness, but we targeted your left on Sunday.

I think that was to tire out our most dangerous players (Hoffman, Finch, Carmont and Richards). Leuluai was also targeted in defence over and over again which obviously worked because he was a bit slow going forward.

I wouldn't just point the finger at our defending really, seeing as we gifted them two tries whilst we were in possession. Plus there's not a lot our defense could have done about the Briers try off his own deflected kick

I think what we have to remember is Charnley's also playing out of possition just as much as JT is. Charnleys grown up playing centre and i think his weakness is leaving his winger and trying to take the inside man out. Too often this season he's been caught out doing this and his opposing winger has scored without a finger being laid on him. In contrast, Pat on the other wing sticks to his winger like glue and trusts his inside defence to drift and doesnt get sucked in. No matter how good and structred a defence is, its always going to be undone if your winger keeps ball watching and leaves his man. Whats frustrating is if Charnely stays on his wing and man he cant be blamed for anything that happens inside him. It would be the fault of a drifting defence not working together.

I am not sure about this view. Tomkins is defending where teams typically target in the line, Deacon. Deacon is small and slowing down, there's many a time where Joel covers inward and leaves the gap in the centres but what option is there?