When Will Smith was selected in Rd 1 against Brisbane, i simply thought of two reasons why; 1: Give Mahoney a breather throughout the match with the new rules and 2: Cartwright is out as that utility type. However with Cartwright coming back in and Smith retaining his spot, and also seeing the role he's played in the first month of 2021 it is becoming clearer to the role of Will Smith.
The role of a supersub is becoming more important and crucial in the NRL with HIA and the speed of the game becoming more prevalent, injuries can happen anywhere on the field and fast. Reshuffling kills teams just as much as teams losing a player for the match. If you go through the team list of every NRL team this week you will see only 2 teams are playing 4 forwards on the bench. That used to be us before shifting the narrative to thinking instead of playing Hipgrave or Stone for 5-10 minutes, why not have a cover for the backline sitting there as a worst case scenario
In comes Will Smith, ability to play Fullback, Centre, Five-Eighth, Halfback, Hooker and even seen playing a designated Lock role against Melbourne playing as a sort of a second halfback distributing in the middle as a pathway towards Brown and Moses on either side. Now this became more and more obvious as the season went for all of us to know what is going on in that rotation, though it just makes me think how lucky we are to have Smith as a mr. fix it.
At the start of the year if you asked any Parramatta fan who knew Will Smith to describe they would perhaps say, he is a capable first grader who can fill many positions though would not be ideal as a full-time starter. I think that would be a fair assumption, however being on the bench as a mr. fix it on the bench to avoid re-shuffling particularly in the backline as much as possible is as important as him being available to cover say Gutho for a game or two.
Now there has been chatter that it is a wasted bench spot and he's only getting 5 mins in some games what is the point. Well yes but then i look at Canberra tonight losing Nicoll-Klokstad, re-shuffle Rapana to 1 and their left side is out of whack. You can see the one game Smith is not on the bench there will be a backline reshuffle and there goes the attack, Smith came on for Moses against Cronulla and though you noticed Moses missing it was not as bad as if 4 forwards were named.
I think this is the way of the new NRL, with a player who is considered very versatile being valuable to have on the bench, moving away from teams having a second hooker unless that hooker can play middle forward, but the speed and player safety leans in favour of a Will Smith type and there is no issue for me as for now it is working and makes me feel comfortable if he has to be shoehorned into somewhere mid game.
The only thing that may cause Smith will be if Waqa Blake comes back soon, shifting Niukore to the bench doubting Papali'i, Kaufusi or Cartwright being pushed for Niukore.
On last note, i do believe Nathaniel Roache could be a handy player in this type of role. Played Lock and Centre before coming off the bench for the Warriors, though he possesses good speed and attacking skills in order to take over that role, though unlike Smith he cannot play fullback, but who knows maybe he can
What does everyone think? Will Arthur keep Smith on the bench for the whole year or will he at some point revert those duties to Cartwright in some way?
Replies
LB you're spot on so either Kafusi gets dropped for Niukore or Blake goes to RG.
Latter would be my preference, either way Smith stays eh?
Who else has a supersub like Smith?
Supersub my arse..... he is a handy utility. Roache will take this job and be a genuine match winner, a huge advantage for Parra.
Will Smith is a handy player, it was great for him to come on and play half when Moses got injured, thats not knocking him or rubbishing him in anyway.....its just we need to do better and will. No Pun.
PS If Reed got injured in the first 15 minutes and Will had to replace him at Hooker for the remainder of the match, we are in deep shit. If Moses or Brown were injured before a game, then I would play Rankin in the starting side before Smith.
Right so if we have a bench of say Kaufusi Hipgrave Papali'i and Niukore it'd be the same as having Smith?
Last few blogs I've done you've just attacked, not sure if you're having a bad day or just negative hahaha
Have I done something to you in the past or?
Sorry LB, nothing personal, I am trying to play the ball rather than the man.
Social media is a bit of a bastard when it comes to sensitivity. I really get annoyed when things get said on social media or even the NRLmedia and they are obviously crap. i.e. Ferguson unwanted next year etc..... stop and think for a minute and you have observed how tight Parra is now in player management. Can you really imagine someone in any type of authority at the new professional Parramatta making such a statement.
My criticism come from that and anyone that thinks Will Smith is a "Supersub" has not been watching him play for us for the past few years.... to stress again...he is handy.....
LB in saying all my shit, I have to say I lead with my chin too often and it regularly gets hit.....part of the game mate. You have every right to make your own opinions and argue for them .....that's what we are about....sorry if it seemed personal its not!
Smith kills Roache, youre dreaming poppa, are you on the piss lol? your above post is ridiculous in every regard, nothing wrong with LBs blog.
Wills in very good form imo and will play a big roll this year.
When was the last time you were right Snakey? role not roll......... do you know anything about Roache?......and don't worry Carlo will still tolerate you even with your negative comments about Will..... Hippocritical prick Lol
PS I will be on the piss from about the first race on, want to join me? by the way take note Sir Col is not very well..... give Hoe or Slugg a call!
It's all good man just banter back and forth, yeah super sub is more of a papenhuyzen on bench for origin type, i didn't mean super sub in that sense more so mr fix it
Super sub is the perfect name for him👍👍
LB, keep doing what you are doing.
Some people on here will shoot you down simply because they don't agree with what you say or they see you as a threat to their subconscious hierarchy that they think exists on this forum, similar to a gentleman's club.
Keep up the good work mate and just ignore the trolls.
You won't please everyone so no point trying.
Scott
Keep up the good work Dreggsie your subconscious hierarchy is working beautifully.
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