Wigan Warriors fans give their verdict on last week's loss to Leeds Rhinos and look ahead to Saturday's Challenge Cup tie

Stephen Ford

Friday’s defeat against Leeds wasn’t a total shock but the manner in which we imploded was a major surprise.

If I was a Leeds fan I would have been ecstatic with their second half performance.

A player down and seemingly very little in attack then transformed into a very high intensity performance with fast open plays and a very aggressive defence.

I rarely give 10 out of 10 but for me the Leeds performance in the second half fully deserved that irrespective of the Wigan performance.

A remarkable turnaround. At 14-0 we were coasting albeit once again our attack was not fluent but Leeds posed very few questions and I assumed that they were keeping their powder dry for the Challenge Cup game.

Our attack has been quite poor all season in the opposition 20 and the passing fluency that last season was for me our biggest asset, seems to have disappeared.

The lack of experienced props is, I feel, hitting us quite hard and we sorely missed Cooper and Singleton on Friday.

If you add to that Ellis, our pack and options were very bare.

Not sure why Peet had only one prop on the bench but Hill, although inexperienced, was surely a better option than having both Cust and O’Neill on the bench.

Apart from an odd glimpse of an attacking threat from French no other Wigan player on the night showed any composure or offer any variety to out attack.

Allegedly Mago and Kai Pearce-Paul have the ability to offload but I can’t recall at any point this season where either of these players have used an offload to give an added threat to our attack.

The form of Farrell is also worrying. I can only assume that he is carrying some sort of injury as his current form is way below what we have come to expect from a normally very consistent top class player.

I think the current levels of injury have exposed that our squad is quite thin particularly in the forwards and we have too many inexperienced players making up the squad.

I am not sure how we can turn it around come Saturday for the Challenge Cup tie with Leeds.

I am not aware of any of our current injured players apart from Hampshire who could make the 17 for the game.

Peet will have to dramatically turnaround a very poor display with effectively the same players available.

Cust looked totally off the pace when he came on so not sure if a further week’s training can materially change his fitness levels.

I think that Peet may well risk Hampshire at six and hopefully also play young Hill off the bench.

It will be a massive test for Peet and his coaching team to turn things around after poor displays against Leeds and Hull the previous week.

I am not sure if they can do it but I am sure that defensively we will be vastly superior than in our last couple of games.

We need to start well from the kick off and maintain a very high intensity similar to our performance against Saints on Good Friday.

Anything less than that I fear will mean a defeat at the first hurdle in defending our hold on the Challenge Cup. Interesting times.

Robert Kenyon

The loss to Leeds was a tired looking team with no leadership or plan B.

We gifted Leeds tries with interceptions, they went a man down and we still couldn’t capitalise.

I think having Cust on the bench was a mistake, if he’s fit then start him, if he’s not fit then play him in the reserves until he is.

Even when Cust came on he didn’t do much, having another prop on the bench would have been a better idea.

We went into the game with Mago on the bench who isn’t a Stuart Fielden type work horse, he’s an impact player- so a big mistake in team selection for me.

Thornley has played well the last two games including the reserves games but he hardly touched the ball in the first half, so I don’t know if he was carrying an injury.

Seeing Farrell lose his cool isn’t very Liam Farrell like either.

Wardle played well, as did Isa, but the rest of the team need to change and up the effort in order to progress in the cup.

I think the squad looks a bit tired and a bit stale and needs freshening up, whether they’re training too hard or not enough, or playing too often and not having a break, I’m not sure but they look a bit flat at the minute.

David Bailey

Well, how do you unpick that? Hopefully Matty Peet will have a better idea than I.

For the first time in a long time Wigan performed in a very un-Wigan like manner.

We have been beaten by bigger margins under Peet's reign but I don't remember a capitulation quite like this one.

From being 14 nil up, in cruise control in what seemed like a training exercise the Warriors imploded.

Leeds only sniff of a chance in the first half came courtesy of a Harry Smith intercepted pass and they duly converted.

Leeds then had a man sent off courtesy of a late headshot on the halfback as Tetevano was given his marching orders.

It seemed like the game would be a foregone conclusion to everyone apart from the Rhinos. Leeds struck twice early in the second half but when Wigan found a score and levelled the game up at 18 - 18, you thought the Warriors extra man advantage would tell.

The Rhinos went on to register 22 unanswered points, including two more interceptions on a night Harry Smith will want to forget.

I suppose the good thing for the Warriors is that this week it's the Rhinos again, an ideal opportunity to exorcise the demons of last Friday almost immediately.

The return of Cade Cust didn't go as planned and the conundrum of Wigan's half back combination is one Peet needs to solve urgently.

Liam Marshall could return, but to be quite honest, Iain Thornley has been one of the best performers in the last two disappointing defeats.

Ryan Hampshire surely deserves a chance of some first team football. His experience and kicking ability could come in handy.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post's rugby writer Peter Smith before last Friday's game, he suggested that whichever team lost last week would win the cup game.

I for one hope he is correct as it would be disappointing to bow out defending the Challenge Cup at the first hurdle.

Friday also brought a reminder that some things are more important as the reserves game was abandoned due to a worrying injury for Leed Rhinos Toby Warren.

Thankfully the quick thinking and care from the Rhinos medical staff, Wigan Warriors, the ambulance team and Salford hospital mean that Warren is alright if a little sore.

We sometimes forget what players risk for our entertainment and what those behind the scenes do to ensure their safety.

We also need a few different ideas when attacking as we are too reliant on Bevan French to come up with the goods, our halves need to be more creative and our forwards need to offload more.

Glynn Bradshaw

What a disappointing second half performance that was.

We started slowly again and didn’t really convert our pressure into points, but at half time we were still quietly confident we could get the job done, with the extra man too.

However, how wrong could we have been?

One solitary try for our efforts in the second half against an avalanche of 34 points in what can only be described as a capitulation and an embarrassment.

The players need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror after that and reflect on how badly they let the Warriors faithful down.

The marvellous wins on the bounce against Leigh, Saints and Wire seem a million miles away and has done much to dent even the most loyal supporters' confidence.

What was most alarming for me were the comments post-match by our captain Liam Farrell, where he said the desire and effort was missing in the second half.

Those two attributes should be a given every game, not something you can pick and choose- come on guys that’s just not good enough.

Looking forward to this week, it’s the first of a number of challenges.

I’m hoping for a positive reaction, which I thought we might get after the Hull game.

Leeds are no mugs but if we start well, our forwards muscle up, and we apply ourselves 100% in both halves, not just one, then we could prevail.

Fingers crossed!

Darren Wrudd

Oh my goodness me, what the heck was that about?

I thought we began the game last week against a well drilled Leeds quite well.

We had an obvious game plan and although not covered in sparkles, it was working.

Our depleted pack were competing well and the back line were doing the hard graft we are used to witnessing.

We were in control and heading for a hard fought victory.

Then just before half time an opportunist intercept try made the score line look much closer than it should have.

On the other side of the break however, I think we all saw what happened but I challenge anyone to tell me how.

A further two intercepted passes for tries, another one as we let the high ball bounce when in perfect position to catch it, more dropped balls and penalties than I care to remember or even want to discuss here.

That was not a Wigan performance on so many levels, the club knows it and I am drawing a line under it here and now as it hurts to think about it further.

On the Wigan Warriors website, there is a nice little article about some of the memorable victories in the Cup against Leeds, but it brought to my mind instead some of the stolen chances they have taken from us in recent memory.

At Headingley, a last gasp 20m tap when Danny McGuire ran down field to steal a try, or the late chip to the corner that saw Lee Smith stand on the wall to taunt our fans.

Who could possibly forget the foul on Pat Richards by McGuire to stop a certain try to cheat his way to the final.

The point here is that Leeds may not be firing on all cylinders at the moment but they just do not give up.

Anything they, even the cheating little so and so McGuire, could possibly do to win against us was fair game and we have to be the same to have a chance at all of progressing in the cup.

I think the lads owe it to themselves to stand up to them this week and I expect a performance.

Controlled, professional and not laden with panic errors, and we will come home with the spoils.

If we lose the battle for eagerness, the will to work hard for the 80 minutes, there will be a different outcome and we can book a weekend off come final time.

I think however that Smith, French and Cust should show us what they can do and I am looking forward to a great game.

Finally I would like to send my congratulations to Professor Chris Brookes on his appointment as vice chairman of our club.

For years he has been heavily involved with Wigan and the sport as a whole and is respected throughout the game from domestic to international level.

Thank you for your continued commitment to our wonderful sport and our fantastic club.