Reason to be cheerful - Matty Smith

[Warriors Forever]

I also remember people slating Richards in his first few seasons

[gillysmyhero]

Awful player Danny Orr, Good player in an average team for Cas

.

I couldn't disagree more WF he was dragged down by an awful player in Moran.

[Warriors Forever]

I really think Gilly if he was a good player he would still of stood out more

[DaveO]

I also remember people slating Richards in his first few seasons

Richards was played out of position when he first arrived and did cop some flack. Millward got sacked and and Noble played him on the wing and such was his improved form there was no guarentee the injured Brett Dallas was going to get his place back once fit.

It took him less than half a season for the criticism to go away not a few seasons!

Finch got criticised when he arrived. So did Trent Barrett but those who knew what quality players these two were rightly told people not to be so daft and so it proved. However when you sign an average player why do people assume they are going to be anything but average?

It is all about the basic quality of the player, not how long they are here.

Quality players remain quality 99% of the time and average players remain average in the same way. (Not talking about young players developing here and improving as you might expect but known quantities signed from other clubs).

[cpwigan]

Apparently Smith made 50 tackles v Leeds. Deserves credit for that alone.

[markill]

Apparently Smith made 50 tackles v Leeds. Deserves credit for that alone.

in not much more than 50 minutes too. It was this that starting me thinking about praising Matty. The biggest worry about another half back instead of Tommy was the defensive drop off.
At one point in the second half Smith made 3 tackes in a row following up a kick and then even slowed the guy down on the fourth for someone else to make the tackle. They weren't all one out plays either. Leeds kicked from about the 30-35, on the back foot for once in the game.

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

Apparently Smith made 50 tackles v Leeds. Deserves credit for that alone.

in not much more than 50 minutes too. It was this that starting me thinking about praising Matty. The biggest worry about another half back instead of Tommy was the defensive drop off.
At one point in the second half Smith made 3 tackes in a row following up a kick and then even slowed the guy down on the fourth for someone else to make the tackle. They weren't all one out plays either. Leeds kicked from about the 30-35, on the back foot for once in the game.

Tommy and Smithy are excellent defenders. Smith has got the better kicking game and creates more with the ball in hand. He is not as aggressive or as quick as Tommy and probably doesn't take the line on as much. What Tommy has got that few players can match is the desire to: win; improve his game on a day to day basis; and put the team before himself.

I think Smithy will go well next season, but only if the forwards perform a lot better than in the second half of this season.

[cpwigan]

I presume Smithy will play left side next season; Green is very right sided.

[First Try Tickle]

Funny how after a couple of good seasons tommy is a legend. I though he was poor at 7 for the first few years and seem to remember quite a few on here saying the same. This season he has worked well in the moves but he doesn't break the line that much and his kicking is poor.

I think smith will do well, especially when he's not got finch telling him what to do. Once he starts to gel we'll all forget about tommy and finch.

[cpwigan]

A very fair comment. Tommy became an excellent player but he was not a conventional scrum half and there were big ? about him being the next Moran in his early days.