Billy Smith a blinder

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

in attack and defense. Hugo likewise. The 21 yo hooker is electric. Toia's tackle on the line with 16 to go where he stepped out of the defensive formation and made a great tackle. Billy followed it up next play. Then Tedesco nearly got that bloke into touch the play after but somehow he got it down.

What about Connor Watson? No idea how he makes some of the tackles he does in the middle given his size, but good lord he is a player.

[fletch]

Billy Smith becoming one of the best defensive centres in the NRL is not something I thought was in the realms of possibilities prior to the season starting.

[SupermanSupportsEasts4Eva]

Really happy for Billy. Starting to get a return on the investment after so many seasons riddled with injury.

[top_joe]

Annoyed he got a haircut and does not have the fancy hair anymore.

Great to see big smiles on him and more than 3 games in a row before injury. Love him - Hope it stays that way

[milanja]

His next match will equal the most games he has played in 5 seasons with 10.

going great, possibly best defensive center in the game.

[nayfo]

He compliments our backline nicely. Such a strong dude

[Chook2]

We have been waiting for years for Billy to be fit as we knew how good he was
glad we stuck by him
could easily be a $700k plus centre at another club

due to injuries we have him cheap atm but a nice pay rise will be on the cards in the next contract

[caz]

looking great

[Bates]

Billy Smith has been solid all year.

His defensive reads are second to none in the NRL.

[A Country Member]

Annoyed he got a haircut and does not have the fancy hair anymore.

Great to see big smiles on him and more than 3 games in a row before injury. Love him - Hope it stays that way

I think his hair is still fancy. Possibly a new shade though?

[Teddy]

Billy has completely shut down offences with his great reads and physicality in defence, he doesn’t just tackle the guys he man handles all comers and slows the play down has been so bloody good.

He has all the hallmarks of a young JMoz with a touch of Matt Cooper in him looks the goods young Billy.

[The Lip]

So pleasing to see Billy going the way he is. Fingers crossed he remains injury free he deserves it after showing so much perseverance under duress in his career to date. He’s all heart and a very good footballer to boot.

[Andrew Walker]

He’s been very good defensively Now out of interest how many line breaks and tackle busts has he made

[dice]

Billy needs to rewatch the Raiders game and stop chasing long kicks on his own, or at least not commit himself until the defensive line arrives. Other than that, i agree that he has improved defensively.

I still reckon Billy will be shifted to the wing when Tupou retires. Marky is a class above him.

[ism22]

Plenty was made of the Cowboys being under-strength, but the reality is they still had Dearden, Nanai, Hess, McLean, Drinkwater, Bateman, and Laulilii. They were only missing Robson (who’s ours anyway - should be released mid-season IMO), Cotter, and Taumalolo.

Meanwhile, we were without Walker, Radley, both Butcher brothers, and lost Wong early to injury. Sandon was rested, and we’ve cut Brandon and Dom Young mid-season—roughly $1.8m of cap space now off the books.

So let’s not pretend this wasn’t a strong Cowboys side. They’ve quietly built a roster full of rep-calibre players—Drinkwater alone is likely on marquee money, and Bateman didn’t come cheap after leaving the Raiders.

If we can dismantle teams like this, belief has to be growing. With Walker back post-bye and a stretch of winnable games (Tigers, Dragons, Sharks, Storm, Manly, Dolphins…), this could be the start of something big.