Re:-Ben Smith

[strider]

Our goaline defence is attrocious, apprently we had been working on it all week :? it's been the same all year but the coaching staff are unable to do anything about it.

our goal line defense was very good against the cowboys last week .... its baffling what happens from week to week - i think its all about energy levels and we had nothing to offer in that dept tonight .... the bigger knights ran over us and had us on the back foot cos we didn't put enough ooomph into our defensive line - I think that's not just goal line, it starts at 50m and we just get run over all the way down

 

[Stagger eel]

when he is in form I agree with you but getting him in form after basically a year out is going to be a problem

well normally you've got to be considered in form to play at the highest level and that's definitely not where he's at atm, but I wouldn't rule him out next year whatever position he plays, remember the difference between this off season and last one will be the fact that he'll at the very least ready for contact training in November whilst his team mates will battered and bruised.

 

[bartman]

I think it's a sign that there has been something wrong internally with the squad this year, and it's not worth risking Benny's injuries and recovery just to keep a pipe dream of a season alive. Feleti rushed back for no effect other than risk, and Hindy had been playing injured (thank god!) and doing the same.

Hages seemed like he'd admitted the semis were gone, even though Caylo struggled on in the press conference. Wait for the internal split or wehatever to sort itself out or be resolved in the off-season, and have Ben fit and raring to go in week one for what might be a better season.

 

[Redback71]

will be the best thing for him and the team no use bringing him back now. imagine what he will be like next year when fully fit maybe like the 2005 benny smith, once he gets his confidence back.

 

[Gronk]

Ben Smith's comeback put on hold


BY JOHN MACDONALD
6/08/2008 3:19:00 PM
Ben Smith is a country boy but he'd rather be a slicker for now.Parramatta has told Smith he can go bush and recuperate.
The injured knee that has kept Smith out for virtually all of the NRL season hasn't responded to the Eels' medical staff's satisfaction.
Smith had played one-and-a-half comeback games with Wentworthville in the NSW Cup but didn't play with the Magpies on the weekend.
A reluctant Smith has been told he can go for another spell and come back 100 per cent.
So a season which promised much and, as events have turned out, could have offered much, has come to nought.
Timana Tahu was always going to be almost irreplaceable when he left the Eels for rugby union in the off season.
But the prospective Smith-Krisnan Inu centre combination looked like a formidable replacement for Smith-Tahu.
Alas, Inu and Smith weren't to develop that combination.
That should be remembered when the critics decry Parramatta's supposedly not living up to potential.
Smith's absence has come both as a cost to Parramatta and his own ambitions.
The strapping centre has already tasted representative football.
A fit, in-form Smith would have been a prime candidate for the vacant NSW spot when Mark Gasnier was unfit for the third State of Origin game.
A fit, in-form Smith can still be a prime contender for higher honours next season.
The good news for Parramatta is that forward Junior Paulo returned from injury in the NSW Cup on Saturday.
Eels coach Micahel Hagan has a bit of a wrap on Paulo.

http://parramatta.yourguide.com.au/.../ben-smiths-comeback-put-on-hold/1237021.aspx

 

[The Colonel]

Eels coach Micahel Hagan has a bit of a wrap on Paulo.

Does this mean Paulo won't be with us next year? :lol:

 

[hineyrulz]

our goal line defense was very good against the cowboys last week .... its baffling what happens from week to week - i think its all about energy levels and we had nothing to offer in that dept tonight .... the bigger knights ran over us and had us on the back foot cos we didn't put enough ooomph into our defensive line - I think that's not just goal line, it starts at 50m and we just get run over all the way down

It helps when the opposistion throws zero at you. The Cowboys had nothing, Newcastle threw a little more at us and scored 32.