NickyKiss wrote:I've got to admit I'm on board with those who slate his passing. It's nowhere near good enough for a top level halfback. He and us must have broke some sort of record this year for passes hitting the floor rather then the man! I think we only need to look at his assist tally to see that there's clearly issues in regards to that.
I say all that but I'd still be worried to see him go. I'd mainly be worried in regards to kicking, both from distance and from the tee. He may only be a 70% or so so goalkicker but aside from him I don't see anyone in our squad who'll kick at much above 50%. His long know kicking game is also very good when it's on form and his drop goals this year have proved in valuable and have made up some of the short fall from his goalkicking.
I'm confident he'll be with us next year tbh. I think Wanes a big fan and I get the sense the Saints rumours are just that. If I had to nail my colours to the mast I'd say I'm in the 'stay' camp (doubt we'll get 34m opinions on this one) because it's probably better the devil you know. I think he suits our style of play and his passing should improve with his increased confidence (I think it has already to a degree).
It's not so much the passes that go to ground that I'm talking about really although there are plenty of them! It's the passes that go just behind the runner meaning that they have to 'check' their run or turn to catch the ball. Our forwards often get grief for not running it in hard enough but when they lose so much momentum because of the poor passes it's not surprising their runs are not as effective as they could be. It's not just Smith that does this but he's a main culprit for it.
Bigredwarrior wrote:It's not so much the passes that go to ground that I'm talking about really although there are plenty of them! It's the passes that go just behind the runner meaning that they have to 'check' their run or turn to catch the ball. Our forwards often get grief for not running it in hard enough but when they lose so much momentum because of the poor passes it's not surprising their runs are not as effective as they could be. It's not just Smith that does this but he's a main culprit for it.
Fully agree. His passing accuracy has been shocking tbh and I think it's been due to a lack of confidence more then anything. It's also not been easy having different players playing all over the shop each week. Everyone times there runs slightly differently and run different lines.
Once he's got Sam Tomkins, Williams and Lockers alongside him on a consistent basis and he gets a good line runner like Bateman outside him I'd expect a lot more from him. If he can't produce in those circumstances then he's got issues.
NickyKiss wrote:Fully agree. His passing accuracy has been shocking tbh and I think it's been due to a lack of confidence more then anything. It's also not been easy having different players playing all over the shop each week. Everyone times there runs slightly differently and run different lines.
Once he's got Sam Tomkins, Williams and Lockers alongside him on a consistent basis and he gets a good line runner like Bateman outside him I'd expect a lot more from him. If he can't produce in those circumstances then he's got issues.
Hard to argue against that mate, his form has improved since ST and SOL etc came back. My problem is that as a scrum half and one of our more experienced players I'd have expected him to be one of the main leaders to step it up when we were crippled with injuries. He didn't, his form went down hill. This is when we really needed him to up his game but he didn't have it in him which I found very disappointing. We could get the same from a young lad like Shorrocks with the likes of ST, SOL around him. Smith shouldn't need to be surrounded by that level of class to perform his own role effectively.
I'd say George Williams passing is worse than Smiths to be fair.
I'd be happy with TL coming in but not at the expense of Smith. Smith has played without a 1/6/13 for most of the season, no wonder he didn't exactly pull up trees.
As I've said before, Andy Gregory he is not but he is steady.
Current thoughts - Mago out or get running up them plantations, get fit or get rid. Maybe a back up halfback, someone with a bit of experience on a short term deal. Big tall strong running second rower, like a McMeekin or Sironen type back rower.
post wrote:I'd say George Williams passing is worse than Smiths to be fair.
I'd be happy with TL coming in but not at the expense of Smith. Smith has played without a 1/6/13 for most of the season, no wonder he didn't exactly pull up trees.
As I've said before, Andy Gregory he is not but he is steady.
Williams' passing can be a bit erratic, but he's still managed a few killer try-making passes this season. How often does Smith do that?
The point about passes going behind players and stalling their runs struck me; I'd just been watching the Cowboys, and the power and precision with which they execute is a pleasure to watch. And of course it's not just about JT at all. They are a superb unit, and their pack really showed the way with some great scores. I've seen Wigan sides in the past play with that kind of quality. I'd like to see it again.
moto748 wrote:Williams' passing can be a bit erratic, but he's still managed a few killer try-making passes this season. How often does Smith do that?
The point about passes going behind players and stalling their runs struck me; I'd just been watching the Cowboys, and the power and precision with which they execute is a pleasure to watch. And of course it's not just about JT at all. They are a superb unit, and their pack really showed the way with some great scores. I've seen Wigan sides in the past play with that kind of quality. I'd like to see it again.
You're talking about one of the best teams in the world though, that's playing in a competition superior in every way to Super League, has more money, better facilities, better coaching. No wonder half the people on here are never happy the expectations are a far too high.
JT on his own probably earns about half, if not more, than our whole salary cap, so I think you need to stop dreaming about us reaching that level. The only thing(s) that could change it is if there is a huge injection of money into the sport in this country or lessening the restrictions of the salary cap so the big clubs can actually keep their best young players AND bring in some quality from down under.
Bigredwarrior wrote:It's not so much the passes that go to ground that I'm talking about really although there are plenty of them! It's the passes that go just behind the runner meaning that they have to 'check' their run or turn to catch the ball. Our forwards often get grief for not running it in hard enough but when they lose so much momentum because of the poor passes it's not surprising their runs are not as effective as they could be. It's not just Smith that does this but he's a main culprit for it.
To present a counter argument to that, could the players running onto the pass also be culpable? Hate to bring up the injuries again but we've been without some of our best line runners for a long time with the likes of Faz, Lockers and now Bateman, Joel being half fit also. I know Smith has put a few to ground so I'm not absolving him of blame, but he's had to try and organise attacks out of a completely disjointed team for most of the year.
PurpleCheeseWarrior wrote:You're talking about one of the best teams in the world though, that's playing in a competition superior in every way to Super League, has more money, better facilities, better coaching. No wonder half the people on here are never happy the expectations are a far too high.
JT on his own probably earns about half, if not more, than our whole salary cap, so I think you need to stop dreaming about us reaching that level. The only thing(s) that could change it is if there is a huge injection of money into the sport in this country or lessening the restrictions of the salary cap so the big clubs can actually keep their best young players AND bring in some quality from down under.
Of course, I don't disagree, and FWIW, I certainly don't think of myself as a 'glass half empty' person; I'm not moaning that we're not as good as the Cowboys, but I'd like to see us moving in the right direction towards that objective. I enjoy watching SL, and the NRL can produce some pretty dull and error-strewn games as well. But for the first part of this season I saw other SL teams playing a much better brand of footy than we've managed. So, getting back on topic, I would like to see a new half in the side to give us a bit more spark in attack. If that could turn out to be young Shorrocks, so much the better. Either way, we'll need another pair of hands in for the short-term,
Saw an article saying that your old academy player Kie Sherratt has been playing in Australia and now he's trying to find himself a Queensland Cup or NSW Cup team.
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