Great halves divided on Smith's value to Eels
Greg Prichard | August 30, 2007
Former champion halfbacks Peter Sterling, Steve Mortimer and Greg Alexander are split over whether Parramatta should dump Tim Smith from first grade.
Mortimer and Alexander say he should go if the Eels are to make an impact in the finals, but Sterling believes it would be madness to get rid of him.
Halfback Smith has been heavily criticised for his part in Parramatta's awful performance in losing to St George Illawarra on Monday night. Five-eighth Brett Finch copped criticism as well, but Smith wore the brunt of it for a display in which his game was well off its best.
Mortimer and Alexander said Finch should be switched to halfback in time for the Eels' game against Brisbane at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday.
"Smith looks a bit erratic on the field," Mortimer said yesterday. "I think Finch has got a lot more to offer as their halfback. I've always thought that. Smith does some good things, and a coach can invest in that if it's more than 50 per cent good things, but it's less than 50 per cent with him. Cooper Cronk is not what you'd call a brilliant player but he does a great job directing the Melbourne team around. I think Finch does that sort of thing better than Smith.
"Parra need to make a change if they're going to go somewhere in the finals. Their halfback needs to question the defence more, and the way a halfback does that is by running to the line."
Alexander said Smith's game was such that it had to be only a bit out of whack for defences to stop Parramatta from putting them under pressure.
"Your first instinct as a halfback should be to run the ball," Alexander said yesterday. "Smith's first instinct is to pass or kick. He's got a good kick when it's working, but when the defence knows what he's doing, they just drift across to cover him and his runners, which is what the Dragons did on Monday night.
"Smith can run. He's got a sidestep. He's got good vision with his kicks, so he could use that vision when he runs. But it's not his inclination to run. Unless he runs the ball, Parra will not do anything in the finals. I would put Finch at halfback and [lock Feleti] Mateo at five-eighth.
"I'm not out to give it to Parra - I'm just looking at their situation and thinking about what might help them. Either [Parramatta coach] Michael Hagan is confident enough to sit Smith down and tell him, 'This is what you've got to do,' and believe he is going to do it, or he should consider making a change."
But Sterling said the suggestion Smith should be sacked was a massive over-reaction. He said Smith was still Parramatta's best bet at halfback and that the team was capable of winning the premiership with him there.
"I wouldn't be changing things," Sterling said yesterday. "Smith and Finch have been the halves pairing all season, and while the side hasn't been in great form recently, it has been in pretty good form for the most part. You've got to show faith in the ability of the halves - and the rest of the team - to find their best form again.
"The thing about that game on Monday night was that the Dragons had easily the majority of the possession and that was always going to take its toll on Parramatta.
"Melbourne look head and shoulders above every other team at the moment, but anything can happen, and Parramatta is still one of the teams that is capable of winning the premiership.
"I think people can get carried away with talk that Smith has got to run the ball more. What he's got to do is run at the right time and maybe do it a bit more in the early stages of the game, to put it in the minds of the opposition players that he might run at any time."
Hagan indicated after the loss to the Dragons that he would not be changing the halves. The sixth-placed Eels could finish as high as fourth if they beat the Broncos and other results favour them. But there is also a remote chance that if they lose and other results go against them, they could miss the finals.
