[DaveO]

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 2:52 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Got to agree with what's been said. Smith can't do much playing behind a set of props who get smashed. There is only Tony Clubb playing anything like at the minute (in fact he's playing very well) but the others are struggling. Young Sutton is doing pretty well but the kid should just be doing the odd 15-20 mins from the bench at this stage. Crosby had been woeful and is my biggest frustration so far! I thought he'd really kick on this year but he's getting battered. Tautai and Patrick both just seem to get very few minutes and it's hard to really judge them but the one thing I will say about the pair is that the club are talking tripe when they say we've signed 'big' players! These two are small props and I don't get why the club are making out they're man mountains!!

Tautai looked the part for me last night. I presume he was injured as we didn't see him in the 2nd half and prior to that he was able to make yards against their pack down the middle. About the only prop we had who did.

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:02 pm  

The Avenger wrote:

Smith and Williams were both poor in the game, they struggled with the kicking game throughout and Smith lost the battle of wits against Hunt in extra time.

I don't agree with this at all. Hunt was garbage throughout the game. I dread to think how he'd play behind Wigan's pack.

Smith isn't world class. But who is in this league? The truth of the matter is Wigan are too small in the pack. Watching them line up against Saints at OT I was completely shocked at how diminutive they appeared up front relative to Saints' pack.

I immediately knew that if we kept a lid on Wigan's backs we'd dominate territorially. And in big games territory is king.

I figured Wane would plug this gap in the off-season with a couple of big front row forwards. And yet last night it seemed like Wigan's biggest men were playing in the centres!

Had Brisbane ANY attacking threat to speak of in the halves or centres last night they'd have capitalised on the complete midfield dominance their forwards had achieved by half time and mauled Wigan. Instead they kept things simple and waited for a mistake in the opposition half. By the end of the match Wigan seemed completely unable to stop them making 10+ yards per carry. Which is the reason Brisbane had so many drop-goal opportunities.

The worrying thing is I don't think Brisbane's pack is THAT good. Granted they interplay well and there's plenty of size and energy. But it's nowhere near as ferocious as you'd encounter during Brisbane's heyday.

IMO, Wane has made a fundamental error in strategy. Yes, he's missing Flower - who does add significant go-forward. But even with Flower Wigan would have been awfully light last night.

Wane wouldn't be the first coach who thought mobility and fitness trumps brute force traction in SL. It's a tantalising thought promising high-speed "Total Rugby". But I wouldn't put any money on it.

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:50 pm  

The size of the pack is my biggest concern. We identify we need a big pack over a year ago and recruit no size at all in the offseason. Very odd call.

Ashton Simms would have been top of my list he is exactly the type of player we need.

Patrick turned up last night but he plays more like a backrow. Tautai gives us bags of go forward but will miss plenty through injury. Clubb brings size, Mossop.....who knows? Flower for we gives big minutes and great defence and intensity but not much go forward. If you have a big backrow you can maybe counter this but we don't.

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:51 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

I don't agree with this at all. Hunt was garbage throughout the game. I dread to think how he'd play behind Wigan's pack.

Smith isn't world class. But who is in this league? The truth of the matter is Wigan are too small in the pack. Watching them line up against Saints at OT I was completely shocked at how diminutive they appeared up front relative to Saints' pack.

I immediately knew that if we kept a lid on Wigan's backs we'd dominate territorially. And in big games territory is king.

I figured Wane would plug this gap in the off-season with a couple of big front row forwards. And yet last night it seemed like Wigan's biggest men were playing in the centres!

Had Brisbane ANY attacking threat to speak of in the halves or centres last night they'd have capitalised on the complete midfield dominance their forwards had achieved by half time and mauled Wigan. Instead they kept things simple and waited for a mistake in the opposition half. By the end of the match Wigan seemed completely unable to stop them making 10+ yards per carry. Which is the reason Brisbane had so many drop-goal opportunities.

The worrying thing is I don't think Brisbane's pack is THAT good. Granted they interplay well and there's plenty of size and energy. But it's nowhere near as ferocious as you'd encounter during Brisbane's heyday.

IMO, Wane has made a fundamental error in strategy. Yes, he's missing Flower - who does add significant go-forward. But even with Flower Wigan would have been awfully light last night.

Wane wouldn't be the first coach who thought mobility and fitness trumps brute force traction in SL. It's a tantalising thought promising high-speed "Total Rugby". But I wouldn't put any money on it.

We'll never know about the GF as it was ended as a contest after 3 minutes.

As for last night - we were down an interchange and had to put in a lot of effort on defence due to silly errors near our line. They were knackered by the end of the game.

Crosby, Clubb and Sutton are big units. We matched the Broncos upfront last night - they were getting smashed at times on their carries.

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:52 pm  

jonh wrote:

The size of the pack is my biggest concern. We identify we need a big pack over a year ago and recruit no size at all in the offseason. Very odd call.

Ashton Simms would have been top of my list he is exactly the type of player we need.

Patrick turned up last night but he plays more like a backrow. Tautai gives us bags of go forward but will miss plenty through injury. Clubb brings size, Mossop.....who knows? Flower for we gives big minutes and great defence and intensity but not much go forward. If you have a big backrow you can maybe counter this but we don't.

The FB/HBs are my biggest concern.

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:57 pm  

Finfin wrote:

Matty's a very good team halfback. Will do his stuff if those around him is doing its bit. He isn't a matchwinner and probably not quite international material. Those expecting him to seize a match and win it singlehandedly are going to be continguingly disappointed.

Nobody's saying he is (or could be) another Benji Marshall, but the fact is, we've seen him play much better last season that he has done so far this year. You can't complain when a player plays to the limits of his abilities, but Smith has so far failed to do that this season.

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:58 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

I don't agree with this at all. Hunt was garbage throughout the game. I dread to think how he'd play behind Wigan's pack.

Smith isn't world class. But who is in this league? The truth of the matter is Wigan are too small in the pack. Watching them line up against Saints at OT I was completely shocked at how diminutive they appeared up front relative to Saints' pack.

I immediately knew that if we kept a lid on Wigan's backs we'd dominate territorially. And in big games territory is king.

I figured Wane would plug this gap in the off-season with a couple of big front row forwards. And yet last night it seemed like Wigan's biggest men were playing in the centres!

Had Brisbane ANY attacking threat to speak of in the halves or centres last night they'd have capitalised on the complete midfield dominance their forwards had achieved by half time and mauled Wigan. Instead they kept things simple and waited for a mistake in the opposition half. By the end of the match Wigan seemed completely unable to stop them making 10+ yards per carry. Which is the reason Brisbane had so many drop-goal opportunities.

The worrying thing is I don't think Brisbane's pack is THAT good. Granted they interplay well and there's plenty of size and energy. But it's nowhere near as ferocious as you'd encounter during Brisbane's heyday.

IMO, Wane has made a fundamental error in strategy. Yes, he's missing Flower - who does add significant go-forward. But even with Flower Wigan would have been awfully light last night.

Wane wouldn't be the first coach who thought mobility and fitness trumps brute force traction in SL. It's a tantalising thought promising high-speed "Total Rugby". But I wouldn't put any money on it.

I didn't suggest that Hunt was good so I don't know what you're dissagreeing with.

During the extra time Smith had the first opportunity to keep a cool head and instead of snatching at a drop goal from an impossible position he could have kept his wits about him and kicked the ball deep into a corner. Therefore allowing the Wigan defence to pin Brisbane down just metres from that own line.

Instead you tried a drop goal that would have been miraculous had it been successful this then allowed Ben Hunt the opportunity to do exactly what Matty Smith had failed to do. From that field position Brisbane took a stranglehold and never relinquished it until Wigan gave the penalty away which ultimately ended of the game.

That is where Ben Hunt won the battle of wits with Matty Smith

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 5:10 pm  

I've never liked the Broncos much, but anyone who watched much NRL last season would know that Hunt is a very good half indeed who fully merited his Kangaroos cap. Bearing in mind it was only Brisbane's second game of the season, he did OK.

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 10:34 pm  

The Avenger wrote:

I didn't suggest that Hunt was good so I don't know what you're dissagreeing with.

During the extra time Smith had the first opportunity to keep a cool head and instead of snatching at a drop goal from an impossible position he could have kept his wits about him and kicked the ball deep into a corner. Therefore allowing the Wigan defence to pin Brisbane down just metres from that own line.

Instead you tried a drop goal that would have been miraculous had it been successful this then allowed Ben Hunt the opportunity to do exactly what Matty Smith had failed to do. From that field position Brisbane took a stranglehold and never relinquished it until Wigan gave the penalty away which ultimately ended of the game.

That is where Ben Hunt won the battle of wits with Matty Smith

Maybe the fact that it was Wigan's first ever golden point match, whereas their opponents face the proposition every time they play, was a factor in the Bronco's extra time game management?

Re: Smith : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:41 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

I don't agree with this at all. Hunt was garbage throughout the game. I dread to think how he'd play behind Wigan's pack.

Smith isn't world class. But who is in this league? The truth of the matter is Wigan are too small in the pack. Watching them line up against Saints at OT I was completely shocked at how diminutive they appeared up front relative to Saints' pack.

I immediately knew that if we kept a lid on Wigan's backs we'd dominate territorially. And in big games territory is king.

I figured Wane would plug this gap in the off-season with a couple of big front row forwards. And yet last night it seemed like Wigan's biggest men were playing in the centres!

Had Brisbane ANY attacking threat to speak of in the halves or centres last night they'd have capitalised on the complete midfield dominance their forwards had achieved by half time and mauled Wigan. Instead they kept things simple and waited for a mistake in the opposition half. By the end of the match Wigan seemed completely unable to stop them making 10+ yards per carry. Which is the reason Brisbane had so many drop-goal opportunities.

The worrying thing is I don't think Brisbane's pack is THAT good. Granted they interplay well and there's plenty of size and energy. But it's nowhere near as ferocious as you'd encounter during Brisbane's heyday.

IMO, Wane has made a fundamental error in strategy. Yes, he's missing Flower - who does add significant go-forward. But even with Flower Wigan would have been awfully light last night.

Wane wouldn't be the first coach who thought mobility and fitness trumps brute force traction in SL. It's a tantalising thought promising high-speed "Total Rugby". But I wouldn't put any money on it.

Brisbane's pack isn't that far behind any pack in the NRL. They have Thaiday and Parker who walk into the Queensland and Aus team every year. Add to that Glenn and Blair NZ Internationals obviously not that bad players and Maguire who narrowly missed out on the Aus squad and went on to represent Samoa well. Yeah awful pack Brisbane have!