Completely agree. Rugby is a game where if you have a dominant pack or an equal pack the game becomes easier for the backs. Smith has got it tough with a weak/inconsistent WTW pack. We allowed a 30 yr old genuine SL prop in Korkidas to leave and we did not replace him with anything better which was a mistake.

Aiton should be at 9 and the bench should have had 2 props Johnson & James on it the other day - a coaching mistake. .

its got to be said yet again at Wakefield the underperformers are all overseas Smith/John/Southern/Mellers and its being the case for years leave them at home or spend the same money on 2 and get more quality eg Alton

Thats purely hindsight police though isnt it.

So who are you going to advise the quality we sign next season then and what happens if they dont live up to expectation. There is a lot to be said about people settling into a new culture the classic for me was pat Richards the first season he was all over the place since then he ripped it up. I am more interested in the longer trem and seeing some of these players putting it together.

Ok Johnson is not an out and out front rower hes a second rower and for what my opinion is worth he is a shodow of last season perhaps thats becuase there are better plyers than him than last season at the club or he is off form.

Who strangely enough is also oversees

No doubt our props arent up to much at the moment especially now Wilkes is out, but I forgot Korki was a collision busting, offloading, hard tackling machine. More like a ball dropping, penalty machine. But the lad gave 100% so all is good.

Tim Smith has been a mixed bag so far this season just like Trinity,when we have been good he has been the stand out player,imo he has been trying to do too much because who ever has been his half back partner they have been poor,plus the fact we're seriously lacking in depth in the front row our half backs will more often than not struggle to get our team on the front foot.

I think the biggest problem we have is Agar as coach,poor team selection and no appartent motivation,maybe this will change next season when he can bring in his own players and ship out the 1s he doesn't rate which by the looks of it will be half the squad.

Not sure about this one. There are more clubs than ours with new coaches and doing seemingly better than us, they haven't got a team full of 'their own signings'. Wasn't it highlighted on another thread that a fair few of the signings were after RA was appointed ie his signings?

Those people who are critical of Tim Smith are obviously looking for a scapegoat.

If you actually watch him for large parts of the game he is the one who is doing most of the creative stuff...yet I bet many of you only see the inside ball that labels him predictable.

There is a reason why in rugby league you have two half backs, share the workload and share the responsibility of creativity- does Isaac John do this? Tim Smith is trying his best but he is not playing his 'game' due to an inadequate partner and a crap pack.

The pack we have is pathetic and I would say it is the weakest in the league. And that in itself is not helped by stupid bench selections like on Friday night. How the chuff can you get a roll on and be confident in attack when we are consistently not getting over the game line.

I also see his shocking kicking game and pathetic tackling attempts.

Just like the crowd favourite Ben Cockayne!??

I think the problem we have with Smith is that we all want him to be the next Danny Brough, which he clearly isn't. I do think he needs a stand off who takes on the line to play alongside him, but if you watch him closely his passing is sublime. He also dictates well and virtually all our good attacking play comes through him. I personally hope he stays next season, because with a more dominant pack and attacking 6, I reckon we have a very clever player. I don't think he'd be out of place as captain, especially with Southern spending as much time off the field as he had been, although that would be harsh on Kirmond.

mate i think your answer might have been directed at (asmadasa) i never mentioned korkidas but seeing you have i would agree with asmadasa, korkidas is far better than anything we have in the front row this season. you have also made my mind up for me. didn't know whether to go to fev and halifax or dewsbury and keithly this afternoon. but now will be going to watch jd's boys at dewsbury. let you know how it goes.

This just about covers it. In terms of pure talent Tim Smith is our best halfback, what he does lack is consistency and at the minute the confidence to take on the line. The stats back that up, he has the most try assists in our team and is 14th on the list in superleague as a whole. But the comment about playing behind a beaten pack is the most most valid of all. We could have Cooper Cronk and Jonathon Thurston in this team and they would struggle playing behind a pack the is getting monstered in most games. Again the stats don't lie, there is only Widnes that have made less meters than us. We also more often than not lose the wrestle due to a lack of size, resulting in slow play the balls and less time for our creative players to work with. This is particularly noticeable when it comes to kicks, we are getting closed down way too quickly. As Smith is our main man he stands out more but anybody would have the exact same problems. He is doing his best but will be fighting a losing battle unless we can get a pack that puts us on the front foot.

Smith plays better when partnered with John, he was poor on Friday night but so was the whole team, at times we looked totally lost with our backs clueless as to what was happening as simth was only comanding one half, say what you like about Wildie/Wood/Ellis but John is the better option partnering Smith.
He is a good player but is struggling to have any consitant form, which is about all you can say about our whole team