I still stand by my opinion that Smith has been good for the club. Changes needed to be made and for the most part we have looked like an improved side in terms of overall skill and forward power. Had we been one of the luckier sides in terms of the draw and Origin affecting key players, it may well have been a different story.
However, having said that I think Smith has been getting more and more things wrong lately and it is disappointing because I genuinely like the guy and want him to succeed.
Some decisions I don't understand:
1. Dureau either playing hooker or coming off the bench for the last 20 mintues. How did Smith not learn his lesson last week? He even commented on the fact we finally showed some flair at the end of the game. Well of course we did, Dureau brough some quality to the end of our sets and put a kick in for a try.
And what happened again tonight against the Dragons? Dureau comes on and immediately we start scoring our first points of the match. Too little too late.
2. Persistence with Lulia. The guy was a ticking timb bomb for mistakes, and you'd have to think some of those half breaks earlier in the year might've been finished off by Sau who looks good.
3. Inability to improve the discipline. At the start of the season we were giving away far too many stupid penalties. Smith talked about it openly and said we need to work on it. Well have we? It has continued right up until round 17 and doesn't look like stopping now. Poor, poor, poor discipline without the football and the coach does have to answer for that.
4. Wicks. Does anything else need to be said? Pathetic excuse for a first grade front-rower who just doesn't deserve to be there at all.
5. Lack of fire and intensity. I know this is hard to gauge and hard to find any individual to point the finger at, but I just get the feeling that a different style of coach would've found a way to fire the boys up a bit more for some of the crucial matches. We have scored the first try in 2 games out 15 - that is NOT just a coincidence, it's pathetic. Lethargic openings to matches have become a habit and I personally feel that the coach has a responsibility to fix that. If he can't get his players wanting to come out there and rip heads off for him (especially in must-win games), then something is wrong.
Antyhing else you can think of? Or am I being too harsh? I am in no way calling for him to be sacked or suggesting that he should never have come here in the first place. But in my opinion he has some shortcomings.
However, having said that I think Smith has been getting more and more things wrong lately and it is disappointing because I genuinely like the guy and want him to succeed.
Some decisions I don't understand:
1. Dureau either playing hooker or coming off the bench for the last 20 mintues. How did Smith not learn his lesson last week? He even commented on the fact we finally showed some flair at the end of the game. Well of course we did, Dureau brough some quality to the end of our sets and put a kick in for a try.
And what happened again tonight against the Dragons? Dureau comes on and immediately we start scoring our first points of the match. Too little too late.
2. Persistence with Lulia. The guy was a ticking timb bomb for mistakes, and you'd have to think some of those half breaks earlier in the year might've been finished off by Sau who looks good.
3. Inability to improve the discipline. At the start of the season we were giving away far too many stupid penalties. Smith talked about it openly and said we need to work on it. Well have we? It has continued right up until round 17 and doesn't look like stopping now. Poor, poor, poor discipline without the football and the coach does have to answer for that.
4. Wicks. Does anything else need to be said? Pathetic excuse for a first grade front-rower who just doesn't deserve to be there at all.
5. Lack of fire and intensity. I know this is hard to gauge and hard to find any individual to point the finger at, but I just get the feeling that a different style of coach would've found a way to fire the boys up a bit more for some of the crucial matches. We have scored the first try in 2 games out 15 - that is NOT just a coincidence, it's pathetic. Lethargic openings to matches have become a habit and I personally feel that the coach has a responsibility to fix that. If he can't get his players wanting to come out there and rip heads off for him (especially in must-win games), then something is wrong.
Antyhing else you can think of? Or am I being too harsh? I am in no way calling for him to be sacked or suggesting that he should never have come here in the first place. But in my opinion he has some shortcomings.
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