To answer the original question, it’s an absolute no! Why would we drop our biggest attacking threat at a time when the whole atmosphere around the club is so low? George Williams might not be on top form but he’s still a major threat. Form as they say is temporary but class is permanent. He’s an excellent young player and we need to boost his confidence and get him firing. To leave him out won’t help him or the club.

Another frustrating display from him.

Anonymous for most of the match but seemed to spark up at about the hour mark and showed some real quality all be it for a fairly brief spell.

I know our pack was bettered for most of the match but marquee players have to be able to deal with that and mix it up and he just doesn’t seem willing or able to step up at times.

I look forward to watching him for the rest of the year as I am sure his quality will shine through but I think the expected move to the NRL will be a good move for both player and club.

Burgess yes (only 2 appearances before being given the 5 shirt) but we certainly didn’t with Williams. He took the 6 shirt in 2015 after making 24 appearances in 2014 (plus 2 in 2013)with a mixture of starts and bench appearances. That’s an ideal scenario for a young pivot IMO. It’s a bit different for a winger as well, I think you can expect them to settle in a bit quicker in a position with much less responsibility.

I’d be all for Smith being our scrum half in 2020 alongside a top stand off but to do that we need to get him in to the side at points this season for some experience. That’s a tough thing to do considering our form at the moment.

so he was played in most games in 2014 after a very small cameo in 2013 of 2 games.

11 starts and 13 bench appearances with a lot of them at hooker to ease him in to the side.

That would be an ideal scenario for Smith in 2020 of course but I don’t think we can afford to think we say ‘there’s the seven shirt’ and expect him to boss the team round for 30 games.

we can afford not too