post wrote:Having watched the game back I don’t think King deserves the criticism he’s been given.
If anything Jai Field had his worst game in a Wigan shirt, Cade Cust was caught out of position in defence which will have a knock on effect with King and French. Those 3 need time to build an understanding in defence that’s all.
When I saw the video of the team running up sand dunes, lifting weights, doing the bleep test etc I didn’t see any rugby balls and that’s one reason we were clunky in attack against Hull KR. I think if Briers would have been here he would have made sure first and foremost we are a rugby team, just being strong, fit, fast and disciplined in defence is great but that should be along side being good rugby players not in place of.
More rugby, more ball handling, more work position wise in defence for both edges.
Apart from the missed tackle where he was out of position leading to the try by SKD I think he had a reasonable game. His work rate was excellent.
His defensive effort to hold KR player up over the line when they looked certain to score got us the momentum to get back into the game.
He got the assist for the Field try when the easy option would have been to pass to French but his offload under pressure was poor.
I think he was out biggest meter maker on the day and when we were down to 12 he cut a lot of the overlaps on his side short by his rush defence.
In some eyes the SKD try was “proof” he is a poor signing and they won’t be convinced otherwise. He needs to trust his inside man more as he picked out the lead runner allowing the out the back play and lacked the pace to recover once sucked in.
His offload is a great asset as I’d his height where it will be a nightmare for left edge defences on cross field kicks having to mark both him and KPP.
His defence does need a bit of work but it’s not nearly as bad as some make out and he needs to be a bit more selective of when to offload.
Of the 2 centres I was more disappointed in Wardle on Saturday, a player I rate very very highly. He didn’t really get involved with the carries and whilst he was 2nd on the meters made behind King most of him meters came when he had a clear run to the line. I am expecting to see a bit more from him on Friday.