The Liam Farrell Column: Setting off early to support the lads

It was pretty tough for me watching the St Helens game from the sidelines, they're big games to be involved in, especially the Good Friday derbies as they don't come any bigger than those.
Frank-Paul NuuausalaFrank-Paul Nuuausala
Frank-Paul Nuuausala

I tried to support the lads as much as I possibly could, even though it did end up as a disappointing result.

Personally, I thought we started the game pretty well. We just made too many errors and when you make so many errors, particularly against a side like Saints, you can’t expect to win the game.

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It was disappointing and I know all the lads were feeling down after the game, but they’re going to do their review this week to see where we went wrong so strive to improve for this week’s clash with Hull.

I was desperate to be involved in the game and I tried to encourage the lads and give them advice as much as possible. I can assure you that I was doing all I could to help the lads on the sideline.

Obviously ‘the Wrecking Ball’ made his much-anticipated home debut, people told Frank-Paul about the rivalry during the week and come the game he got stuck in quite well to be honest.

He lost his temper a bit towards the end of the game, but I’m sure Waney won’t be too bothered by that.

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He’ll be the first to hold his hand up and say he lost his head a little bit, but at the same time Waney loves that aggression but in a controlled manner.

However, I’ve no doubt Frank-Paul will be a massive hit with the fans, especially when he gets some matches fitness under his belt.

As for the little scraps, I don’t mind it to be honest. It’s a Wigan-Saints derby and all the lads involved for both teams are from near enough the same area. It’s going to occasionally boil over.

Everyone knows what’s at stake in the derbies and as long as it doesn’t go too far then it’s all right in my opinion.

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It was a little bit scrappy and there wasn’t anything too serious but it’s good for the fans, it fuels the passion and the atmosphere.

In terms of this Friday night, I’m going to be driving to Doncaster to support the lads in our Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull.

It’s been a few years since we got this far in the cup and we’ve had some disappointing results in the competition recently, so we’ve got to make sure we prepare right this week because we want to get to Wembley again – there isn’t better atmosphere. I’ll make sure I get down there in decent time because I wouldn’t quite say Doncaster is a neutral ground, but it won’t stop me supporting the lads.

It’s swings and roundabouts; we played London in the 2013 semi-final at the Leigh Sports Village! So we won’t complain about the Keepmoat Stadium, we’ll play anywhere but it’s just making sure that we play to our full potential.

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Our past experience in big games shows that we can step up to the plate, we just have to make sure we can control the game and manage the pressure that comes with those types of matches.

The coaching staff will have us well drilled on what we need to do and we need to stick to that game plan.

We know it’s a tough game. We’re a playing a good Hull side who have done a lot of good things this season and they’ve got a lot of quality players.

Obviously a former teammate of mine Scott Taylor will be playing for Hull so we’ll give him some stick!

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Jokes aside though, Scott did a good job at here at Wigan and he’s been brilliant for Hull this year.

He’s their main forward and he plays alongside the likes of Frank Pritchard so we’ve got to control their pack.

If we don’t they’ll cause us trouble and then their outside backs will take advantage; that’s when they’re really dangerous.

As for myself, I’m recovering well from my rib injury and I’ve just been trying to build my strength in recent weeks.

I’m looking to be back for the first game of the Super 8s, but if not it’s looking likely that it will be the second fixture the week after.