We were just very lateral and still had no runners to give the ball carrier options. Lam, and to a lesser extent Reynolds, showed us how an effective half back combination should operate. Lam in particular had all the time in the world to decide what to do with the ball and had numerous options with which to use.

Talking about Reynolds. He’s out of contract and I’d be looking at him as a halfback option for 2024.

Has he now been forgiven by all those fans slagging him off when he was here before.
Shows that sometimes you have to stick with young players like Smith and give them time

I can’t remember people slagging him off, he only played 6 games and from memory he didn’t start all of them.
If there was criticism I think it was about why we signed him if we weren’t going to give him a fair go

I do.

But your other bit is exactly the point. A young lad learning shouldn't just be thrown in. Sometimes you buy for the future. Especially with some of our fans.

If anything a lot of people were noticing how he and Hampshire were playing well together. But as soon as Brough and Miller were “fit” again…

Personally think Ben will be given a new contract at Leigh. He has stepped up a gear this season, displaced Joe Mellor to everyone's surprise (see squad numbers) and furthermore is our only proven goal kicker since the departure of Kris Inu. He is still in Lam Jnr's shadow (though it would take someone like Croft not to be) but when Leigh have three half backs on the park at the same time, their understanding and the fluidity of their roles is a joy to behold - for Leythers.

He was 25 and had already played well over a hundred pro games so I’m not sure he needed a softly softly approach to getting into the team. He was just never given a chance to establish himself which lead fans to question why we’d signed him at all when at the time we were badly needing strength in other areas of the team.

We've Gale, Lino and Morgan Smith for the halves next year. Can't see us stretching to four.

Smith wouldn't have a contract if relegated. That's why they are renegotiating dual league contracts for some.

No, but I reckon he'd be one of the more realistic retentions and he's proven at Championship level.

Indeed