Remember when Monas arrived - apparently he and Briers didn't get on either? Don't you just love gossip?

As for the Penny comment - its a shame for him really. He emerged far too quickly. But also don't you think there isn't much of a place for wingers like Penny? The way SL is played, it seems you want a much larger winger, with a smidge of pace but good strength too. A la Richards, Hicks, Gardner, Hall. Even Riley is more robust and has a good burst of speed rather than length of pitch stuff. I actually was surprised Saints play that new kid (sorry his name escapes me ) but I was stood next to him the other day and he is bigger than I thought. Anyway, you can't compare Penny to Myler. Myler has worked his way through an RL background. Penny hadn't touched a rugby ball before!

Myler has just had a bit of first seasonitis. Next season is make or break for him. And I maintain that it is difficult to compare Myler and Tomkins. They play a totally different game and are at different stages in their career. Sam is certainly peaking at the moment.

as did i! great attribute!

Another stat; Smith spent £200k on signing Myler and bringing him to the club. Smith immediately made him a starter and started him throughout the majority of our season. He was dropped for a couple of games at the back end of the season, IIRC before the final, Smith mentioned his defence and Myler being targeted. He took the safe option, it worked once, but didn't work the other times, that doesn't mean Smith doesn't think he's good enough, that doesn't mean that Smith wants to get rid, it means Tony decided that the tactics he wanted to use in those games didn't include Richie Myler, we're in a position luxurious enough to drop players like Myler, which is a great sign of the times, but people shouldn't write Richie or Tony off. People speculate and make up things, I remember when the texts were flying around before the final about him not playing, immediately people were spinning things, it was embarrassing and the consistent drivel put on here by most is also embarrassing.

It shows though that defence is TS's top priority, which is probably why Penny was frozen out.

But that's why TS has won trophies here and will continue to win them (IMO), whilst I feel Penny will probably go on to have an entertaining career, but probably lacking success.

Look at the top sides throughout the years, they rarely get away with not having 'complete' players in there. Richie isn't complete, he's very young and raw but has clear talent that he has shown throughout the season. At his age, at our level and coming from Salford's level, expecting him to step up and do everything was probably too much to ask, Smith knows that and I'm sure Richie will know that, too.

I liked Kev, he was a nice lad who shown bags of effort and desire, but look at Mathers for another great example - it isn't enough, you will be based on what happens on that field and, when you're constantly exposed like Kev was, you won't have too many more chances. Richie's lucky he plays in a position where young players rarely come in and command a spot, he's also lucky that our other half back 'options' (Briers, Mona's) aren't so young themselves, so he knows he is being groomed to fill either spot, he's just been unfortunate enough to not tickle the manager's fancy in the back end of the season. It's all part of the learning curve, and, as much as some like to speculate, that's all it is. As much as some will try and expose Smith, or try and speculate an inconsistency in his coaching, his decisions are purely professional IMO, so I will rarely disagree with a man who I feel makes every decision with acceptable reasons, even if they don't always come off.

Sadly, we lost that "none shall pass" defensive mantra halfway through the season and ended up conceding 84 points in the last 3 games.