Not so sure you can excuse McShane and Clarkson quite so easily....but otherwise a fair enough assessment.

I have always defended Smith and considered him a good FB in particular.....but oh dear. His best opportunity to stake his claim for some time....and he failed big time.
Hard to imagine not so long ago he was our regular RC and didn't do such a bad job against SL competition ( we'll conveniently forget his abilities up against Ingliss of course ).

There now needs to be a suitable reaction from the players and the coaching staff after what was a sub-standard, disrespectful performance both to their own fans and to a lesser extent St Helens - who I'd expect appreciated the welcome gift.

IMO, Tony Smith used a similar experience V St Helens in 2004 (mentioned on the hair-do thread) to galvanize the players and that paid dividends back then.

Careful with statements like that, or ThePrinter will be on your case because the performances during the regular rounds in SL are really important and vital and everyone cares about them apart from me of course

Or perhaps not.

Sidestepping it? I have answered it very clearly, which is why you picked up on it in the first place. I think every player should be trying to prove something in every game, whether your name is Smith or something else.

I even gave you a further list of players especially who should have been trying to prove something with reasons. You however seem to think only one needs to prove something.

People have to remember here that Smith had the spot. He didn't lose it, he got injured. He is only just now fit again. Has BJB really done enough to warrant any different view from the coaching staff to what they had at the start of the season? I don't know personally so not giving an answer.

I just think it is typical of a high percentage of supporters that there has to be a scapegoat who gets the most critisism after a performance like that. And it is furthermore typical that to a select few other supporters that they do single out one individual when it happens, yet defend others to the hilt for performances that are even worse.

Why don't you offer an opinion? Judge on what you have seen, that's all you can.

I can - I would say BJB has impressed more than Smith on the wing so far this season. What's a deal-breaker for me is BJB's tight working bond with his centre (the ever impressive Watkins).

When you look at wingers you have to account for their link with their centre. I would be seriously concerned that Smith couldn't keep up with Watkins to get on the end of his supply. I mean that honestly, not tongue-in-cheek.

I'm not actually dissagreeing with you on any of that. I will however say that I still think out of Smith, BJB, Chisolm, even Hall, that Smith is the one who has that ability to create something out of nothing. At least I think he still has it, he's demonstrated it before.

Do I think Smith played well on Sunday? not at all. But again, I don't think Webb would have either, and Webb most certainly had miles worse games last year than Smith had on Sunday, and he did it on quite a few occassions. On that basis, I still see no reason why Smith is the one singled out from what was a poor performance from the majority of players.

I wouldn't worry about the result or performance too much, you got whacked by Saints at Widnes last season and it didn't turn out too badly for you in the end

Smith is still a decent player, I remember him hurting Saints on many occasions in the past. He just needs a bit of support and you'll get that player back. He looked knackered at times against us and seemed to find it really hard going. Maybe he finds it hard to motivate himself now he's just a squad player

Watkins looks like a world-beater, every time he gets the ball you expect something special. I'm looking forward to watching him over the next ten years if he stays in league

See you at the GF (maybe we'll let you win this time IF you let us take the CC: fancy a trip to Wembley this year instead of OT yet again)

gotcha, BJB is years ahead of smith at full back and winger. in fact he has looked so good on the wing i'd be tempted to bring in a top class fullback, if one is available, next season

I think there are a few players in the 17 from last Sunday that have nothing to prove to anybody. But they do regularly and will do so again.

Smith isn't one of them. Regardless of getting involved with semantics with Gotcha it's clear to me Smith is miles behind 1-5 shirt numbers in terms of talent and application at the moment. The next person in line for a shirt if someone is needed for the threequarters should be Chisolm IMO. I've seen what I need from Smith and not just from Sunday.

Albeit i've seen very little of him the finished of Chisholms tries have looked very good and we all know he doesn't lack pace. I would look at putting BJB to fullback and Chisholm on the wing until Webb gets back.

Interesting you say that because i was just checking out the Super League website
In 3 games less than Burrow with limited game time McShane has completed just 8 tackles less than Burrow and also missed one fewer tackle.

I've been away a year, I come back and it's the same old folk bickering. Love it.