Where's Cust?

[medlocke]

It's not rocket science, the solution is Miski to 2nd row, French to wing, Cust or Hampshire to 6, The end

French to loose surely?

Supposedly that will not work

[josie andrews]

Smith has to learn to change his game to suit the weather and pitch condition. A few more low skidding kicks to try an induce a knock on would not have gone amiss yesterday. This generic I'm going kick it as high as the moon tactic is so predictable. He needs to mix it up more .

EW

I say this on a regular basis. Low strong grubber kicks to the opposition where the player has to bend down for or even have to turn round for the ball has more chance of a knock on instead mile high kicks which gives the opposition time to get in a good position & just wait for the ball to eventually come down!

[Blackpool_Pie]

Smith has to learn to change his game to suit the weather and pitch condition. A few more low skidding kicks to try an induce a knock on would not have gone amiss yesterday. This generic I'm going kick it as high as the moon tactic is so predictable. He needs to mix it up more .

EW

I say this on a regular basis. Low strong grubber kicks to the opposition where the player has to bend down for or even have to turn round for the ball has more chance of a knock on instead mile high kicks which gives the opposition time to get in a good position & just wait for the ball to eventually come down!

Similarly if they gather on the hoof they have a lot of space to run into as the team that has just kicked, hasn't had chance to chase a kick down. Similarly if you wallop a grubber through you're likely to hit either your own player giving a penalty away or an opposition player.

I get your point though but their is a reason why every SL team puts in a higher angled kick on the 5th tackle when not in an attacking position

[Charriots Offiah]

Smith has to learn to change his game to suit the weather and pitch condition. A few more low skidding kicks to try an induce a knock on would not have gone amiss yesterday. This generic I'm going kick it as high as the moon tactic is so predictable. He needs to mix it up more .

EW

I say this on a regular basis. Low strong grubber kicks to the opposition where the player has to bend down for or even have to turn round for the ball has more chance of a knock on instead mile high kicks which gives the opposition time to get in a good position & just wait for the ball to eventually come down!

Don’t let Field kick.

[doc]

Both Field and French are at their most effective running at pace from deep. The only way to accommodate this is to have French on the wing and Field at FB as he is a far better cover tackler. Sad for Miski or Marshall but one of them need to make way for French and we need to have Cust or Hampshire in the halves until we get a decent stand-off.

[Mike]

French is our best option in the halves.

[morley pie eater]

Cust isn't playing because his performances at 6 weren't good enough. He got a chance to keep himself in the team by playing 9 but his performances weren't good enough in that position either. If he gets a chance in the next few weeks he needs to take it.

Field isn't playing 6 because Matt Peet ditched it after one bad performance. Maybe Field isn't good enough there and it was inevitable that he'd be moved but I think it was a hasty decision given up until that game it had been working quite well.

French is playing 6 because he managed to shore up the right side of defence and because he's our most creative player he can still get his hands on the ball. Since moving to stand off he averages an assist a game and a try every other game which is comparable with SL's best halfback (Lachlan Lam). If we were to move French from 6 it only makes sense to play him at fullback because he's by far our most creative player and needs to be in a position where he can create.

Field at fullback isn't creating much, he's scoring tries from broken play or through his footwork, or finishing off moves that are started by Bevan French. If French isn't creating those opportunities then who will? Early season form suggests it isn't going to be Cust. The last half a decade suggests it isn't going to be Hampshire, but admittedly he doesn't seem to have been given many opportunities.

If we moved French back to wing we'd lose the yardage from Miski which is pretty important if you don't have an effective pack and at the moment we don't seem to have an effective pack. It's capable at times. It's decent with Havard and Ellis both in the side, but it's not a game changer.

If our pack performs well and we can find a stand off who can create as much as French can then we could easily get away with French on the wing, he'd be the best winger in Super League and score tries no other winger could, but at the moment I don't see how we improve the team by taking French out of a playmaking position.

If Cust or Hampshire get a chance at 6 and do well then for me French has to go to fullback, as he's our best player and that's his best position.

[morley pie eater]

Smith's high kicks have been criticised by a few as predictable, ineffective etc.

Compare with their kicks, which were more varied. We gained many, many more yards from Smith's kicks because the hang time meant our defenders were immediately onto the catcher, who then rarely made any ground. Forcing a couple of knock-ons (at best) wouldn't make up for those gains.

Even if you disagree, it's clearly a coach's tactic and not a decision made by Harry himself. The lad has largely been very good. Considering he's a lone half and has had goal kicking responsibilities, I'd say he's come through well and will hopefully be our 7 for many years.

Not that any of this will affect the scapegoaters on her. We'll just sit back and enjoy the carnival . . . or not.

[Bobby-WRL]

Smith's high kicks have been criticised by a few as predictable, ineffective etc.

Compare with their kicks, which were more varied. We gained many, many more yards from Smith's kicks because the hang time meant our defenders were immediately onto the catcher, who then rarely made any ground. Forcing a couple of knock-ons (at best) wouldn't make up for those gains.

Even if you disagree, it's clearly a coach's tactic and not a decision made by Harry himself. The lad has largely been very good. Considering he's a lone half and has had goal kicking responsibilities, I'd say he's come through well and will hopefully be our 7 for many years.

Not that any of this will affect the scapegoaters on her. We'll just sit back and enjoy the carnival . . . or not.

Don’t be daft. The experts on here have decided he’s not good enough.

[Firestarter]

We would miss smith more than any other player in this team atm