I think Shaun feels that he has to play Jeremy Smith. OK if that is the case surely the wise option would be to play him at #9. Smith showed at Wigan that his swift service could provide the answer to Salfords lethargy.

Malcolm is not our ideal hooker any more - his service is far too slow and pedestrian. His work rate is still there but as many of us have noted in the past - the second row beckons.

Stef to #6 then and Mark Henry into #4. So we need a loanee at #5 or risk Fitzy at #1 and Wilshere back in the threequarters.

Not Rocket Science but surely a better balanced approach and now the time to try.

The problem with playing Smith at hooker is whether or not his defence is good enough. Also while Alker would be fine in the second row from a defensive point of view, going forward he wouldn't really offer anything. We've got nothing to lose though so I couldn't see the harm in trying it out.

FWIW I think Sean is handling the situation badly - I see in Jeremy Smith a player with a lot of talent and ability but absolutely shot in confidence - the knock on last night just summed it up completely.

So with a player (or any employee in that situation), what do you do?

Either you keep just doing the same, which merely adds to the pressure, or you try and change things to fix the situation.

For me, I'd be dropping Smith for a couple of games for the following reasons:

1: It takes the pressure off him and lets him rebuild some confidence in a less stressed environment
2: If you don't take that action, then what message is that sending to other players? Here's someone who isn't perfoming well but nothing happens, so why should I bother?

However I've never been involved in professional (or amateur) sport as anything other than a spectator so what do I know?

Say what you want about Smith but he gave me the moment of the match last night.Right at the end of the game he got the ball and there was no one to pass to you could see the colour drain from his face just before he got tackled.Talk about rabbit caught in the headlights no wonder he never tries to make a break himself we have a player who doesnt like being tackled.

Why does the coach have to play JS? Personally i would take him out of the spotlight for a few games. It would certainly help the player . The lads confidence has been shot for a while and i do feel for him. He always puts the effort in and next year if he is still here i think you will see a much better player.

I made this point a few weeks ago, but also wondered whether dropping Smith would ruin his confidence completely?

McRae knows Smith better than any of us and obviously sees something in him. McRae has coached some fantastic players so obviously knows what a decent player looks like. Therefore I think there must be more to Smith than we've seen so far. I just hope we see it sooner rather than later?!

I do wonder whether McRae is sticking with Smith because he knows he'll be our first choice halfback, alongside Ratchford, if/when Myler leaves?

Come on lets get real here.
A stand off who cant tackle, break the line or kick we are in the $hit if he is the future.

Think the problem with overseas players not performing is made worse by some at the club who seem to think that as we have paid so much for them we will play them whatever.

This attitude helps no-one, crowd gets frustrated,players confidence dives and the team as a whole suffer,but some lessons are never learnt.

Problem is if they are Australian they get picked regardless of form.

Totally agree!! Swain and Henry have been gash all season!! drop them now!!