Brian Smith employs fresh is best policy
CALL it "chopping and changing" and Brian Smith instantly bristles.
But in 60 games as coach of the Newcastle Knights, Smith has fielded an unchanged line-up in consecutive games on only two occasions, when he stuck with the same 17 in rounds two, three and four last season.
As season 2009 reaches the official halfway point this weekend, Smith has already used 28 players, one more than he required for the entire duration of the previous campaign.
Each week this year he has produced a different combination.
Only six players have appeared in Newcastle's full quota of games, although Kurt Gidley and James McManus have each missed only one match because of State of Origin commitments.
And while the coach insists much of his tinkering has been injury-enforced, make no mistake, there is an element of strategy about his unofficial rotation policy.
Other clubs are content to pick their best 17, week in, week out, but Smith is happy to rest senior players at timely junctures and give fringe members of his squad their chance in the top grade.
It is a luxury he can afford because Newcastle are flying high, just two points behind the competition pacesetters, and a far cry from 2007 when Smith's injury-ravaged Knights shuffled through a club-record 37 players.
Tomorrow, for instance, Smith will consider standing down Gidley and McManus from the clash with Parramatta at EnergyAustralia Stadium if he believes allowing them to freshen up and rest niggling injuries will be beneficial.
Both players want to back up after Origin I on Wednesday night.
Smith, however, prefers to take a holistic view and realises he has experienced outside backs Keith Lulia, Cooper Vuna and Shannon McDonnell on standby, all itching for an opportunity.
Why ask a weary player to push his body to its physical limits when there are fresh legs available?
"There probably is going to be a bit of a rotation policy as the year goes on, but so far it's been really out of necessity," Smith said yesterday.
"There are advantages in doing it [rotating players].
"Initially there can be problems because the team can lack the cohesion that every coach wants to have.
"But I think we've been stable enough, and the evidence is there that we've got the balance pretty much right so far."
When the season kicked off, players like Keith Lulia, Marvin Karawana and George Ndaira were expected to play occasional cameo roles.
Most had never heard of Tim Natusch and Constantine Mika.
Yet all have contributed to the cause, and Smith knows he can rely on them to step up at any point in the future.
The array of tyros queuing impatiently for game time has given Smith some leeway when veterans like Steve Simpson and Adam MacDougall are recovering from injuries.
MacDougall was hoping to return tomorrow from a recent arthroscope, but Smith would rather give him an extra week to ensure he was at maximum capacity.
The 34-year-old centre, who has seen plenty of innovations in rugby league since he debuted in 1995, said Smith had a rare knack for ensuring both his team, and individual players, were at their physical and mental peak.
"I think Smithy is changing the game really," MacDougall said.
"I think in probably 20 years time, people will look back and realise he's changed the way players are managed.
"He's at the forefront of that, and he's the best I've ever seen."
If all goes according to plan, Smith hopes he can settle on his best squad in the weeks leading into the play-offs.
He realises there will be tough selection decisions ahead but prefers the current situation to the alternative, "when injuries leave you with nobody else".
Perhaps the best indication of the options at Smith's disposal are the players who have been unavailable in recent weeks and are growing more toey by the day.
"If we hopefully can keep bringing blokes back into our squad like Simmo, Doogs, Cory Paterson and Dan Tolar, well they're all front-line players," Smith said.
"So you're not only adding numbers to the team, you're adding quality and experience as well."
Herald
