Thanks for posting that. The end of an era.

I like smith as a bloke and as he's always said he prefers player development over trophies. That interview just makes me really wish for a ruthless, trophy-hungry monster for our next coach.

The old system of no promotion or relegation was more favourable to bringing young players through & developing home grown talent. The super 8s have brought in a need for the quick fix to avoid the drop to the bottom 4 relegation places which encourages over rated & over priced imports at the expense of UK player development.

So who's he developed and what lasting legacy of development do we have? Another faux philosophical comment by Smith? We're arguably about to have another major clear out. Wigan, St Helens and Leeds have developed and still won a GF.

These statements work when you're winning, it sounds daft when you're losing. I agree with ratticus, get someone in who wants to be judged by trophies!

He may be right but it's just looking like sour grapes now. He also never seems to mention any of the current predicament maybe his fault. Cas play nice rugby and topped the league, we played boring, ineffective rugby with players without any mental resilience.

I said the same on Thursday, after watching this. I don't really care whether players are "good people" or not. When you look back, in almost any sport, those at the pinnacle of their era tend to be horrible bar stewards.

If he thought the game was getting sterile then why didn't he do something about it in his role as director of rugby/coach/god almighty? No, he'd rather play squash with his mate, make facile comments in post match interviews and watch wire fans get fleeced out of a seaons worth of admission charges. Bye Tony......

The worst bit is the shrug shoulders answer as to why we have been playing horrible rugby for two seasons. He says he's not sure then blames the calibre of player we have....er you signed em Tony. All this social worker nonsense makes me feel like he wouldve been better served being an academy coach or assistant himself. A head coach job (particularly of us over the past ten years) is to deliver trophies...he got some but not enough imo. I, and society, am glad chris bridge is no longer scuffling with bouncers but he should be on the straight and narrow with at least two GF rings.

Do you seriously think that's what he did? That he was content for the team to play the way they did and has not an iota of professional pride?

He played Jack Hughes every game this season. There's your answer

Dunno, but who else was in a prime position to change the way that we played the game? Daryl Powell did it with a lot less money at Cas....

Let's see what happens to Shaun Wane if he misses out on the playoffs. He has been superb at bringing youth through but it means squat if you don't win the prizes (which is after all why you bring the youth through). I bet he doesn't get 4 years without a pot.

I think Tony would be better talking about the/his failings at Warrington, which are under his control, rather than the game as a whole which is not.

This interview has shown how low someone will sink to avert blame on their own failings. The game has provided TS with a very good living and now he intimates that it is the fault of the game he is leaving his post. He has without saying it, blamed his players all year as the things he does all week go very well!

He along with his colleagues have/are allowing the game to sink as a spectacle. Castleford the exception with great play, Wigan as ever are different and not everyone's cup of tea, the rest are boring, mundane and/or garbage.

The board are 50% to blame here as they should like many supporters spotted the problems months ago, if they did they are culpable as they did nowt and if they didn't they are culpable because they are clearly in the wrong jobs.

Possibly the agenda by club and coach was to recruit British rather than foreign for the long term good of the game, a laudable aim but clearly there is insufficient quality to be competitive. I suspect the next round of recruitment may well show a different emphasis.

I have to agree with all of this. We are as a club are in a total mess.

If Smith was so disillusioned with the game, he should have left months ago when we had a chance to save the season. Clearly it's filtered down into the team.

Board should have seen Smith was disillusioned and made the break with Smith more than two games before end of season.

We've got half the squad leaving at end of season (9?), a part time head coach to replace, all to be done in a short post season, what with the world cup taking place and an inexperienced CEO racing to the bottom with Toronto to sign as many players as possible, to prevent a huge drop in season tickets.

If he thought we were crap last season despite reaching two finals why did we not sign any quality players?

But out of the 9 leaving only 2 will be losses in Hiku and Savellio. The others need to go as they are not good enough.

I think Fitzpatrick might surprise you in recruiting a new coach and new players. We're currently chasing a SOO halfback and we believe we can get him. Lets see what happens.

I said it in another thread, but this attitude from Smith has really irked me. If he would have aid “well I gave it my all, but at the end of the day it was time to part ways”, then it would have been done properly.

But this ‘oh well I was bored years ago, rugby league is on the slide’ attitude he is coming across with absolutely stinks… Not only did Smith not walk away when he realised his interest was on the wane, HE SIGNED A NEW CONTRACT. Many people on here have been saying for years that this side is on the slide and that a change in coach has been needed.. Turns out that section of people were right.

Yes the game has gone backwards in the last 5 years, but its people like Smith that are in the best position to change this. Smith is buying the players, coaching them and putting them out there on the pitch. He is in charge of the SL side with arguably the biggest spending power, the best facilities and with a decent fanbase. He should be setting the standard and leading the way. But what happened? His recruitment was lazy, his tactics non existent and his demeanour sulky and petulant.

The last 3 or 4 years has served up some of the worst rugby we have ever seen.. SO bad that a lot of people have stopped going to watch it (me being one of them)… We have gone from a skillfull swashbuckling side to a team built on scooting from dummy half, devoid of any character and big game mentality… riddled with internal ‘clear the air meetings’ and overpaid, underperforming star signings.

Anyway….. Thanks for the memories Smith…. Well the ones from 2009-2012.. The last 3 to 4 years not so much.

Perhaps, but if they weren't, why did were they here. Lets be fair, 12 months ago these players were twin grand finalists so not as if they were picked up from the home bargain reduction bin. The players we might recruit could very well be though.



Perhaps, we don't seem to be afraid to flash the cash. We believed we could bring in quite a few players over past few months. Some we know names of, some we do not. We've offered to make players the highest paid in super league, only to be turned down. Until we know why, it would be hard to explain what has gone wrong.

Yes often at the risk of being deemed overtly negative and risking membership. The ones who saw it years ago know who they are, as do those who wanted to give him more time, or couldn't fathom who he could be replaced by.

Sims and Gidley did a reasonable job but now need to move on. The others apart from Hiku and Savellio were always fringe players who have never been good enough. Don't get me wrong our recruitment has been shocking under Smith. Hopefully that will change now.

If we can appoint Maguire and with the money we have and the cap space available I think we become an attractive proposition for some NRL players.

We ain't getting maguire though.

Hmm ok. Let's see what happens with this Canterbury job now it's available first.

When will we see Agar's farewell interview? It is incomprehensible if he stays.