v Wigan Mk2

I’ve rewatched the game this morning. Then watched most of it again with my dad before I had to rush for my train. The defence was magnificent and there were no lapses this week until near the end when it was a done deal and bodies were tired.

We all know that Hastings, Dudson, Mossop, Jones and Lussick were superb but Inu, Sio, Bibby, Burke, Walker and Flash were not far behind. After a dodgy couple of weeks, Welham put in a good stint.

And a quick word for Lolohea, who has obviously been asked to reign it in for the playoffs but is doing an unsung job and, despite Leeds fans concerns, has been brilliant in defence.

My only complaint was kicking and some 5th tackle options but they were obviously playing possession/territory rugby and won 4-28 so who am I to criticise?!

30+ years of anxiety, uncertainty, near misses and disappointments, all seem worth it now!

Jacko said himself in the clip I saw this morning that Dudson was man of the match when he was given the cheque for charity.

So in the light of a new day, a few of my thoughts on the match;

Forward pack outstanding and won every man on man battle. Initial spell by Dudson and Mossop set the tone and the interchanges maintained it.

Defence was utterly superb, Wigan never looked like breaking through.

If I was Saints, I'd note two key things. Our field kicking is poor, just as it was against Castleford. Gave away a lot of territory that way. Secondly, we can be beaten for pace, which Wigan didn't really try until it was too late, being sucked into losing a forward battle. I would expect Saints to play an expansive game against us. Rain would level matters off somewhat.

But overall, play like that and we'll give ourselves a decent chance at least. Top performance, and most pleasing was the mental attitude. Completely unfazed by the occasion and rigourously sticking to Watson's gameplan. You can see that they're really enjoying it, and really playing for each other. You can't buy that.

I thought the kicking game was ok, distance for touch could of been better, but i think the plan was to make them play out of there own defence, rather than have a chance of 7 tackles from the 20 mtr line.

Magnificent achievement. As my user name implies I live in a holiday town. Watched it in the only dedicated rugby league bar in Brid with fans from just about every Yorkshire club and every one was cheering for Salford. Hope you can pull it of next week.