On the subject of Smith, he’s been superb this season and it’s a credit to him and the coaching staff. What I did notice is that at Leeds last week it was like watching the 2021 Harry Smith and I don’t say that bagging his performance but more to just highlight that he can’t do it all by himself. If the forwards don’t put the ground work in, if we don’t defend properly as a team, if we don’t work off the ball and give him options etc etc it all falls down. The errors creep in, his options are cut off, he keeps getting caught in position, his passing becomes wild and so on. The fact the side was so poor last season is why I never went hard at Harry Smith and it’s why now I’ll put plenty of his individual improvement down to the coaching staff and the side as a whole. A halfback like Smith will live and die by the performances around him, especially the performance of his forward pack. He’s fed off them this season and it’s been great to see.
