Smith can run wild, says Hunt
Glenn Jackson | September 15, 2007
Former Parramatta premiership winner Neil Hunt, who coached against a young Tim Smith on the Gold Coast, believes the much-maligned halfback can bring the club its first title in more than two decades - but says he must run the ball more to do so.
Hunt, a part of one of the best rugby league back lines, in the 1982 Parramatta team which defeated Manly in the grand final, told yesterday of how Smith, playing for Runaway Bay, tore his Currumbin Tugun side apart with a running game he is yet to see in the NRL.
Hunt urged Smith to break the shackles in tonight's sudden-death clash with the Bulldogs if the Eels are to overcome perhaps the game's best pack.
"Whether that's been coached out of him a little bit, I'm not sure, but I'd like to see him run more," Hunt said. "When he does he looks fabulous.
"He always had a very good step. And he can still do that. He's good enough to take them to a grand final, but I would like to see him run the ball a bit.
"He was a standout back then. I watched him play in a 16s carnival up here, a state carnival, and he demoralised the opposition. He ran the show, no matter whether he played for Runaway Bay or Queensland under-17s. I always coached my team to close him down.
"He's got a few misgivings, a few weaknesses in his armour, but he's a very good player."
Hunt, a winger alongside Mick Cronin, Steve Ella, Eric Grothe, Brett Kenny and Peter Sterling, insisted Smith had the game to give the Eels a premiership. After all, he won four of them, out of just six attempts, with his Gold Coast junior club.
"He's got it in him to get them a premiership," Hunt said. "But he is one player. People are bagging him a little bit because of his non-involvement, but he's got a pretty good team around him there.
"He's had his ups and downs. He'd be the first to admit that some of his games haven't been that strong, but you can't play well every week - unless you're Andrew Johns. If their forwards are going forward, he's got enough ammunition to work with. But the team's got to be going well."
On that point, Hunt, who will be at Telstra Stadium tonight to watch the first-grade side as well as his son Justin play in the Jersey Flegg curtain raiser, said he believed the Eels had the arsenal to become the first Parramatta side since 1986 to lift the premiership trophy, claiming the fullback-wingers combination of Jarryd Hayne, Krisnan Inu and Eric Grothe would be crucial.
"It's very important to have a good one, two and five," Hunt said. "These days, they do so much work in getting it out of their own 20. Parramatta are that strong in that area - they can be caught in their 20 but after three runs they'll be up to the 50.
"I think they can achieve it. Anyone can beat anyone these days."
The Eels trained for the final time before the Telstra Stadium blockbuster yesterday, with coach Michael Hagan confirming centre Joel Reddy would pair with Grothe on the Eels' right corridor. And despite the perceived defensive frailties of that combination, he said they would likely remain there.
"Unless anything untoward happens, I won't be rearranging things too much," Hagan said. "He [Reddy] feels pretty comfortable with where he is in the defensive line.
"We've done a bit of work, as much as you can do in a week anyway. But he's a confident kid, and he's got a great attitude."
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