Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:32 pm  

I see no issue with him being in the squad but i would be very surprised if he was a starter

Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:27 pm  

For me he improved his game to the point of being unrecognisable as the season went then had that stinker against Leeds,still I think I’d have him in my squad.

Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 5:13 pm  

Stranger wrote:

For me he improved his game to the point of being unrecognisable as the season went then had that stinker against Leeds,still I think I’d have him in my squad.

Did he have a stinker against Leeds? It wasn’t great but I thought his long kicking was really good and one of the reasons we kept the pressure on territorially in the first half, yes he created nothing near the try line but nobody did in our team, he was certainly better than others on the pitch imo, definitely better than Tommy and Powell.

Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 5:41 pm  

CobraCraig wrote:

Did he have a stinker against Leeds? It wasn’t great but I thought his long kicking was really good and one of the reasons we kept the pressure on territorially in the first half, yes he created nothing near the try line but nobody did in our team, he was certainly better than others on the pitch imo, definitely better than Tommy and Powell.

Had a conversation with a mate about Smith in that play off semi who also said he thought he had a stinker. I thought he was ok. He set up the Marshall try with an absolute beauty of a pass and I thought he looked like the only one of our 6,7 and 9 who might produce something for most of the game. I thought Tommy looked well of the pace in comparison, which was a shame but understandable.

If Lomax is fit I’d have him and Tomkins in the halves personally and Welsby at fullback, with Williams on the bench. If Lomax is out then I’d probably pair Tomkins and Williams and have Smith in the squad as cover.

Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:43 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Had a conversation with a mate about Smith in that play off semi who also said he thought he had a stinker. I thought he was ok. He set up the Marshall try with an absolute beauty of a pass and I thought he looked like the only one of our 6,7 and 9 who might produce something for most of the game. I thought Tommy looked well of the pace in comparison, which was a shame but understandable.

If Lomax is fit I’d have him and Tomkins in the halves personally and Welsby at fullback, with Williams on the bench. If Lomax is out then I’d probably pair Tomkins and Williams and have Smith in the squad as cover.

I think without Cust he looked limited, as impressive as he is with the boot I can see why others look at him and wonder if he offers enough of a running threat.

I like Smith, he’s improved massively this season but that Leeds match was a huge opportunity for him.

I guess it’s an unfair comparison but how long did it take Saints to crack that Leeds defence?

I’m not putting all the blame on Smith but there’s definitely room for improvement as a Wigan 7.

Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:50 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Had a conversation with a mate about Smith in that play off semi who also said he thought he had a stinker. I thought he was ok. He set up the Marshall try with an absolute beauty of a pass and I thought he looked like the only one of our 6,7 and 9 who might produce something for most of the game. I thought Tommy looked well of the pace in comparison, which was a shame but understandable.

If Lomax is fit I’d have him and Tomkins in the halves personally and Welsby at fullback, with Williams on the bench. If Lomax is out then I’d probably pair Tomkins and Williams and have Smith in the squad as cover.

I think that Smith will start.
I don't think that there are many other options for a goal kicker. Sneyd probably won't even get in the squad so not sure who else there is?
We cannot afford to go into an international without a recognised goal kicker.
Personally I would play Williams and Smith in the halves and Welsby at FB but we all know that Tomkins will be a shoe in for the FB role.
If Lomax does play, and I hope he does, maybe Williams could come off the bench to cover hooker and the halves?

Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:03 pm  

With Cust being out he also switched to the Left, whilst imo most of his best work this season has been playing on the right
I thought a lot of the timing looked off on both sides because of that as tommy/field on the right nowhere near worked as well as smith/field have been.

Re: Smith for England : Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:46 pm  

CobraCraig wrote:

Did he have a stinker against Leeds? It wasn’t great but I thought his long kicking was really good and one of the reasons we kept the pressure on territorially in the first half, yes he created nothing near the try line but nobody did in our team, he was certainly better than others on the pitch imo, definitely better than Tommy and Powell.

It doesn’t matter how good a half you are if you’ve no options! Jonathan Thurston wouldn’t have been able to do anything for us in attack against Leeds we were so flat generally. His kicking game was as good as I’ve seen from him, and in the first half he was our best player by a country mile.

Re: Smith for England : Wed Sep 28, 2022 6:39 am  

On top of the moanings about Smith, Harvie Hill making the 20 man England Knights side has caused more moaning, got to say I’m a little surprised but Iv been impressed with him in the academy and reserves and he’s a big lad so that won’t be an issue for him.

Re: Smith for England : Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:23 am  

Don't know why there's moaning about Smith and his season. He's been outstanding and his goal kicking even better.
As for his game v Leeds. When the team was announced we had Powell at 9, Smithies 13 and Tommy playing 6. None of those spine player posed an attacking threat to Leeds. Hence the reason we spent 40 mins on their line and only scored one try. Once again we looked like we hadn't got a move in us. The 9, 13 and 6 we had out there didn't have a move in them. That wasn't Harry Smith's fault it was poor team selection. Of the remaining spine, only Jai and Harry were a threat and as long as Leeds kept those two quiet they'd a very good chance of winning.

If Harry Smith is named in the England squad he'll have deserved it as far as I'm concerned.