Quote: moto748 "One poor game, yes, but hand on heart, how many good ones? Watching Cas the other night, I wasn't so much concentrating on Hampshire as thinking how Gale looked twice the player Smith is. And I'm talking about 'good Smith', not 'bad Smith'.'"
I would tend to agree with this. Matty isn't a match winner, just a vital cog in the machine. It's teams that win trophies not collections of good individuals, and for whatever reason Waney thinks Matty is vital to Wigan. He obviously sees things that others do not. In these things I tend to respect his opinion, though I am well aware that is an unpopular view on here (though not with yourself).
For example Matty doesn't have the ability of Tommy, but I would argue that Matty is at least as effective because Tommy could never kick properly. I think Waney decided early on that a good kicker is more important than a couple of runners who can pass at half back. Tommy with Brett Finch for example was a pairing that never really worked for the simple reason that neither of them could kick to save their lives. Matty's passing isn't as poor as some on here make out either.
Gale has really improved at Cas, though he was very good at Bradford the year they went down. IIRC they beat us at Odsal and Gale was excellent.