Me: I'm still reeling from the news that someone is considering watching the 1st and 3rd game on Saturday and NOT watching Warrington play. It's like being in Shea Stadium when the Beatles came to town and deciding to nip out for a fag.
knockersbumpMKII: Is it FOOK, you're good but you're not THAT good, jesus you wanky fans need to get over yourselves, Beatles at the Shea in '65 was a once in a lifetime opportunity for some (despite the following years performance), you can watch a very good team in primrose & yellow play every week if you really wanted to but comparing it to one of the very best music groups of all time in an iconic stadia such as the shea is overegging your importance, you're not even the best team in SL atm
Me: I'm still reeling from the news that someone is considering watching the 1st and 3rd game on Saturday and NOT watching Warrington play. It's like being in Shea Stadium when the Beatles came to town and deciding to nip out for a fag.
knockersbumpMKII: Is it FOOK, you're good but you're not THAT good, jesus you wanky fans need to get over yourselves, Beatles at the Shea in '65 was a once in a lifetime opportunity for some (despite the following years performance), you can watch a very good team in primrose & yellow play every week if you really wanted to but comparing it to one of the very best music groups of all time in an iconic stadia such as the shea is overegging your importance, you're not even the best team in SL atm
Tony Smith: "I thought the fans really made the difference on Sunday. At times I looked at the South Stand and thought WOW those guys are rocking in there, I like that."
I agree - just a case of first season-itis. Crikey King and Monas had it too and they ARE experienced. Fine and dandy now. I just wish Briers was younger. Myler would be superb supporting a young Lee, with Monas creating options too. I am sure this will still happen next season.
Oh and he excels at whipping the ball out of the opposition's hands
You can wave stats around all you want.... here's a stat for you... smith has dropped myler for not being good enough.
Another stat; Smith spent £200k on signing Myler and bringing him to the club. Smith immediately made him a starter and started him throughout the majority of our season. He was dropped for a couple of games at the back end of the season, IIRC before the final, Smith mentioned his defence and Myler being targeted. He took the safe option, it worked once, but didn't work the other times, that doesn't mean Smith doesn't think he's good enough, that doesn't mean that Smith wants to get rid, it means Tony decided that the tactics he wanted to use in those games didn't include Richie Myler, we're in a position luxurious enough to drop players like Myler, which is a great sign of the times, but people shouldn't write Richie or Tony off. People speculate and make up things, I remember when the texts were flying around before the final about him not playing, immediately people were spinning things, it was embarrassing and the consistent drivel put on here by most is also embarrassing.
It shows though that defence is TS's top priority, which is probably why Penny was frozen out.
But that's why TS has won trophies here and will continue to win them (IMO), whilst I feel Penny will probably go on to have an entertaining career, but probably lacking success.
Look at the top sides throughout the years, they rarely get away with not having 'complete' players in there. Richie isn't complete, he's very young and raw but has clear talent that he has shown throughout the season. At his age, at our level and coming from Salford's level, expecting him to step up and do everything was probably too much to ask, Smith knows that and I'm sure Richie will know that, too.
I liked Kev, he was a nice lad who shown bags of effort and desire, but look at Mathers for another great example - it isn't enough, you will be based on what happens on that field and, when you're constantly exposed like Kev was, you won't have too many more chances. Richie's lucky he plays in a position where young players rarely come in and command a spot, he's also lucky that our other half back 'options' (Briers, Mona's) aren't so young themselves, so he knows he is being groomed to fill either spot, he's just been unfortunate enough to not tickle the manager's fancy in the back end of the season. It's all part of the learning curve, and, as much as some like to speculate, that's all it is. As much as some will try and expose Smith, or try and speculate an inconsistency in his coaching, his decisions are purely professional IMO, so I will rarely disagree with a man who I feel makes every decision with acceptable reasons, even if they don't always come off.