If anyone has been around the game all his life,and haven't we all, then it must be obvious that half back is a partnership of players with complementary skill sets.
It just did not work with Stef earlier in the season.
It does work now.
Guess why.
Yep,the whole team is playing better,starting with the half backs !

Well lets agree to disagree then. I just don't see how you can have a half back who can only pass one way

The good thing about Smith is the way he has gelled with Holdsworth, he also is young enough to improve (assuming we have the coaching set up for him to do so, which i`m not sure about) He looks to me like a propper 7 (I know what does that mean, but some look Scrum Half and he does to me) whereas Stef is a 6 and never a 7, Stefs problem is he has Holdsworth in front of him which aint gonna change for 3 yrs. Sadly i`m not sure where i see Stef fit in the starting 13 going forward. Happy for someone to suggest something but ???

Thats pretty much the situation

I think it would be a real tragedy if Ratchford was to leave. I, along with most salford fans, have thought he's the best lad to come through our academy for a very long time. But i have to say, as things stand, I can't see him being first choice anywhere other than on the wing. Patten at 1, Holdsworth 6 and Smith 7. What does that leave him?

It seems to me that Smith was brought in as a back up for the Ratchford/Holdsworth partnership and possibly interchanging with Alker. But even though he has individual faults he and Holdsworth seem to work really well together. Better than Stef is with either of them. Maybe it's just the injuries or maybe he has been the unlucky fall guy for the poor team form at the start of the season and there's always the chance he will come back into the reckoning if he gets the chance. He's certainly good enough to and I hope he gets the chance

At the moment though, whilst i think Ratchford is a better individual player than Smith, the team seems to play better with Smith than Ratchford

The problem Stef has is the fact, as has been pointed out by Shaun, that he can cover anywhere along the back line, which the likes of Smith can't, thus rather than tie him down to one position he gets used as cover for any first choice three quarter. Basically for me, his versatility is his strength and weakness through no fault of his own for being a multi-talented player.

I think Stef is a very special player and one we can ill afford to let go, give him time playing / training alongside quality players like Holdsworth and Patten and watch him bloom when he does get his chance at Stand off or Full back.

KOTS puts it very well.
We don't want to lose him and ,indeed, tried to give him a dedicated position at the start of the season but it didn't work out.
I hope he does come through eventually but it may be injuries that give him the opportunity that he needs to take

Smith's bomb for the first try against Leeds was OK ??

What about his kick offs, straight to McGuire every time.

Amongst all this speculation no one has mentioned James Jiminez.