Eels back-rower Ben Smith reveals how his season was turned around

REBORN back-rower Ben Smith has revealed a "stab to the heart" from the Bulldogs and a personal rebuke from Eels coach Daniel Anderson saved his season from park football oblivion. After publicly criticising Anderson's decision to release former teammate and No. 1 playmaker Brett Finch early in the year, Smith was dumped to NSW Cup purgatory at Wentworthville. His axing coincided with the nadir of Parramatta's season - a 48-18 flogging to the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium that prompted Anderson to question his players' "sense of pride". Blue and gold dignity has since been restored in bucketloads - along with Smith's name in the second-row on the NRL team sheet. Fresh from a devastating performance out wide in last Friday's semi-final romp over Gold Coast, Smith broke his silence about Finch's messy departure to reveal his regrets over complaining publicly. "The way I said things ... it could have been handled a lot better," he told The Daily Telegraph. FULL STORY http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/sport/nrl/story/0,26746,26112793-5003409,00.html

"Hey Wiz, I know that.
We've been well and are loving life on the Gold Coast!
As you can imagine, my wife is very distressed at what's going on in her homeland. I have to renew my rolling 5 year visa in person and I have my interview in October at…"

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Eels back-rower Ben Smith reveals how his season was turned around

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