Wakefield were dire. 40 minutes of total dominance, 10 of those with a one man advantage, and they had 4 points to show for it.



Don't get me wrong, we did pretty well defending on some instances, but most other teams (especially Wigan!) would've finished that half with at least 20 points to their name.

Didn't think Charnley was THAT bad, and made several good contributions to the game.

I think it is too easy to say we had a poor first half because what I saw was Wakefield force 4 sets in a row from some very accurate attacking kicks, but equally we defended them all very well. Now, as I said, I think that Wakefield did fail to stretch us in the proceeding 5 tackles meaning that defensively, we were not having to scramble and as such the line was organised on the last, but had we not being alert Wakefield could have scored at least another 2 or 3 tries in the first half. I know that Wigan will stretch us more, but you can only play what is put in front of you and our defence looked much better than in proceeding weeks.



Equally, we still made too many errors with the ball in hand and our ball security was still poor in both halves. We need to complete our sets and build momentum and field position, something Wakefield were much better than us at in the first half. The forwards are still not stepping up a gear and laying the platform when it matters but we have suffered on the injury front and not had an consistency, so hopefully some competition for places will help.

That's a fair assessment IA but to add the forwards did get some good quick ptb's 2nd half when we upped a gear and then we blew them away when we were more composed.

If we play like we have done for most of the last 2 matches, come Friday we are in for a humping of Biblical proportions!

Is that really the case though?



I think people are preparing themselves a little too much for dissapointment.



I don't for one minute think Leeds are playing well, but then again I also don't think they are playing as badly as people are saying. Infact they could play the exact same way as yesterday on another day with the ball sticking to hand, and posters would be calling them unbelievable.



For the record Leeds problem this season has been their defence, which was much improved this week. Wigan on the other hand have so far scored 72 points less than Leeds, accepted a game less played. There are only two teams in the league who have scored less points than Wigan (again accepted a game less), one of those been Wakefield.



Wigan's attack is not clicking, and the reality is that their very key attacking threat in Tomkins is been found out slightly. Leeds have to repeat what other teams have done this year in that regards. To add to this they have two players over the last two games who have looked simply shocking under high balls. So certainly Wigan have their weakness's just as much as they have their threats.



Personally I think if we can get Smith and Delaney back this week, Leeds will be in a much stronger position than they have previously, although Burgess will be a major loss.

I would continue with the side that played today but take out JJB and bring in Delanney.



If Burgess is unfit then Kirke - I personally would not play Smith his form didn't warrant his inclusion prior to injury - Ablett is doing an excellent job in the centres.



The concern for me would be the left side with Senior and Hall under the high ball especially with a quality kicker like Finch.



Neither side can play as bad as they did at the weekend so could be a reasonable game to watch. I still expect a dominant Wigan performance especially if Silverwood refs.

I'll be there, looking forward to it already!



When's McGuire and Peacock due back?

I hope Leeds at least give them a game. Best we can hope for is a narrow defeat. They will play better than they did against the Wolves, McGuire will see to that. Leeds really are heading for mid-table oblivion along with Bradford and the Hull clubs. Wish we could generate the spirit Cas are showing this season (punching well above their weight) because even with our injury woes, there are still quality players turning out in the blue and amber playing like school kids.

Danny doesn't coach us, Michael Maguire does

He was truly awful in dealing with kicks and made some questionable defensive decisions for a couple of tries down his channel. Other aspects of his play were decent but the negative aspects of his play probably cost Wigan most of the points they conceded.



IMO of course.

Well your glass is most definitely half empty!