I have not in the past been a great fan of Tony Smith.Despite him being very well thought of by Huddersfield people;those at Leeds and those in the GB/England set-up,and I have considered his interviews to be a little
'awkward'.
I now have the utmost respect for him as a genuine man as he made it his business to go to the side of the field at the players tunnel to not only go through a routine handshake but to make a point of seeking out each Salford player,giving a very warm,meaningful handshake,patting each on the back and saying a few words while giving the appearance of 'thanking' the Salford players for effectively giving a display of scintillating rugby league which he greatly admired and was privileged to witness.
For those players young or otherwise,having played internationally or otherwise,it must have been a very rare
moment in their careers,and memorable,when an opposition coach has conducted himself in such a manner.
From a guy with such an experienced and successful coaching career that must mean a huge amount and as it reflects on our coaches who have only been in post for 5 minutes - who have now beaten the longest serving Super league coach,Nathan Brown at Huddersfield,and Tony Smith himself,4 and 3 years respectively,I was delighted for them.
As an incentive to potential investors a greater demonstration could not have been bettered by our coaches and players.
My only gripe is why supporters are not informed who are doing the bucket collections or who will be at the stadium.
I saw the army people setting up outside as I entered the stadium for the under 18's game.I had spend my loose change before reaching the stadium and I only had my credit card should the clubshop ever stock something worth buying. Air ambulance(s) and The Forces are worth a lot more than loose change !
The joy of this particular Salford fan is accompanied by total frustration due to a lack of information on the official club website or facebook.
I am NOT Luke Patten or Daniel Holdsworth so I do not have telepathic understanding - Please get the information out before the event.
I actually thought DJ should have been awarded Mom.Involved in every try - kicked the 40/20 - kicked the conversions.Got through a number of tackles etc.
I hope the victory is dedicated to the coaching staff - and to the supporters who hid their disappointment against Saints and stayed to the end to applaud the players from the field.Quality people !
