Based on the Grand Final, and probably the final two months of SL, Smith is not a patch on McGuire

Not as good as McGuire. I didnt think Widdop was that bad.

Not by a country mile, credit to smith he played the conditions really well. Top marks also to the rest of the Wigan boys. I thought they all had stand out games.
Can't quite fathom out at the moment we're we are in stature with Australia, certainly we have some promising players in the squad. Obviously we need to kick on from this success ,
Not certain if the present coaching team is up to the job, although after winning the series they will probably be awarded new contracts.

I was surprised how well Smith played & he defended well too. Whether Gale would have been able to do as well we'll never know.

The conditions yesterday suited his game perfectly. Very limited in attack, but with a decent kicking game.

Took the ball right up to the line, played the conditions well, kicked relatively well, took charge of organising and did everything with a calm, controlled air of comfort. Basically everything Williams failed to do last week.

I thought that Matty Smith had a very good game yesterday, he certainly brought the controlled direction to our side that we have sadly lacked in the first two tests

I'm not sure how yesterdays performance from Matty Smith warrants him as SL's best half back though, unless your opinions are based on one game rather than the whole season?

He kicked good yesterday, but they were helped by the dithering that RTS did when collection them.

Good to see Hardaker has the kick off duties too at International level. We got a drop out straight away from the start of the game thanks to one NZ couldn't deal with and they struggled with others too.

I agree. Smith has had a mixed season, but yesterday he did the job his coach and team needed. We commented at the game that it was very much a "Sinfield" type performance. That's a good accolade btw.

With regards to it being a Sinfield type performance Rogues
Matty Smith certainly played the game and what was in front of him yesterday and that performance from him certainly helped us win the game and the series

Has there ever been a better game management player than Sinfield?
IMO he is the best of all time in controlling a game and making sure that his side wins the big games when they count

I've always rated Sinfield for his game management. If you look back at my posts over the years I said that for England /GB his most effective position was at #9, where he could control a game without having to be a running halfback. The problem with a lot of many RL fans is that see a Rangi Chase type player as a solution rather than a problem.

He is not the best imo, but is up there which is probably an indictment of the lack of quality HB's in SL.It is the one area now likely to hold us back.Matty Smith had a good solid game on Saturday so fair play to him, but he needs to have a much better year for Wigan in 2016 to be considered again, he was a lucky boy to even get that opportunity at the weekend.

Smith and McGillvary both had great games - massive improvement in their respective positions over those they replaced.

So why did the England coaches not go with them earlier in the series?

Bes they won the first game. They weren't going to change that for the second game.

Nearly everyone to a man wouldn't have even had Smith in the squad let alone the starting 13 so I don't think you can't criticise them for only playing him in the 3rd test when again I think most of us wanted Gale in.

As for wing, I did think we should've gone for McGilivery over Burgess because of the type of physical impact he showed on Saturday carrying the ball. However it was hardly a shocking call to opt for Burgess instead originally.