Not sure who you guys think should be getting the lion share of the minutes but I think Ryles is cutting smith minutes a bit much. Da Silva is a good injection for 30-35 minutes but would like to see more of Ryley smith. Maybe both can be on the field at the same time at stages but that might be a next season thing
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That is true, I do think eventually both will see around 50 min. But it's good to know we have 2 serviceable 9s to lean on
Really hope that's the case.
Da Silva looked so cool he seemed to look like he new how to preserve energy, then he kicked it out in frustration 7 tackle set.cant work him out yet.
I like ryle more at present
He will learn a lot from that little display of petulance. I would use it to advantage, its a way of understanding what's going through his head. Probably be questioning his body language, he looks a bit disappointed to me, maybe he was promised more?
Probably just wants to make an impression to win the spot and things not going his way. Or maybe just frustrated that it was the last chance to win it.
Ideally i reckon Ryles wouldn't have cared to get Da Silva for 2026 and give him a full pre-season, instead they got him immediately and are giving him minutes in the system to prep for 2026 anyway.
If you were to put them both into 1 body; you would probably have the perfect hooker. Having said that they are both early in their journey
Would be Harry Grant 😂 hopefully both watching lots of tape from his game
It's as simple as the future is now. Yes Smith is also apart of the future but long term TDS is expected to play bigger minutes than Smith in the 9 role. Right now Smith is better than TDS due to his defence. But JR is allowing TDS get bigger minites already so he can adapt to the clubs systems and players. Rumours were Smith will be developed similar to Brandon Smith. If that's the case then I don't expect that to happen till next year cause Riley will need a pre season training there. A big thing I noticed for TDS is he often looks one way and goes the other to Moses. That's not how Moses plays at his best. Moses plays his best when he gets the ball immediately from the hooker. It's why Moses best attacking footy was probably with Mahoney who could throw a bullet pass no matter how flat, deep or long Moses was standing
Well said. Attacking wise Da Silva has more upside. Even in Flegg and lower grades for both Parra and Penrith, Smith was a runner and even played some back-row in other grades. He was not really a ball player.
Da Silva though is more of a ball player/creator. It is hard to determine what would work better at the moment, whether you start Smith at the start then bring Da Silva on for some spark, or do you start Da Silva for a quick start then Smith stablizes the middle in defence.
But you are right, the plan is Da Silva is the full-time 9 with Smith being that Utility forward type. Brandon Smith type.
Smith should start till TDS defence is better. Perhaps the pre season will be enough time to fix TDS defence? Time will tell. I think it will be obvious when watching when TDS is ready for the starting role.
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