FearTheVee wrote:
I've been impressed by Smithies this year - he has clearly kicked on and having a better pack around him now will undoubtedly have helped (as well as physically maturing).
You're right that the stats above can be a bit misleading as they don't tell the story of the unbelievable energy and toughness it takes for Knowles to lead the Saints defensive line (as evidenced by the missed tackles through leading the line and contact). It also means a big proportion of the tackles he does make are screaming off the line first man in which there is no stat for but is an enormous part of Saints effectiveness in defence.
smithies still has tons of development left in him and will become an ever better player.
I rate Knowles massively and you guys have a similar battle we had with some opposition regarding Micky Mac on your hands.There’s no stats for somebody playing a game at frantic pace, showing aggression, the force they hit with and the way they inspire those around them and so on. If you showed somebody Knowles stats and you didn’t know the player, you’d go ‘he’s not all that’ but he is. I do recall plenty of Saints fans bashing Micky Mac (and I’ve seen some still doing the same recently) but he was huge for us and lead our aggression and line speed. He battered your forward pack defensively plenty of times but as with Knowles, you can overlook what he’s bringing if he’s not in your side.
As for Smithies, he’s a bit different to Knowles, certainly in terms of how he’s being asked to play anyway but he’s turning in to a high quality player. It’ll be tough for him to crack an England place with Knowles and now Radley in there but he’ll come close if he continues his development.
