I used to really love watching Matt Gidley play. He was a *proper* centre. A dying art, in the NRL as much as here. Jamie Lyon is one of the few nowadays

I must say i feel a bit sorry for matty as he has never been anything but a normal run of the mill scrum half i think we need to play hampshire at 6 as he has that extra pace and skill over williams

I think we need to give Williams a chance in his natural position of 7 and Hampshire at 6. They were the positions they played in together for several years and this is about the only combination that hasn't been tried so far this year, probably because of Wane's fixation about Hampshire's best position being full back as a Mk2 Sam. There may be reservations about their lack of experience, but Matty Smith's experience/ organising ability have not been evident very much this season. In mitigation, he has been playing behind a beaten pack and has not had a regular half back partner, but he has brought precious little to the table and his lack of pace when compared to both Williams and Hampshire is a crucial factor in my opinion. I would like to Smith revert to a bench 9 to spell MM - very much doubt that will happen, but that is what he used to do. Let's give it a try with 2 speedy half backs playing in tandem and let opposing teams worry about that, rather than us worrying about what defensive limitations Hampshire might have if played at 6.

I think hampshires limitions amount to not being able to catch a rugby ball

Caught plenty difficult ones v Hull KR

I think the real problem with Hampshire is Wane, who is so insistent that Ryan will play fullback that it seem to have become a standoff (no pun intended).

It is an utter disgrace that a young player who has played all his junior Rugby at standoff without being given at least a few months in his natural position when he makes the first team is being told that he either plays fullback or not at all.
It took an emergency the other week when Williams broke down in the warm up to a match for Ryan to be included at standoff and since then when Bowen has been in the squad Ryan hasn't even been in the 19.
I was even told the other week that he was informed that if standoff was the only position he wanted to play he could go to Workington on loan for the season.

What I find strange is lack of input and comments of certain posters on here when something controversial comes up.

I agree totally. Hampshire should be given a chance at 6, preferably with Williams at 7. For Wane to justify not picking Hampshire at 6 a few weeks ago because he had not impressed while playing at full back beggars belief. He may never really impress at full back because he isn't a full back!
Also, when did Williams become a 6? He played most of his junior rugby at 7 ( with Hampshire as his half back partner at 6), before becoming a bench hooker last year, again a position he had never played before until last season and which understandably took its toll on him physically. He is then given the number 6 shirt - squad numbers may not always mean everything, but they are a pretty good indicator of a coach's intentions.
This all goes back to the recruitment or lack of it these past 18 months. No real replacement/bench hooker, lack of size in the forwards, no consistent/reliable goal kicker - all of which should have been addressed.

I watched West Tigers and the Titans earlier. They may not be the best two sides in the comp, but oh for a kicker of the quality of Pat Richards or Aidan Cezer.

You only get kickers of the calibre of Richards,Jim Sullivan or Botica once in a lifetime if your lucky !

Matthew Ridge was a fair old kicker too.

I don't know. Just about all NRL sides, and most of the top SL sides, have a kicker of comparable quality to the two I mentioned.

Gale's place kicking on a windy night showed us what we are missing.

Unfortunately Matty has been given a year to improve his place kicking to get it near Super League standard, and it hasn't worked. Sinfield, Dureau, Gale, Griffin, Brough, the new bloke at Hull KR, Tickle, Sneyd and whoever Saints use (mainly Percival) are better. This makes Matty just about the worst in the league.

I've been a big supporter of his and argued that he should be given a go, and with practice he'd be ok. Apart from a couple of decent conversions at Widnes it hasn't happened. And I don't really know why, because he has a lot of bottle. But the stats are starting to stack up, and I don't see a big improvement over time, if anything he's stayed the same.

Also, it's not his fault there isn't anyone else. I do believe that this extra responsibility has affected his game. I think he needs to be taken out of the firing line. Play Hampshire at full back or stand off and give him the job - would be my solution.

I agree that Matty as goal kicker simply isn't working, but I'm not sure putting a young lad like Hampshire in the team and then giving him extra responsibility is the best option either. I also thought Matty would improve, because he does seem to have all the basic skills to be a good goalkicker, he just lacked consistency which should have come with practice. But over a year on, anything more than 20 yards either side of the sticks you expect him to miss.

Completely agree. Giving the added responsibility to Hampshire isn't ideal at all. Going back to Josh doesn't seem like much of an idea either.

We are in a pickle, and I advocated signing a Stand Off for this season and someone like Danny Brough (my first choice) or Luke Gale, who is a decent player, would have solved two problems for us IMO.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with playing a youngster in an unfamiliar position. I'd guess that most players begin their first team careers outside of their favoured position. Adaptability is an essential quality for any first teamer. Besides, no youngster *deserves* the right to any role until he's proved to his teammates that he possesses a) the right attitude and b) something to offer.

When the kid has passed the test and earned the respect of his fellow players - then the coach can begin thinking about adapting his talents to a particular role. Not before.

I do not attach any blame to Matty Smith personally, as he is obviously trying his best, but he is never a first choice kicker. The importance of the extra 2 points in a tight and crucial match cannot be ignored:

In the Challenge Cup Q/F against Castleford Smith missed a relatively straightforward conversion ( ie it would have been for Pat) about 15 - 20 yards to the left of the posts after Faz's try. Instead of 6 -6, Cas were still leading 6-4 and Wigan were playing catch-up rugby. Some may argue that Wigan still had time to score another try and win the game, but it must have been a great psychological boost to the Cas players to know they were still in the lead, when they should have been 6 - 6.

And even more crucially in the Grand Final, he missed a penalty from 25 -30 yards out just to the right of the posts after about 60 minutes. And the ball didn't even go dead, so Saints ran it back rather than a drop out on the 20. I honestly believe Wigan would have gone on to win the game if they had drawn level at 8-8 - instead they were still chasing the game, Saints eventually went upfield and scored from a kick.

As Aboveusonlypie says, Smith must be one of the worst kickers of all 12 Superleague teams (and probably most Championship teams. The guy from Leigh was knocking them over from the corner in the pre-season friendly!). I repeat: Smith is not to blame, but surely IL and SW must have realised at the end of last season there was a chronic weakness which has to be addressed. He has had over a season to become more consistent and hasn't managed it.

It is not too late to "splash the cash" if the salary cap limit has not yet been reached, which apparently it hasn't according to some posters who seem to be in the know! A big older head pack leader (prop?) and a goal-kicking half back would be the top of my shopping list!