Quote: Aboveusonlypie "I wouldn't disagree with anything you've said. But why single Matty out? If he's the best of a bad bunch then surely that means others are worse. How does that make him a liability? How does that mean he's not good enough for Wigan? He seems to be the current scapegoat on here for some reason.
And before you get too misty eyed about the past I well remember going to the 1992 World Cup Final at Wembley when our scrum half that day was none other than Derek Fox from Featherstone. A good player for sure, but give me Matty any day. His performance in a Man of the Match display in the third test seems to have been overlooked in a "What have the Romans ever done for us?" kind of way. Matty was the lynchpin of the double winning team lets not forget (Lance Todd winner too). He may well be missing Blake but I reckon if we put Sam in there it would make for a very tasty partnership.'"
Despite other stuff I've said, this is honestly not 'pick on Matty week'.
I also feel we are lacking any strike-force in the centres. I don't rate Sarge and Gelling is too unreliable, while we have weak links in the forwards too (Mossop being the most glaring example, though even our back-rowers are very small).
But I feel that one of the biggest problems is our lack of creativity. George could be so much more dangerous running alongside a scrum half who can open doors for him. We are third in the league with a points-difference of only 15. The three teams below us have a better one than that, while the two above us are way higher. It was a key problem towards the end of last year that we couldn't score tries. Thus far in 2016, it's the same story. Surely our main play-maker must take a lot of the blame for that?
He's a willing lad, Matty Smith, and by all accounts a nice a guy, but I feel Wigan are in a real rut at present. Instead of recruiting experience, we've again relied on an exciting generation of youngsters - but the best one of those has now left and the one everyone used to really rave about can't even get into the Castleford first team. That's what happens when you bank on kids. You're lucky if one or two of them make the grade. Okay, that's not Matty's fault - but I just feel we need a big clear-out of those who aren't performing and to replace them with some real quality, and our midfield general role is the most vitally in need of overhaul.
I know that's not easy, by the way, especially mid-season. But I feel it's a new strategy we should be adopting at the soonest opportunity.