He'll be fired up against us on Saturday, he always is. He does still flap a bit though...

A few chips over the top would be the order of the day for me.



We put a kick through the line about 40m out in the friendly which Sam Tomkins chased through. It was a 50/50 ball between him and Mathers but Mathers was like a Rabbit in the head lights and just seemed to bottle it.



Mathers has got good skills but he's prone to the odd gaff and I think his past injuries still play on his mind in those 50/50 situations.



Like I said earlier I like him and theres no need for some of the sh*t he takes off the Wigan fans but we must target him on Saturday night.

8 Mins.

He always tried his best for Wigan and took alot of typical unfair abuse, which contributed to his downfall.



However, if we kick him to death on Saturday, I think we will get plenty joy.

I felt sorry for Richie when he came in for the pre-match talk in the South Stand bar, he was boo'd by a small ut noticeable portion of the people in there. You could tell he was upset by that. Was uncalled for imo.

personally from what I've seen he always seems comfortable in the air, it's the grubbers he struggles with.

I think he is fine with the basics of the position, but once he makes a mistake he goes to pieces.

His positional play is exceptional like you say, he's always in the right place at the right time but his brain doesn't always move as quickly as he does and left out on the wing.

Saying that i really like the lad and he more than makes up for the brain farts in my eyes in other areas.



His decision making is rushed at times all he needs to learn is a little composure and he'll be fine.

Composure was the thing that he could never work on at Wigan - Too many boo-boys who were looking for any reason at all to get on his back.



I'll admit that I was never his greatest fan, but I would never boo any Wigan player whilst they are playing for us.



He just doesn't seem to be comfortable in covering the little chips and kicks on the ground. Give him a bomb and he tended to be OK (although he did let it bounce more often than any other FB I've seen recently at Wigan).



I'm glad he's back with a coach who can nurture him, while the fans give him time, although if he'd still been with us this year - Who knows what would have happened?



With Kris Rad and Hampo training him, he could have stepped up several levels.

But then again, we have "Squeaky Cam", whom I personally rate much more highly than Richie Mathers.

I just hope Wigan's game plan isn't solely to focus on Mathers (of course I doubt it will be). We need to counter the threat of Lee Briers and let Myler get more of the ball. Personally I don't think Myler can control the park enough yet and if Briers is marginalised could be key to keeping them from getting too many points.

I hope we dont go that far !!!!!!!!!!