: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:38 am  

Jim Jalfrezi wrote:

:? You have to be joking. If you think that he ran that game, you haven't got a clue about RL. Even for the 20 minutes we were dominant, Smith was hardly involved. IIRC, Alker was MOM, closely followed by Stapo, Myler and Cashmere.

Alker was immense that game but Smith made two triesfor Myler and the clincher for Sibbett.He also made our two tries on Friday.IMO Smith is the least of our worries at the moment

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:48 am  

I didn't say he had a stinker, but there's a bloody big difference between 'running the show' and simply being involved now and again.

I agree with both you and Yorkshire Red in that Smith ain't the problem. As far as I can tell, most of the problems appear to stem from a distinct inability to tackle.......simple as.

If we were able to keep teams out for a sustained period, we would end up with better field position ourselves, and therefore have a better platform for our attacking players. You cant win RL games when you're constantly on the back foot.

The tackling is a major worry. We've conceded 39 tries so far, which is truly awful, and something I don't think many fans expected.

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:34 am  

Jim Jalfrezi wrote:

:? You have to be joking. If you think that he ran that game, you haven't got a clue about RL. Even for the 20 minutes we were dominant, Smith was hardly involved. IIRC, Alker was MOM, closely followed by Stapo, Myler and Cashmere.

Ok, you've had me questioning my own recollection of the game myself so I looked back a month and dug up the poll for the ST man of the match. Indeed Alker polled more than half of the votes, in 2nd place for that game was Smith; Stapo & Cashmere followed closely behind while Myler didn't get a vote, so clearly I'm not alone in not having a clue about RL.

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:57 am  

ok, I offer my apologies, as I was wrong to include Myler. However, I didn't look back and check the stats.
I'm aware that you know your stuff YR, but I'm still baffled as to why you said Smith ran the game that night.
I've seen plenty of halfbacks run games, and to me, he certainly didn't blow me away in that particular game.

Like I said, it's all down to lack of tackling at the moment, and as the backs are in disarray at present, with injuries and people playing out of position, it's going to be really difficult to stop teams wading thru our defensive line.

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:00 am  

Jim Jalfrezi wrote:

:? You have to be joking. If you think that he ran that game, you haven't got a clue about RL. Even for the 20 minutes we were dominant, Smith was hardly involved. IIRC, Alker was MOM, closely followed by Stapo, Myler and Cashmere.

where was it agian you were stood?

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:33 am  

Jim Jalfrezi wrote:

I'm aware that you know your stuff YR, but I'm still baffled as to why you said Smith ran the game that night.
I've seen plenty of halfbacks run games, and to me, he certainly didn't blow me away in that particular game.

Like I said, it's all down to lack of tackling at the moment, and as the backs are in disarray at present, with injuries and people playing out of position, it's going to be really difficult to stop teams wading thru our defensive line.

Was there a better halfback on display in the game that night? IMO, no. For me while there was a superior individual performer on the night in Mal Alker (and also IMO Stapleton), Smith was at the centre of pretty much everything we did well in attack in that particular game.

Quite agree on the second point, which has reminded me about a very worrying point from Friday night. The defence in the last few games has been breached mainly when on their own line & as a result I was taking comfort from the thought that if we could sort out our line defence then we'd stop shipping big points every week. On Friday however Wigan were flooding through our line with frightening regularity from all over the park. We MUST improve defensively but it's certainly not going to be sorted out overnight & I fear a lot more pain for us before it gets sorted.

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:43 pm  

Yorkshire_Red wrote:

Was there a better halfback on display in the game that night? IMO, no. For me while there was a superior individual performer on the night in Mal Alker (and also IMO Stapleton), Smith was at the centre of pretty much everything we did well in attack in that particular game.

i don't doubt his commitment but there lies one of are major problems while Alker is allowed to dictate our play no other player will get the chance and the few chances they get their scared to make a mistake so don't try anything.

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:49 pm  

wardleyred wrote:

fooook our big foreign import!!my gran could conjour up more magic and get involved in the game more than smith......bigger dissapointment than dorn from what i have seen in six games so far!

Dorn top try scorer in his season with us, played out of position and made scapegoat.
Smith now he is just $hite but is our coaches favourite so will always play.

: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:45 pm  

Prestwich Red wrote:

Dorn top try scorer in his season with us, played out of position and made scapegoat.
Smith now he is just $hite but is our coaches favourite so will always play.

Thats the same thing wat happened with langi and harrison, langi was harrison favourite but dorn didnt play out of postion, he played stand off until mcrae came.