Wigan Warriors: The 18th Man - 'Terrific' Brad O’Neill the stand-out in early stages of 2024 campaign

David Bailey:

A refreshed Warriors line-up came away from London with a pretty convincing win, eventually! The Broncos can hold their heads up, and just into the second half, they looked really up for a close fought game. Matt Peet was true to his word in pre-season, with Eckersley, Hampshire and Farrimond getting some first-team action. Junior Nsemba was a nice surprise too, as Wigan's pack looks like it will be the main driving force behind any success this season.

A few were concerned at the number of changes in the team, particularly a new half-back combination, but the Warriors fitness and conditioning meant the game got away from London. The pack rotation looks phenomenal, and despite having enforced absences for Havard, Byrne, Leeming, Cooper, not to mention rising stars Walters, Nsemba and Eseh at various points, the pack haven't missed a beat. I doubt anyone would have picked Mago at loose forward pre-game yet here we are, and he was very unlucky not to get a double. A curious decision from James Vella not to go to the video referee robbing the big man. There have been some real stand-outs in the pack this season. Tyler Dupree has continued his rich vein of form from last season. Kaide Ellis looks as comfortable in the 13 shirt as I have seen him at Wigan. Mago is a superb impact player too. For me though, Brad O'Neill has been terrific. Won everything in the game after just 50 senior appearances. People talk about youngsters (not just Wigan's youngsters but starlets across the league), yet Brad's age never seems to be brought up. To put it into context, he's retained his starting spot when Leeming has been available, he's playing one of the spine positions at one of the biggest clubs. He gave Peet the confidence to allow Sam Powell to continue his career at Warrington, but the main one for me is that he has been a mentor to 'young' Tom Forber, despite only being 11 months older than him. It's been a terrific rise for the Leyther, but he's settled, with a young family and is only going to get better. Surely international honours are only around the corner.

Finally, the Cup draw gave Wigan a home fixture against Sheffield Eagles. Many fans were disappointed not to get a Championship side away from home.

I am not sure if the club has any control of pricing, but surely it makes sense to lower the prices and get a decent crowd in at the DW. I am not looking forward to the endless mentions of 1998 in the build up, however!

Darren Wrudd:

The result at London was never really in doubt, but that’s as it should be and I am not disrespecting the new boys in Super League. They put up a decent show but were just nowhere near the skill levels required to compete at the top level. That said, they moved the ball around and caused us problems at times. Our forwards dominated from the off and but for some scruffy play around the rucks, we could have capitalised on more chances. The thing that impressed me the most was the way that the drafted in players in our 17, stood up and did a job. Not looking out of place at all Ryan Hampshire was simply superb and shows how he has matured as a professional player. He takes on his role in the squad and seems always ready to go at the merest hint of a call up. As well it seems does Zach Eckersley. At one point with his long legs striding down the field I could not help but compare him to Pat Richards. Deceptively fast and a joy to watch him pull away from the chasers. A good performance and we seem to be settling down after the high emotions of a World Club Challenge victory, have I mentioned that already.

The news that we are drawn against Sheffield in the Challenge Cup next round brings back all sorts of memories, but I hope we press the advantage and don’t slip up as they will be buzzing to come here and upset the cart.

As I am writing this on the Wednesday and you are reading it with hindsight, it is difficult to say too much about Salford. By now the result is known of course and I just hope that we have contained the dangers that Sneyd and Atkin throw at us. Salford had real success against Saints last time out, their first away victory there for over forty years. But I suspect that says as much about the poor performance of the plastic scousers as it does about the Red Devils. Although they have certainly signed well and are very well coached by Paul Rowley. If we keep our plays tight and clean up the area around the ruck both in possession and defence, I feel we should bring another two points home. I am going for a Wigan win by 16 points, let's see how it turns out.

Glynn Bradshaw:

First and foremost, a big shout out to the Warriors faithful who made the long journey in numbers to the capital on Saturday, getting behind the team as usual.

Was impressed by the ground at AFC Wimbledon and the surroundings, long day but an enjoyable one.

It turned out to be an easy win in the end, but didn’t look that way just after half time, as our defence looked a little suspect on the flanks for the second week in succession, certainly something we need to improve on.

I thought Farrimond improved in the second half - he was guilty of forcing the pass in the first. Eckersley did well with ball in hand, but work needed to be done defensively, still as it was their first and second games in Super League respectively, they both did well.

Forber impresses in his short spells and is gaining valuable experience.

The player that is standing out for me at the moment is Brad O’Neill, having to do bigger minutes in the absence of Leeming, and really impressing in attack and defence.

A real tough game awaits us on Thursday night under the lights at the Salford Stadium, they are one of the form teams in the competition at the moment, and any team that wins at Saints must command respect.

They have a number of good players but are particularly strong out wide, so more reason for us to step up defensively in this area.

Fingers crossed for another victory.

Stephen Ford:

A very pleasing result against London with all the youngsters who were selected playing well. The London game was an excellent chance to give the youngsters some more first-team experience and Matty Peet played more youngsters than I was expecting. Farrimond played with great assurance and it's easy to see why he is so highly rated. I think that he is still eligible for the Academy so it is really encouraging that the coaching team have enough confidence in him to be playing first-team rugby.

Forber is a personal favourite and ideally I would have played him more minutes at London and hopefully he will get more chances in the next few weeks. Eckersley already looks as if he could move into the first-team on a regular basis. A big powerful back, he has bags of pace and took his try really well. I expect Eckersley and Forber to play against Sheffield in the Challenge Cup.

For me the most pleasing display from a youngster was Harvie Hill. Although he has played on a more regular basis for the first-team than some of the youngsters, it is very easy to forget just how old Hill is. So far this season he looks and plays like a different player to last year. He looks a lot bigger and he is playing with more aggression and is making more yardage with his carries. He took both of his tries really well and he will give a lot of teams problems when we have the ball close to the line.

When we get Havard, Cooper and Byrne back it will be a difficult choice for Peet to ask Hill to step down as he doesn’t look out of place as a starting 17 player. I was looking forward to Nsemba returning after injury and if anything he played better than I was anticipating. I expect that Nsemba will get extended minutes against Sheffield to give Isa or Farrell some well-earned rest.

Thompson deservedly got the man of the match and is looking like the player who went to the NRL a few years ago. Comparatively he is smaller than most of our other props however, he looks a particularly strong player and his ability to do extended minutes is a major plus. Hopefully he will continue to further improve as his match fitness is extended. I like Chan and really appreciate his high intensity and aggressiveness in games. He may get the odd disciplinary charge but I wouldn’t look to change how he plays as his style of play suits our aggressive defence and he could turn out to be an excellent signing.