I hope Keighran takes the goal kicking duties. Harry is a good player but he has the added pressure of none goalkicking duties as well as the responsibility of getting us around the field all of the time. If we take the goal kicking pressure off him he could blossom even more.

CCSF when he kicked down the fullbacks throat on the 3rd tackle and they went and kicked a DG?

Wigan we’re goosed with a man down and making no yards, it was a throw of the dice to get a 40/20 and in drop goal range, it did backfire and maybe we should have chased the mistake in defence but I don’t think we would have been that much worse off if we had taken 2 more carries.

Hopefully Keighran can take over and take the pressure off Smith a bit.

There is a good player in there, we have all seen it.

I think the movement back to traditional 6 and 7 with French at 6 has helped; with the added benefit of consistent halfback partner in French and forwards performing well.

If he wants go become a great player, he needs to be doing it week in week out and regardless of the above. Hopefully with experience and confidence he knows how to adapt his game and have an impact regardless.

One thing though, I must be in the absolute minority that really doesn't rate his in play kicking what so ever. Closer to the line he is a lot better but his distance kicking isn't the best in all honesty. The saving grace, and it may be intentional, is despite the amount caught on the full he gets a long duration of the ball in the air so it gives our defence the chance to push up.

Goalkicking aside, I'm not sure there's a better kicker in SL right now than Harry Smith. Last night was absolutely outstanding - a great mix of length, height and placement on his kicks.

Not sure what game you watch Nathan but I couldn't agree less with this. He's comfortably the best in game kicker in the league.

The amount of people stood around me last night everytime Harry kicked the ball that were saying “why’s he doing the same kick everytime when it isn’t working?” Is a joke, that was the game plan, almost like going 12 rounds in boxing, sometimes you have to show that you can drown the opposition out for 80 mins. Every single kick last night was perfect.

been 20 metres further back for the DG, terrible decision

they were excellent kicks in them conditions, Leighs backs just did an amazing job of dealing with them every time, I expected them to drop at least 1 in the rain and so high under the lights too

Happy to be proven wrong, he was absolutely outstanding in the kicking department on Friday.

What on earth?

Who in superleague has a better kicking game?

He’s been kicking teams to death all season.

I think him and Abdull have the best long kicking game in superleague and by a distance

His long kicking game has always been his strength even coming through the ranks in my opinion.

He has had a couple of spells where it dropped off, but generally he’s been top class in that department.

I’d say the difference in Smith over the last few years he has developed his all round game to catch up to the level of his kicking game.

For me to be a decent HB you need an excellent kicking game and Smith certainly has this and generally his game management is pretty decent too. There isn’t a HB in the competition who I’d swop for Smith, maybe Lomax but he is reaching the end of a very good career and his kicking game isn’t as effective as Smith.
Yes I’d like his conversation rate to improve and I think this will as he continues to develop.

The one area where I know that he can and should improve is his kicking to touch where the distance that he currently obtains isn’t far enough but I would add this criticism to every RL HB in both hemispheres. For a sport that supposedly hinges on metres gained and territorial advantage every team is woeful in gaining an extra 10 or 15 metres from penalty kicks to touch.

Agreed plus the lack of a real running threat is a hole in Smith's game. When he tries to step it looks like he's running in quicksand.

If he had a running game of any note he’d be a pretty complete halfback and I think the likelihood is we’d lose him to the NRL at some point. It’s just the way things are that makes you think like that and the reality is that a lack of a top notch running game gives us a great chance of keeping him throughout his career. When you have guys like Field and French in your side, you don’t need a 7 with a running threat and he’s bringing everything we need currently.

I agree with this and would add that too much of a running game from Smith would actually hinder us. We need an organiser to compliment the maverick nature of French and Field and that's what he gives us in spades.

It's not like he doesn't have any running game either. He's scored many tries both through taking the line on himself and by running support plays, particularly at scrums or near the opposition line. It's clearly not the strongest part of his game and it would certainly be nice if he could develop this a little in the coming years...just not at the expense of unbalancing his strengths or, indeed, those of French and Field.

To put it simply, I'd rather see those two exploiting any opportunities than see Smith try to do it.

That's kind of the harsh reality of SL atm isn't it. You want good players but if they're too good they're an immediate flight risk. Players with an obvious hole in their game are more likely to commit longer term and as long as we think that they bring enough to our side in other areas then great. Liam Marshall is probably another one - a very good SL winger but would never have the physical presence to make it in the NRL.

It is sadly. You still want to produce the Sam Tomkins of this world as often as possible but timing is everything. As things stand we have 2 electric attackers in Field and French, who both are physically not of the profile they want in the NRL, so we’re so lucky to have them. What we could do with, is finding the next Tomkins/Williams from within, ready for the time one or both of those leave.

Well, the goal kicker did alright today!

Can’t feel anything but pleased for Smith today. He looked relaxed as could be popping them over. Maybe he’s been trolling us all!

Maybe the break has given him chance to correct a few things and refocus. As you say, NK, he seemed a lot more confident and relaxed today

I've heard, not sure how true it is tho, that Briers did a day with the lads in the week. Maybe he got the boots out with Smith?

It seemed it. He stroked every single kick, where he’s been snatching at stuff before. If that was down to Briers having some time with them, then he’s a genius!

He's been working with Paul Grayson hasn't he?