Leeds_Luke wrote:
He consistently posted good stats last year. If you went off the stats alone, he was the best 13 in the competition. His workrate was phenomenal.
You know the saying, “There’s lies, damned lies, and statistics”. It’s never been more true than in modern day R.L.
I base my judgement of Cam Smith by what I see with my eyes. I’m not kidded by how many tackles or carries he’s made on a stats sheet. Most tackles by players nowadays are where they are second or third man in, not rushing out of the line and smashing someone. There was a theory last season that Leeds were adopting a passive approach to defending, when in reality it’s probably down to the fact that they were not physically capable and unable to keep up to speed of the opposition. That is why they weren’t getting off the line and smashing people. As for carries, depending on who is carrying the ball it can be a negative if you have someone who is just carrying the ball down dead ends and not asking questions. Cam was guilty of that last season, and I’m not gonna start blaming other players for his failings. He was poor in his own right, as were a most of the other players, that’s why we finished in the bottom half of the table. Cam needs to up his game, along with everyone else next season. He should now be playing the best rugby of his career, he’s at his physical peak and has plenty enough games under his belt and experience at 25 years old. Only time will tell.
