BRIAN SMITH POST MATCH MEDIA CONFERENCE
19 June
Q) IT WAS A GOOD PERFORMANCE BRIAN ALL UP?
A) Yes, not bad really. We were beaten by a better team tonight. We asked some serious questions of them and I was particularly happy with how we fought back on two occassions. The boys got themselves together and had a really good crack at it.
Q) WHAT IMPACT DID THE LOSS OF DYKES HAVE ON THE TEAM?
A) There is no doubt that it was an important moment, but to be fair they lost their halfback in Casey McGuire as well, although Casey doesn't probably play the same role in their side as Adam does in ours. They had a pretty fair replacement there in Darren Lockyer. I thought he was just superb. He is not only a dynamic player but the way he paces himself and orchestrates their attack is fantastic. He has always been a fine player but he is showing the sort of maturity that gives him another dimension.
Q) DEPSITE THE LOSS THERE IS STILL ROOM FOR OPTIMISM?
A) I was disappointed with some areas out there tonight. One area that we have been very good at, and ironically it came back against us tonight was the high ball...two mistakes led to Bronco tries, one was through poor communication and the other just a mistake. Wade wa sprobably our bes tplayer tonight but that's football...it won't stop him from having another crack at it next week.
Q) WAYNE BENNETT JUST SAID THAT PARRA DIDN'T GIVE HIS TEAM A FRIGHT TONIGHT AND THEY WERE ALWAYS IN CONTROL..WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?
A) Well I think we gave them a fright, but I can see where he is coming from and I think they were clearly the better side out there. If I had of been the opposition and we had of put our noses in fornt at the end I would have been filthy.
