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

Bang on - well said.

I am sick of all the excuses - 1)RA didnt sign the players.Those players are good players and are underperforming massively. 2)The team needs time to gel - for christs sake they train with each other every day and half of um will be already putting feelers out for moves this autumn 3)packs not big enough - ever heard the expression "its not the size of the dog thats in the fight that counts, - its the size of the fight thats in the dog that matters".

Its about time people took responsibility. I cant stand all this get behind the team tosh all the time. I am watching players with no heart, showing no effort and some people want me to cheer for them. Some of um should either shape up or quite literaly ship out.

Have to disagree about the captains shout for Smith. It was totaly handed to Southern on a plate without proving anything and he has repayed the club with what exactly? Dont know how he dare pick up his wages. I also hope Smith is not here next season.

Agreed.

Korki and Obst are of course looking good against part-time players, having dropped straight out of a FT environment where they've been playing week in week out for a number of years - you wouldn't expect anything else.

I wouldn't argue that we could use an additional prop forward, but I don't think Korki is the answer.

lets get cooper over here and find out

Well said doesnt that tell you something about the coach then.

Korki's powers were very much on the wane and it was right to look for a better option. What wasn't right was to release him (same could be said for Higgins & Hickey) and not adequately replace him. Right now he would have been a better bet than playing Southern or even now Aiton at prop!