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Smith disappointed despite Eels NRL romp
June 13, 2005 - 8:14AM
Disappointment after a 50-0 thrashing is to be expected, though not usually from a member of the winning side.
But that's how Eels halfback Tim Smith felt despite masterminding Parramatta's fifth straight victory - a club record round 14 NRL shellacking of the winless Knights at Newcastle.
After helping Parramatta run in eight unanswered tries including one for himself, Smith rued missing the chance to gauge his stellar debut NRL season form against the man he considers the benchmark, Andrew Johns.
Smith, 20, idolised Johns as a kid on the Gold Coast before relocating to Parramatta and bursting onto the NRL scene in 2005.
But his showdown with Johns was dashed when the Newcastle playmaker received a late call-up by NSW selectors for Wednesday night's Origin II clash at Sydney.
"He was really disappointed. He thinks everything of Andrew Johns," Eels coach Brian Smith said.
"I believe his family were looking at coming down from the Gold Coast just for that occasion.
"He thinks Andrew is a tremendous player like everyone else. And I think it's a sign of his own desire to compete and measure himself against the best in the game.
"Hopefully he will be up and running for our return clash (in six weeks)."
The halfback's hot hand guided Parramatta to second on the NRL ladder with an impressive 9-4 record.
The Eels coach may be no relation to his halfback but he sounded like a proud dad when reflecting on his young No.7's impressive NRL debut.
"I thought particularly in the second half he showed glimpses of how to read the situation," Brian Smith said.
"I thought his attacking kicks came precisely at the right time and his deeper kicks into in-goal were just right.
"He's got a sense of the game that a lot of the guys don't have at that age - he was very good again."
In an indication of Smith's rising form, the youngster leads the league in try assists with 21.
It's easily ahead of his nearest rivals, former Test halfback Craig Gower and Melbourne No.7 Matt Orford, who have 16 after 14 rounds.
Eels coach Smith said Parramatta's "clinical" disposal of the Knights was an encouraging sign for its growing title aspirations.
"I thought it was a very strong performance by our guys. It was methodical, clinical and pretty comprehensive in the end," he said.
"We understand our opposition is down on troops and all that sort of stuff but we still have a job to do.
"I think our blokes did a good job at making sure they never gave them a sniff at any stage - that was the job we had to do tonight."
Coach Smith - who had calls for his sacking only last season following five straight losses - could feel for Newcastle which has lost 12 straight after its club record-equalling loss to the Eels.
"Sporting history is full of incidents where a team has been under that sort of pressure that some of you guys are piling on top of them at the moment when they are on their knees," he said.
Not that everything went the Eels' way. Forward Chad Robinson (shoulder) and winger Matt Petersen (leg) suffered injuries.
© 2005 AAP
June 13, 2005 - 8:14AM
Disappointment after a 50-0 thrashing is to be expected, though not usually from a member of the winning side.
But that's how Eels halfback Tim Smith felt despite masterminding Parramatta's fifth straight victory - a club record round 14 NRL shellacking of the winless Knights at Newcastle.
After helping Parramatta run in eight unanswered tries including one for himself, Smith rued missing the chance to gauge his stellar debut NRL season form against the man he considers the benchmark, Andrew Johns.
Smith, 20, idolised Johns as a kid on the Gold Coast before relocating to Parramatta and bursting onto the NRL scene in 2005.
But his showdown with Johns was dashed when the Newcastle playmaker received a late call-up by NSW selectors for Wednesday night's Origin II clash at Sydney.
"He was really disappointed. He thinks everything of Andrew Johns," Eels coach Brian Smith said.
"I believe his family were looking at coming down from the Gold Coast just for that occasion.
"He thinks Andrew is a tremendous player like everyone else. And I think it's a sign of his own desire to compete and measure himself against the best in the game.
"Hopefully he will be up and running for our return clash (in six weeks)."
The halfback's hot hand guided Parramatta to second on the NRL ladder with an impressive 9-4 record.
The Eels coach may be no relation to his halfback but he sounded like a proud dad when reflecting on his young No.7's impressive NRL debut.
"I thought particularly in the second half he showed glimpses of how to read the situation," Brian Smith said.
"I thought his attacking kicks came precisely at the right time and his deeper kicks into in-goal were just right.
"He's got a sense of the game that a lot of the guys don't have at that age - he was very good again."
In an indication of Smith's rising form, the youngster leads the league in try assists with 21.
It's easily ahead of his nearest rivals, former Test halfback Craig Gower and Melbourne No.7 Matt Orford, who have 16 after 14 rounds.
Eels coach Smith said Parramatta's "clinical" disposal of the Knights was an encouraging sign for its growing title aspirations.
"I thought it was a very strong performance by our guys. It was methodical, clinical and pretty comprehensive in the end," he said.
"We understand our opposition is down on troops and all that sort of stuff but we still have a job to do.
"I think our blokes did a good job at making sure they never gave them a sniff at any stage - that was the job we had to do tonight."
Coach Smith - who had calls for his sacking only last season following five straight losses - could feel for Newcastle which has lost 12 straight after its club record-equalling loss to the Eels.
"Sporting history is full of incidents where a team has been under that sort of pressure that some of you guys are piling on top of them at the moment when they are on their knees," he said.
Not that everything went the Eels' way. Forward Chad Robinson (shoulder) and winger Matt Petersen (leg) suffered injuries.
© 2005 AAP
