Fit-again dykes the one to watch
By Greg Prichard
February 15, 2004
Brian Smith suggests Parramatta fans watch Adam Dykes go this season.
Dykes has had horrible luck with injury since he joined the Eels from Cronulla, but Smith has a feeling this is going to be his year.
"Adam hardly even trained with us last year, he had so many problems," Smith said. "But he hasn't missed a session this year.
"He is a high-quality player and if he has even luck he's going to be very good for us. He knows the ropes and he brings out the best in other players. They love being around him on the field."
There has been a huge turnover of players at Parramatta since the end of the 2001 season and Smith's critics have been at him constantly about players leaving the club and kicking on elsewhere.
He suggests those critics are either too silly to see - or choose to ignore - the relevant circumstances.
"I'm really not bothered by the criticism," Smith said. "But you really only need half a brain to realise our club has been a producing club and some other clubs have been the cannibals who don't produce anything themselves.
"The salary cap has prevented us from keeping a lot of the players who have left. None of them wanted to leave. They all wanted to stay and some of them, after leaving, rang to say they wished they could come back.
"If every club took the attitude that they were going to look elsewhere for players and not produce any themselves, it would be pretty poor, wouldn't it?
"I find the criticism very flattering, actually, because it reminds me that we're doing the right thing - producing players."
