Wigan Warriors: The 18th Man - ‘Tom Forber a throwback to Wigan great Martin Dermott'

Darren Wrudd:

First things first, I must say that I give every respect to a Huddersfield side who I think will win more than they lose this year. They were largely well organised and full of energy, perhaps some of the ball handling skills let them down as did discipline, but that could be said of both teams. Wigan were facing an uphill struggle for energy as a week like we have just had can sap the legs and concentration levels leaving us vulnerable, but we prepared well and the way Matt Peet and his staff work alongside these players brings out the best in them. The go forward we had on display this time came from O’Neil and Ellis, amazingly lifting the tempo when on the ball, added to that was a great injection from young Tom Forber at hooker. We were sat with Tom at the pre-season dinner and you could not ask for a better prepared young man. Polite and generous of attitude, it was a joy to spend time in his company and I can only see good things coming from him as he develops his game.

All in all I thought the game was handled very well but it would have been so easy to use the previous weeks as an excuse for failure. It took Saints a good month or two to get sorted after last year's World Club Challenge victory, which affected the rest of their season. However I simply don’t see Peet letting that happen here. We have a good squad and many fighting for a place each week, so a rotation will be great to give us season-long success.

The idea now is to keep up that momentum, increase the pressure on the rest of Super League, let everyone know that if Wigan are coming to town – we don’t intend to leave without the two points secured. That starts of course with London. I was thrilled to see London back in the Super League and they are here on merit. A tough bunch of lads playing some expansive rugby and we will need to take them seriously or get burnt.

The big story of course last week was the ticketing fiasco. I have heard all sorts of stories and had our own little adventure with the system too. My mum Eileen, Glenda and I have been season ticket holders for many years and had paid last August for this year's seats. Mum had disappeared from the system, I received two tickets for my seat and three for Glenda’s, then were told they had sold all three to someone else as well. At this rate there would be 56000 at the game and I understand that many did not get in on time either although we certainly did. The phone system could not cope with demand and I cannot imagine how the staff coped but they did and in a most professional manner. We spoke with Pam, who was so very helpful and eventually managed to sort things out for us, so a huge thank you to Pam and her colleagues for their hard work. The club on the other hand should have realised that the time scale was not plausible and perhaps sent out the usual cards this year with instructions for next year's changes. Give them credit though, they have apologised, I just hope lessons have been learned as I think many of us felt things should have been better.

Glynn Bradshaw:

I thought we started the game against Huddersfield really well, and looked like we were going to run away with it, but we were a bit sloppy in the second half, and made some uncharacteristic defensive errors.

However with the short turnaround from the World Club Challenge, it is a good result.

Good efforts again from O’Neill and Ellis and I thought Thompson had his best game yet. Marshall caught the headlines again, he is so lucky to have a class centre like Wardle inside him.

The jury is still out on Keighran for me, I think he is a little suspect defensively, but hopefully will improve with time.

Early start this week, and a bit of a banana skin. It will probably be the same side as last week, but hopefully the extra rest will have done us good.

Hopeful of a good result, fingers crossed

David Bailey:

London is calling for the Warriors this weekend as Wigan travel to the Cherry Red Records Stadium to take on the Broncos. London were very unfortunate not to get something out of their trip to Hull last weekend, conceding a try on the hooter. The Broncos showed great heart against a lacklustre and under strength Hull FC. If ever there was a case for a moral victory, then this was it. Despite Hull missing a few players, they will take great heart from the game and will be hoping for another impressive crowd against the champions.

Wigan, however, maintained their impressive start to the season as they got back to the grind with a clunky, yet assured win against the Huddersfield Giants. There was always going to be a comedown after the highs of the World Club Challenge win, both physically and mentally. Matt Peet trusted the majority of players from the previous week, with the only changes being enforced ones, with Cooper, Leeming and a last minute withdrawal from Byrne. Luke Thompson came back and looked very effective, hopefully the head knock in round one was a rare occurrence, because if he remains on the pitch and continues to look this sharp, he will be a very tidy acquisition. Tom Forber got a few minutes late on and made an impressive assist for Tyler Dupree's try. I think Peet was wary of throwing him on too early, with the Giants trying to get back into the game. Finally, Tiaki Chan made his debut appearance and looked lively in parts. With Byrne still absent, he will likely get another chance to stake a claim.

With both Wigan and St Helens remaining unbeaten, the Warriors are in a healthy second place in the table, despite having played a game less than most of the league. Peet will be ensuring there is no complacency in the Warriors players, anything less than a convincing victory will be a disappointment.

Stephen Ford:

I was very happy with the result and scoreline against Huddersfield after our energy draining game against Penrith. It was a game that could have been a banana skin but we put in a very professional performance against a committed Huddersfield side. Ellis and O’Neill again both excelled. At the moment these two guys for me are our most consistent forwards in the squad and both seem to improve with every game. It was great to see Thompson play extended minutes in his home debut with some good runs and effective defence. What other superlatives can be used to describe Liam Marshall? Yet another hat-trick for the most underrated winger in the competition. If Marshall gets a chance he rarely misses an opportunity to add to his try tally. I think that he’d look to forget Huddersfield’s first try but overall another great performance from Marshall.

From a personal point of view it was really good to see Forber make his home debut but I would have liked it if he had played more minutes. Forber is perpetual motion and is the nearest hooker that I’ve seen in a Wigan jersey whose style I would compare to Martin Dermott. Hopefully Forber will get more minutes over the next couple of matches to show fans just how good he really is and push O’Neill/Leeming for a regular starting place. I will be pretty amazed if Forber isn’t a first-team regular in the next couple of seasons.

Chan also had limited minutes on his debut but showed good commitment and aggression that I would have expected with his pedigree. A funny team, Huddersfield. They have some good players and can move the ball about well when they apply themselves but too many unforced errors seem to plague their game on a regular basis. They have had a difficult start to the season in playing Leigh, Saints and ourselves and I expect them to pick points on a regular basis and could edge their way into the play-offs if Watson takes the shackles off and lets them play a more expansive style of rugby.

Finally, what a cracking crowd on Friday. Really pleasing to see so many youngsters in the crowd with their parents and really enjoying themselves. The club are doing most things right at the moment and the increase in youngsters attending home games is very high up on what they continue to deliver on and off the field.

The London game will give Matt Peet the chance to hopefully give at least a couple of fringe players a chance of a run out. Due to injuries I am not expecting any changes in the forwards however, I think that Eckersley and Hampshire will get a start and possibly young Farrimond. Hampshire could replace Field or French and Eckersley could replace Wardle or Marshall. I am assuming that Miski would like to play against his former club otherwise I would be tempted to give Douglas a run out as he looked pretty good in pre-season.

I think that London have performed really well so far this season despite long-term injuries and their inability to really strengthen their squad before the season started. I am certain that Peet and his coaching staff will ensure that the team do not underestimate the London players and give them the respect that they fully deserve. A really good opportunity for Forber to really make his mark and for Thompson to get another good 60 minutes or so on the pitch and further improve his match fitness. I anticipate another win but I don’t think that we will have a runaway victory. Currently London have +28 points start on the handicap but I think that it will be closer than that.