I'm not convinced that's been the case every time to be honest Ross, although as people will attest from my previous posts, I'm certainly no fan of Smith and he wouldn't be near my first choice 17. But then I'm not a qualified coach.

I'm confident that Kear knows all about Oakes, in the pre-match interview on Saturday re Milnes he was basically saying that he'd seen pretty much all his performances this year. Kear is no mug, and maybe he judges that the experience of Smith is a key factor in some games. I too think Oakes provided great service to Ethan and looks in the mould of a genuine centre, but I'd be confident he is somewhere in Kear's plans. Smith is I think now aged around 60 and if Oakes bides his time he will get plenty of chances.

Fair points and I agree, to be honest.
I do trust Kear's judgment and he's around the group on a daily basis, so is able to pick up on all the little nuances not available to us - even if we had the judgment to be able spot them. So, if JK feels that he brings something to the squad that we don't see, like leadership, a steadying influence or a mentoring ability, then I'm happy to accept his opinion.

Kear goes to all the U19 and reserve games too so is well aware of how well or not everyone is playing.

I think Smith has improved a bit recently since he lost weight.

When Smith was missing against Workington thought we missed a leader on field.

Totally agree about Smith.
Don't get me wrong - I was one of the people calling for his head last season, when he appeared to be coasting along through games. However, I've seen him roll his sleeves up and get stuck in more this year.
We've been saying for some time now that we don't have any leaders in the team. Well, Smith is the most likely player for me to lead the team for the foreseeable, so for that reason we have to play him and keep Oakes in reserve.

I personally, based on this season think smith is improving he fed Ryan a nice try and got a decent on of his own tbf

...yes I'm another pleasantly surprised by Smith this year.. though the side 'step' for his try was the funniest thing I've seen in years but was certainly effective. And definitely seems to have a calming effect on the field when we seem like we're about to do something utterly stupid.