Wigan Warriors fans give their verdict on the Super League season so far- and name their standout players

Stephen Ford

After three great successive victories over Leigh, Saints and Wire, the Wakefield game was always going to be a bit of an anti-climax.

After easily beating them by 60 points a few weeks ago, and their continuing abysmal form, an easy victory was a foregone conclusion.

The actual game was very low key and a Wigan win was inevitable.

The relatively low score posted by Wigan was totally unsurprising after the great efforts of the prior three weeks and more injuries sustained over that period.

It was great to see Hill and Nsemba get a run in the first team and although both were somewhat quiet both gave adequate performances that gives hope that both can possibly be long term replacements in the starting 17.

Maybe a missed opportunity to further improve our points difference but it would be very harsh to be over critical after some great recent performances.

When I saw the fixture list for the 2023 season I thought that the opening six games were all very winnable so after those games I was a little disappointed when we lost two games.

The club certainly turned it around and to have won 8 out the first 10 games is pretty satisfying particularly when adding in the form of French, Smith, Smithies and to a slightly lesser degree Ellis.

After a slow start we appear to have found some great intensity in games to give us memorable victories.

I was a little worried about our attack after the loss of Briers but the ship seems to have steadied after a clunky start.

The injury list continues to grow and the loss of Cooper for the season together with the loss of Singleton and Ellis for a few weeks I think will hit us quite hard after the international break.

Not sure who is available but hopefully we can add to the squad in the next month or so particularly in the pack where we look short of depth.

The one downside in the game overall so far in the season is the disciplinary situation. Inconsistency and at times baffling decisions have led to suspensions that have been difficult to comprehend.

The Willie Isa tackle against Wakefield at the weekend in any other season would have been a brilliant one on one tackle and if televised would have been used numerous times to show the “toughness” of the sport.

The two match suspension is a joke and I believe that the forthcoming Reserve game can count as part of the missed games just about sums up the inadequacies of the disciplinary procedures.

Although I love international rugby I’ve got to be honest and say that games against France are usually extremely low key affairs and I’m not particularly worried if we lose or win.

My thoughts seem to be shared with the vast number of withdrawals from the original selected squad.

I’m not sure how the RL can change the general indifference to international rugby which if we could improve on would give us more national exposure in the media.

Glynn Bradshaw

The Wakefield game was a dull affair, and although we never looked like losing, as in previous games recently we are relying on our defence to win the game as our attack is just not firing.

Smithies was head and shoulders man of the match for me, with Miski, apart from one error, and Wardle with some classy centre play that caught the eye too.

It will be interesting to see if Hampshire comes through the reserve game at the weekend, whether he will be considered for the Hull game, as I thought Shorrocks was poor at the weekend.

With our mounting injuries in the forwards it would be nice if we could revert Shorrocks back to the pack, and enable us to strengthen the bench.

We have to be happy with our season so far, but big tests are around the corner and our squad depth will be severely tested.

I just hope that our players selected for England do not succumb to any injuries, in a game which has been diluted somewhat by the number of withdrawals

Robert Kenyon

The Wakefield game was a potential banana skin, but on the back of a few good wins against big teams we didn’t lose concentration against a struggling side- which was good.

It was a shame that the injuries to our props are growing but it gives Harvie Hill a chance.

The season so far has been muddling through injuries and getting results, I do think all season we have relied a lot on Field at the start and now French to come up with the magic- it’s hard not to but I’d like other backs to pose an attacking threat of their own.

Apart from the obvious Bevan French I’ve been massively impressed with Harry Smith.

Last season his attack stepped up and this year his defence has too which is good to see, he’s turning into a well rounded player.

The England squad is a very young side and if I’m honest I’d have had a few more experienced players in, this looks like an England Knights team to me.

Mind you if Saints wouldn’t have pulled a boat load of players out it might have had some experience, could it be a certain coach doesn’t want to give his best players to a Wiganer? Hmmm.

David Bailey

As we enter the international break, it's hard to be disappointed by Wigan's season.

Ten games in, the Warriors top the table, despite not really discovering their best form.

After an opening round defeat at what we now know are a very impressive Hull KR, and a dismal home performance against Catalans, the Wigan defence has grinded the team to the top spot.

The last four games have seen Wigan concede just four tries, including impressive wins at Leigh and previously unbeaten Warrington, along with a long awaited Good Friday Derby victory against St Helens.

All this despite having suffered a horrendous and lengthening injury list including Jai Field, Cade Cust, Mike Cooper and now Kaide Ellis.

There's a mood around the Warriors at the moment that the defence will suffocate most teams.

Harry Smith has been growing in stature, Joe Shorrocks has outplayed arguably two of the best halves in the competition in his role as a makeshift stand off.

No team has shown any sort of consistency as yet, well except Wakefield for the wrong reasons.

Matt Peet's stock continues to rise in his second season.

His honesty and humility is winning him fans from opposition supporters.

There's a lot to be pleased about for Wigan fans but with their cup defence beginning at Headingley as well as a target on their head as league leaders, there's not a chance they will rest on their laurels.

Some fans have also taken to social media to share their views on Wigan’s season so far:

Rob JL (@WAFCRob)- “Decent-ish. Think we're lucky Saints have dropped off this year otherwise we might not be in such a favourable position.”

David Beeston (@DavidBeeston)- “Very impressive after a bit of a stuttering start. Think our outside backs have been outstanding in recent weeks and we have that big game grit back. Very encouraging opening third of the season.”

Carl Rimmer (@Monkeycloud4)- “Having two actual centres is finally paying off. Defensively smothering teams. Whether the standard of defence can be maintained all season we will find out. Don’t we have six first 17ers out and we are just plugging gaps and still getting results.”

Lee Belshaw (@LeeBelshaw80)- “After a sluggish start we seem to have slipped into a higher gear. Some really good attacking options at the moment mixed with some tough defensive work.”

Jack (@Jack432j)- “Building steadily into hopefully something great. Attack needs working on but the mentality looks fine. Haven't put a full 80 minute star performance in yet.”

Supporters have also been picking which players have impressed them most in the opening 10 rounds:

Lewis Eaves (@LewisEaves)- “King for sure. He’s been key to us getting out our own 20m - something we’ve struggled to do for the past 5 years or so. That’s been the biggest improvement in our team this year in my opinion. The whole back line gets us out of yardage so easily this year. Give King a contract.”

Dawn Owen (@Yiker)- “Toby King. He’s playing like a man proving why he’s good enough for a permanent contract.”

Daniel Dowd (@DannyJDowd)- “Havard, cemented his place as one of the best props in the competition. Quietly gets on with the job and consistently makes good metres whilst being dependable in defence.”

Mr Seeds (@ecokls)- “Havard. Be the best prop in Super League in a few years.”

DutbusterRL (@Duttatron)- “Miski for sure, but even last year I saw that potential. King and Wardle have given us stability in the backs after a couple of rocky moments, and Byrne, Smith and Havard continue to impress and surprise. Hard to single out really, the whole team is looking pretty solid.”

Darren Wrudd (@drwudd)- “Willie Isa. The guy is EVERYTHING that Wigan stands for.”