I have to admit I am not his biggest fan. From a number point of view he tends to put up decent meters and lots of tackles, which is great.

My issue is he seems to lack a bit of game smarts when it comes to giving away a penalty tired of seeing him lie on unnecessarily late in the count.

Can't understand how anyone can try to justify his cheap shot on Ratchford. Really poor and a sign of his level as a player.

I read the first line of your post and then thought it's pointless reading the rest.

Those sort of late cheap shot happen in every game, can't stand them.

I don't think he's gone to hurt him, just a bit of frustration. I think he's a player that functions brilliantly in a well oiled, fully operational wigan machine, when there are injuries and he carries more responsibility he struggles. A decent player though, invaluable to a squad.

I agree it was nothing more than frustration however it was unnecessary. He wasn't committed and could have pulled out. His knee hit the floor and slid in rather than making direct contact which is probably what saved him from further action. It's hardly the crime that some Warrington fans are making it out to be but IMO he should have got 10 mins.

Cheap shot, I thought Ratchford would have to go off with a dead leg, I suspect if we weren't already 2 men down he would have gone off.

But he didn't.. So whats your point? If you have a dead leg you DO go off, not negotiable.

The holding down penalty and sin bin is just something that happens from time to time. Any smart player would have tried to hang on as much as possible at that point because our defence was a mess. Better players have and always will get caught out at times like that.

Sliding in with the knees was just frustration. There was no way he could have avoided contact at that speed but he should have put his hands out first rather than making contact with the knees. It was cheap. Far from the worst thing that will happen in any game but he needs to control himself a little better when things are getting tough.

Can't fault his effort though. Had it not been for those incidents he'd have been one of the few established players to play well.

My point is the coaching staff wouldn't have risked him staying on (dead leg or not) if we weren't already 2 players down. Credit to Ratchford for not milking it.

Look again, the try was scored before Farrell started sliding!

I don't think i have defended Farrell in any way, and i hate late cheap shots, which happen in most games BTW. So, he wasn't injured then? Took a knock for certain, but was OBVIOUSLY able to play on, cause he did.

I rate Farrell highly- he just seems to go through spells in the season when his discipline lets him down.

The late shot on Ratchford was not good and Farrell has form for that- see last years Grand Final.

What difference does it make if the knee hits the floor and he slides into him? He is still leading with the knees well after the try has been scored. not as if the hitting the ground slows him down. At least you aren't defending the indefensible - 10 minutes would have been the correct punishment (as well as the 8 point try).



Corrected that one for you.

I presume you also think that Willie Isa's tackling technique of leading with the knees also happens in every game?

I won't correct your post's, please don't presume to think you have the intellect to improve mine... Try watching and looking without your tinted specs, i have been critical of Farrell, and merely said that it happens in other games. If you disagree fine, but don't be such a grunt as to suggest only we do it...

Let's just agree that you have form for it. Plus doesn't your coach promote such things?

"I can't give you any more of a free reign than that. Be reckless because that's what is going to get us the f****** win next week! Is everybody clear on that?"

Should have been an 8 point try that night too - don't know how he got away with it.

Needs to start using his brain more on the pitch.

You assume he had one. Although it could be argued he is just following Wanes game plan.

Nonsense yet again!

As soon as Ratchford realised he was awarded an 8 point try he was up and running as if nothing had happened.

Farrell was trying his best to stop the try. Cant blame him for that. Ratchford went for an eloquent swan dive when scoring to impress a few fans when he only needed to place the ball on the ground. If hed have placed the ball on the gound he wouldnt have come into contact with Farrell. I hope every Wigan player shows the same commitment to stop trys as Farrell did as he was the only one sprinting over whilst others thought it was a lost cause.

Bring back the biff!

Watch the game back....He was still on his feet when the ball was down.

There really should be an IQ test required to create a profile on RLFANS

A couple of seasons ago i really rated Farrell, he looked to be one of the best up and coming forwards in Rugby League, but over recent times his game and style of play looks to have changed considerably. He seems to be all about spoiling tactics, constantly lying on, hands in the play the ball, niggling opponents trying to put them off their game and every now and again an embarrassing cheap shot on opposing players, (he does seem to be a bit of a penalty machine at the moment). But he really could still be one of the best in the world if he concentrated on his game and got back to simply playing Rugby League. I know a majority of Wigan fans will be spitting fire at this, but Chris Hill is a prime example of a forward who simply concentrates on His Rugby and gets on with it, (much like Jamie Peacock did at Leeds) and because of this he has become the player he is today, probably the best prop in British rugby and up there with the worlds best, Farrell still shows glimpses of what he is capable of, but he and indeed Shaun Wayne really could learn a lot by looking at the examples set by chris hill and Jamie Peacock before him, not just for Wigans benefit, but for Englands and possibly Great Britains in the future.

I cant believe people are trying to defend Farrell. It was as deliberate as they come and in my opinion should have been sin binned again. His actions were a disgrace last night.

I bet he was ing brilliant at pile-on at school!

There are plenty of players who have been given the 'penalty machine' tag over the years because they give away a lot of penalties for interference. Over the years it's been O'Loughlin, Joel Tomkins, Hoffman, before that Bailey, now Farrell. Basically, some very good and very experienced players give away penalties like that because they are expected to slow the game down. All teams try to do it. The hard working back row forwards who make plenty of tackles generally do it the most and sometimes they push it too far.

I don't quite get the criticism of Farrell. He's a better player now than ever before. He makes a huge number of metres, a huge number of tackles, is consistent, gets stuck in when things are going tough, has improved his skills so that this season he's created tries and breaks with smart passes and also put in some good kicks.

Occasionally he'll lose his cool and do something petulant out of frustration when things aren't going right. It's not something that happens that regularly and he's hardly in a minority of players who that applies to.

Strange all this thug business, I remember watching a game not so long ago between Wigan and Wire and commenting to a mate of mine to, “mark my words, if all this thuggish behaviour continues in our game, someone will have someone's eye out”....... and then forget they'd done it!