Wigan Warriors: The 18th Man - ‘The criticism on social media was ridiculous...'

David Bailey:

It's never dull in Hull. Or so the saying goes. They must have never seen the Warriors playing in the city. Under Matt Peet’s stewardship, Wigan have played eight times in the city and only won twice (and one of those was in golden point). Out of twenty defeats under Peet as head coach, six have been in this darned City. It was one of those days that after about ten minutes, you had a feeling the lads would be better off jumping back on the bus and trekking home across the M62. Hull were hungry, and desperate. Wigan, again with key players missing, were just trying too hard for a game they were meant to win comfortably. Funnily enough the two most inexperienced players were two of the most reliable on the day. Zach and Jack's stock continues to rise, and if Wigan can ride out the next few rounds until Jai and then latterly Bevan return, the experience gained by these two promising youngsters will be invaluable.

I saw a huge amount of criticism on social media. By all means, the performance was way off, but to turn on players and claim they aren't good enough after one blip is just ridiculous! We have won EVERYTHING. We are top of the league, with a game in hand, with the best attack and defence in the league! Give your head a wobble!

Warrington this week is a crucial game in the context of the table. The Wire have their tails up after recovering from a shaky few weeks around Wembley. Burgess has them believing again and I'd go as far to say a full strength Wolves will head into the game as favourites. I'm hoping the Warriors fans turn out in force. It was a huge boost to see Kruise Leeming back. Hookers are like buses. You're stuck kicking stones without one then two show up at once!

It's also worth remembering that should we opt for a spine of Eckersley (20), Farrimond (18) Smith (24) and O'Neill (just 22 and despite the latter two's experience and trophy laden resumes), it's an incredibly young spine averaging just 21 years of age. Speaking of age, I get the feeling that because kids play for Wigan, it's taken for granted they will both integrate and perform at the highest level. Both Warrington and St Helens claimed moral victories for their kids/reserves pushing Wigan close. You probably don't realise Wigan's ages both individually and collectively were younger than their opponents. I guess it's a backhanded compliment that it's overlooked but doesn't give credit to those who work hard on the pathways from schools and local teams up into the scholarship academy and reserves staff who make Wigan what it is today.

Wigan can reassert their status with a win this week to increase the gap on Warrington to four points and the crowd will need to be right behind them. A loss will see Wire (and likely KR) right back in the mix for the League Leaders. The squad will be tested as next week sees that run of three games in nine days. Huddersfield got a timely win against play-off hopefuls Salford. Leigh are still trying to get back into the play-off picture (I personally think they have too much to do) and Leeds are getting used to interim head coach Brad Arthur's new regime. Three games that could go a long way to deciding the League Leaders’ Shield should Wigan take maximum points after a win this week.

Stephen Ford:

The winning run had to end but it was so disappointing how we didn’t compete until about the sixty minute mark. For me this was our worst performance since our loss to Wakefield away last year. Even our most consistent players like Thompson, Wardle and O’Neill had poor games. Perhaps the only shades of light in a dark performance came from the Byrne cameo in the final 15 minutes or so and Walters looked a lot more comfortable than his previous starts. Hopefully we can write this one off and get back on track against Wire on Friday.

Full credit to Hull for a very high tempo start and for hanging on to the win when a few weeks ago they seemed incapable of even thinking about winning against any team in the competition. Hull thoroughly deserved their win and if we had sneaked a win at the death it would have a miscarriage of a result. Hull’s recruitment in the last few years has been woeful and the game needs a strong Hull to improve the competition so I am looking forward to seeing how they perform in 2025 with major squad changes and coaching set up.

I am pretty certain that Wire have had Friday’s game on their radar as the top priority since our win at Wembley. To be fair to Wire I expected a reaction to that loss with a loss of form however, they have kept their momentum going and are really starting to look like the real deal. They are in my opinion, on current form, our main threat for the LLS and the GF unless Saints can get back on track when they get their injured players back. I am pretty confident that we will respond well to the Hull defeat but a little unsure if we will have the tools to unlock the Wire defence without French and Field. With Leeming back in the squad this will give us more balance and will give us variety in our attacking options. I was also hoping that Cooper would be available as Mago appears to be falling back to minimal minutes and Peet doesn’t appear to be confident in his defence capabilities. If selected, Hill also needs to be more effective than his recent performances but to be fair to the lad when selected he also plays minimal minutes. The key to a win for me could be driven by how we utilise Farrimond. In his last three appearances he has played in a very conservative manner leaving all half-back and kicking duties to Smith leaving us pretty predictable and Smith prone to additional pressure from the opponents defence. In the Hull defeat there were a couple of instances when we were chasing the game when Farrimond had the ball and he attacked the line rather than just passing at the first opportunity and he showed what a potential he could be. I’m hoping that Peet takes the shackles off Farrimond and lets him play with far more freedom than of late.

I am sure that it will be a fantastic atmosphere against Wire who will bring a large following for what promises to be a tense and highly competitive game. One or two surprises in the Wire squad, notably Fitzgibbon, and it could be that Wire have targeted this game for their return to really bolster their chances. Our pack needs to dominate the Wire pack like we did at Wembley if we are to win the game otherwise we could be looking at our first home defeat for over a year. Can’t wait for what should be a titanic tussle.

Darren Wrudd:

I suppose it would be easy and almost lazy of me to sit behind a keyboard and criticise last week's performance, so it is just as well I left it a few days to ponder my scribbles and sulk quietly about the loss. We could all see that it was not a good day at the office and if we had taken the points at last gasp I would have really felt for Hull FC as they had for three quarters of the game out-shone our effort, organisation and ball skills.

I may have said it before but I make mistakes in my small business and quietly sort them out without fanfare or customers berating me from the trade counter, why, because you don’t make a mistake on purpose, so long as you are honest and try to learn from it then there is a positive to find from every error.

This was just not our day and too many dropped balls, penalties and poor choices conspired to poke us in the eye.

I hope the players and coaches moved on from that quite quickly too because sitting at the top of the table, with a game in hand is a lofty position which everyone wants to knock us down from. That’s the price you pay for being the best, I can live with that.

So this week's training I am sure has gone well, concentrating on the basics and underlining that reset of mind that we will need to come out of the blocks like a greyhound against a Warrington side who may be nipping at our heels but are a clear cut second place team.

With the current upset of not having our two golden boys Field and French in play, it gives a massive chance for young guns to show what they can do and stake a claim for their shirt going forward and we have no shortage of talent just waiting for that chance to shine.

Warrington will watch that Hull FC game and think that all they need is defensive energy to pressure us into errors, but I think our calm and professional attitude will shine through and take the spoils, underlining our dominance at the top.

I see that the Australians are set to host the next World Cup in 2026, with the current crop of youngsters plying their trade in Super League, I think we might actually have a shout of upsetting the green and golds in their own backyard. Now that's something to look forward to for sure.