SaintsFan wrote:
I don't remember any plaudits for Robinson; it's gone quiet over Ratchford since Myler left; Sammut is years older than Smith and has played NRL so really that comparison is unfair; Brough has pretty much disappeared at Hudds and was very moody at Wakey - if he played well, they all did; if he had a shocker (and he had those) then they all did; Orr - I didn't know he attracted plaudits? But anyway. We will see.
To be honest, I think ole Smithy has probably dug himself a bit of a hole. He now has to produce at least the same level of performance to convince people he's Good Enough. If he does get the chance to play next weekend, I hope he can rise to the pressure!
ETA: Bradford have apparently just signed Shad Royston from Halifax so I suppose that's another example of signing up!
SaintFan, I'm a Salford fan and go to nearly every match home and away so I cannot really comment on Danny Brough's situation. With regards to Luke Robinson, Richie Myler and Stefan Ratchford I can.
Luke Robinson had one really good season with us and his second season was the season we were last relegated. When he was at his best he had Andrew Duneman at six. Andrew was a very good stand off both defensively and offensively and he brought Luke on in leaps and bounds. When Duneman left Luke tried to do it all himself and had no foil to create any meaningful gaps. This resulted in Luke running sideways all the time which also happened quite a lot at Huddersfield when he played at seven. Overall a good number seven when playing with a creative six.
Richie Myler I think will be a world class player much in the mould of Shaun Edwards, although I don't like comparing players of different era's. He is the best young player I've seen at Salford for many a year although in the recent past we don't get many. He was outstanding for us last year until all the rumours started regarding Warrington. He's a fantastic support player but he's also a gooid short kicker as well. I said when he moved that it was too soon for him to move. Young players in the main are more inconsistant and need games to make their mistakes and learn. Warrington won't give him the games if he's not performing week in and week out. Richie needs a playmaker and organiser playing alongside him and he'll be a fantastic player. Him and a more experienced Sam Tomkins in years to come would be a great combination.
Stefan Ratchford is one of my favourite players he is good at so many areas of his game. He's more of an all rounder than Robinson and Myler. I think he's more of a standoff than seven but he played his best rugby when playing alongside Richie Myler. They swapped first and second receiver which gave then more options, which in turn gave more space for Myler to create the gaps. I think Stefan could also play bat fullback as he's quite a tall lad and appears to read the game well. Unfortunately for him, but good for Salford as a Team we've got Daniel Holdsworth who's an outstanding No 6. This means Stefans favourite position is taken unless Holdsworth moves to 13.
Finally and by no means least is Matty Smith. I wasn't initailly happy when Matty wes played at 7 alongside Holdsworth and Stefan was shunted out onto the Wing (or Centre). He's been improving as he's played more games and gelled as a partnership with Holdsworth. He's been inconsistant but you'd expect that from a player that hasn't played many Super League games. His best for Salford was the Saints game at home where he was outstanding. I really enjoyed watching him playing for Saints last week where his short kicking game was superb and his playmaking was very good (considering he hasn't played in the Saints Team for two years). It shows what he is capable of when the forward pack make the yards, not something he's seen much of this year.
Hope the team do well and get to Old Trafford with Matty playing his part. I'll be there fo the great day out.
PS I've enjoyed reading this Matty Smith thread
