Re: Round 23 | Cats at Home : Mon Aug 26, 2024 3:24 pm  

leeds owl wrote:

They were never going to give it to Blake Austin for obvious reasons. He was one of the few players to shine last season, Smith certainly didn’t. I’d like to see Arthur have an impact on not just Smith but other players as well, but I’d also like to see people affording as many excuses to all the players that have been poor this season not just Cam.

Blake Austin

The 2023 POTY was the easiest decision of all time. Cam was far and away our best player last year. The only player worth mentioning other than him buggered off and is now at Salford.

Re: Round 23 | Cats at Home : Mon Aug 26, 2024 3:32 pm  

Smith isn't a bad player,his tackle stats are immense.
His attack is poor,though.

I suspect BA will likely try bulk him up a tad and use him more like an extra middle than a ball playing LF.

Re: RD 23 | Catalan Dragons H : Wed Aug 28, 2024 9:48 am  

Smith is one of the most skilled players in the squad, he just needs to improve the speed of his decision making and slim down a bit

Re: RD 23 | Catalan Dragons H : Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:23 am  

Cam Smith has got heaps of natural ability, however I think he's been conditioned to much for endurance and not enough for explosive power. I think Asiata has set the standard for 13s in SL over the last couple of years because he engages the line with speed with shape around him. Cam looks too slow in comparison to play as directly.

I'd rather see Cam be more explosive and play fewer minutes than be used to do all the donkey work covering for other players. Whatever people think, there's a great player in there, but he needs others around him to step up so we can see the best of him.

Re: RD 23 | Catalan Dragons H : Wed Aug 28, 2024 6:50 pm  

Jack Burton wrote:

Smith is one of the most skilled players in the squad, he just needs to improve the speed of his decision making and slim down a bit

I tend to agree on the slimming down and making him more mobile, however grizzly Brian thought he needed to try and become more like a prop.

Be interesting to see if they make a big push one way or the other. I think he will look sharper next year as I think they all wil.

Arthur keeps saying it’s going to be a long, tough pre-season, music to my ears