Smith should have stayed in zero bars

Smith is truly awful. We may as well play without any recognised half backs at all.

And we could play till this time tomorrow and we still wouldn't score a try - our "strength in depth" is woeful (whatever we're paying Smith is way too much)

Patton will be the happiest man at the club watching this. Smith's performance should win Dec a new 5-year contract.

This is so frustrating and we should’ve never have been in the position where this game matters as much as it does.

Sod sky and their commentators, bigging this game up and bigging Salford up who are playing against half a side and not doing anything special. So, so desperate to make this joke of a league exciting. And audibly desperate at times to see a Salford try it seemed.

I guess they only care about player welfare and all that state of mind rubbish for one round a year. Rest of the time, let them flog themselves for the Sky dollar and who cares when they last played.

PS I concur that Matty Smith is a bag of juank.

Thankfully Smith WAS ineligible for Wembley!

Unfair to pick on Smith it isn’t his fault that he wasn’t selected to play tonight.

Austin seems the exception, but our recruitment the past 12 months or so has been poo. Do we not employ scouts any more?

Not losing by 24+ was like getting a point out of that as it keeps the top 5 in our hands.

Fucking scandalous how Sky put us on tonight but we can have the weekend off and prepare well for the end to the season.

A new chapter in the season to come now. Onwards and upwards!

Matty Smith should not get near a Wire shirt ever again

Danny Walker was our best player tonight and we signed him in the last 12 months.

Long term Luther Burrell could be a good signing. He’s a good big and fast rugby player with good hands, he’s just adjusting, but was much better defensively tonight.

Jason Clark started the season well but has tailed off, but he was superb at Wembley last week.

I’ve also liked Matt Davis.

That leaves Tasi and Smith.

I’m not a ‘tin hatter’ but a more suspicious human would say this result was somewhat contrived to create some drama and build up for the top 5 race.

I don’t believe in all that though, we won the cup, celebrated hard and kept control of the end of the season. It’s in our hands, but boy have we dropped a ballcock by not sealing 2nd months ago

Well he’s done the job we needed him to. We needed another body while Austin was injured and Patton needed more recovery after Wembley.

How well that’s been is another matter but he’s stood in as a squad member.

Not totally surprised by that - as I said earlier.
But it leaves us struggling.

Many issues - many the same as the previous 5 SL matches. Very limited in attack.

I know Danny Walker is 'young' but he gets pushed off the tackle time and again.
Burrell needs a good pre-season
Smith is a shadow of his former self
Yet to see Johnson's calibre.

On a positive note BMM played long minutes (ok he gave away a couple of soft penalties).
Great desire in the 1st half to defend the line, but the tactics used last week won't work week after week.
Salford back 3 caught and ran well.
Generally too many tired bodies.

Perfect result?

By losing we effectively give Salford 3 points....2 points for the league a securing 3rd with an increased healthy points difference over Pies and FC.
....and maintaining our phantom point over Salford with our better points difference.

So effectively if things remain the status quo, we play Salford at home in the 1st qualifying round.

Better that than Pies or Hull at home I think.