Aboveusonlypie wrote:
As you say time will tell. I think you are right about his confidence though. I have noticed that one error tends to lead to another pretty quickly as his head does seem to go down. I wonder if he has the mentality to go along with his skills?
The full back position has exposed his weakness under the high ball. Now, he isn't the first full back to suffer from this, and they all drop them, but he needs to be able to put it behind him quickly. Dixon at Hull KR the other week for example finished with a hat trick after having what can only be described as a mare (I forget the opponents). Hampshire hasn't been able to do that.
Wigan struggled early season by not replacing Green with a seasoned pro like Campese. And I was one who criticised Wigan for that. However I was wrong. Wane has persisted with Williams who is showing how good he is. But surely it would be folly to have two rookies in the halves at the same time? So Hampshire misses out.
I can see another Bobbie Goulding situation here. I remember him making a Lions tour when he was understudy both at GB and at Wigan to Andy Gregory & Shaun Edwards. Ultimately he moved on because he was too good to play second fiddle.
The lad is blatantly not a full back.
I don't think Smith brings enough to the team to warrant keeping his place over Hampshire - not if the alternative is Hampshire leaving at the end of the season.