Concerns About Brandon Smith

[Thirteen]

I watched him closely on Thursday and noticed that most of his passes to our first receiver weren’t in the right spot. Many being too high. The difference between the first receiver receiving a great pass from dummy half or a mediocre one is very noticeable. That split second of extra time the 6 and 7 will get with a decent pass from the nine can make a big difference. A few off passes from dummy half is expected but I reckon Smith consistently threw mediocre ones the other night.

Another concern is Smith’s lack of minutes. He’s supposedly on 800k a year. For that you’d want him playing 65 minutes minimum just like all the top dummy halfs do.

I love what Smith brings to the team in other aspects but his contributions are a concern. He has an option in his favour for next season. Will be very interesting to see what he decides to do.

[mattyh]

I think he has been one of our better performers this year .

[rented tracksuit]

We’ve allowed this to happen. He’s on a pretty good wicket isn’t he.

[Roosterfarian]

I watched him closely on Thursday and noticed that most of his passes to our first receiver weren’t in the right spot. Many being too high. The difference between the first receiver receiving a great pass from dummy half or a mediocre one is very noticeable. That split second of extra time the 6 and 7 will get with a decent pass from the nine can make a big difference. A few off passes from dummy half is expected but I reckon Smith consistently threw mediocre ones the other night.

Another concern is Smith’s lack of minutes. He’s supposedly on 800k a year. For that you’d want him playing 65 minutes minimum just like all the top dummy halfs do.

I love what Smith brings to the team in other aspects but his contributions are a concern. He has an option in his favour for next season. Will be very interesting to see what he decides to do.

The worrying thing is that the coaching staff would have known all these things you’ve raised before they signed him.

[Kelby]

I almost think we should start Nat Butcher / Rads at dummy half for the first 15 minutes.

[Intercept]

I agree Thirteen . We're talking about fractions but it's those fractions that I think make our guys struggle to get over the advantage line. In my opinion, that contributes to a lot of other frustrating parts of our game. Dropped balls, panic plays, slow play the balls, fatigue, penalties, six agains. So-called ruck speed is an enormous swing factor in the modern game and we seem to be up against it. Like we're running up hill sometimes. As Roosterfarian observed though, it's not Smith's fault. He's a bloody good footballer. He hasn't got worse, he's stayed the same as he was in the dummy half role while at Melbourne. If Dessie isn't going to use Sam Verrills, I'd love to see him come back and maybe he can help us click into gear. A specialist dummy half is a must.

[Steggles]

I almost think we should start Nat Butcher / Rads at dummy half for the first 15 minutes.

In my view neither have ever been successful in the position before and it’s unlikely they would be in the future. I reckon Smith has been our 3rd best forward this year after Radley and Collins. JWH has been ok with limited minutes, as has Whyte, with the rest a bit well, meh. We could have Cameron Smith delivering the ball to Keary and he’d still head for the sideline then throw a stupid pass to a now cramped backline that already has the defence on top of them. The real elephant in the room needs to be addressed.

[Easts75]

I agree Thirteen . We're talking about fractions but it's those fractions that I think make our guys struggle to get over the advantage line. In my opinion, that contributes to a lot of other frustrating parts of our game. Dropped balls, panic plays, slow play the balls, fatigue, penalties, six agains. So-called ruck speed is an enormous swing factor in the modern game and we seem to be up against it. Like we're running up hill sometimes. As Roosterfarian observed though, it's not Smith's fault. He's a bloody good footballer. He hasn't got worse, he's stayed the same as he was in the dummy half role while at Melbourne. If Dessie isn't going to use Sam Verrills, I'd love to see him come back and maybe he can help us click into gear. A specialist dummy half is a must.

The thought of Verrills at 9 & Smith as a running middle forward off the bench gets me erect

[Rooster_6]

Yes we overpaid for a running dummy half on the back of the 2021 Peter Vlandys ball era where he was one of the most effective players in the comp.

Sadly for him and us since the removal of the 2nd ref rucks have tightened right up as no one gets penalised for not being square at marker anymore. His most effective position may be as a running forward but not at the expense of Victor Radley who is a superior player.

So if you can forget he's on 800k and just accept that he's going to play 50minutes a game there is still some stuff to appreciate about his game this year. His service will never be great but it's improved, he's an absolute dog in defence.. leads the line speed, hits hard as hell and always one of the first on kick chases this year. He may not make many linebreaks because it's hard as hell to scoot from dummy half these days but when he does he gets great yards and a quick play the ball, this can really turn the momentum of our sets. And then we don't lose much when rotating him with a Watson or Sandon Smith so just don't worry about him not playing the full 80.

I'm at ease with it, one of the rare recruitment errors we've made in the Robinson era but by no means horrific. We probably overpaid by 300k.

[rented tracksuit]

The worrying thing is that the coaching staff would have known all these things you’ve raised before they signed him.

Exactly what I was saying. No one to blame but ourselves.

[rented tracksuit]

Yes we overpaid for a running dummy half on the back of the 2021 Peter Vlandys ball era where he was one of the most effective players in the comp.

Sadly for him and us since the removal of the 2nd ref rucks have tightened right up as no one gets penalised for not being square at marker anymore. His most effective position may be as a running forward but not at the expense of Victor Radley who is a superior player.

So if you can forget he's on 800k and just accept that he's going to play 50minutes a game there is still some stuff to appreciate about his game this year. His service will never be great but it's improved, he's an absolute dog in defence.. leads the line speed, hits hard as hell and always one of the first on kick chases this year. He may not make many linebreaks because it's hard as hell to scoot from dummy half these days but when he does he gets great yards and a quick play the ball, this can really turn the momentum of our sets. And then we don't lose much when rotating him with a Watson or Sandon Smith so just don't worry about him not playing the full 80.

I'm at ease with it, one of the rare recruitment errors we've made in the Robinson era but by no means horrific. We probably overpaid by 300k.

I wish I was getting paid $300k overs to do 60% of my job.

[tloos1999]

Thought he’s been one of our better players so far. Sure, sometimes the service isn’t awfully clean but personally - still content with his output comparable to others in that side.

Luke Keary is on 850,000 for this season. If Smith is overpaid, then our five eighth should be looking at jail time for fraud stealing that salary. Hasn’t been a genuine attacking threat for about 3-4 years.

[Bondicigar]

Less time on podcasts and more time doing ballwork. I love him as a player but I feel very short changed .IMO he hasn't looked interested since arriving .

[Ron Burgundy]

I watched him closely on Thursday and noticed that most of his passes to our first receiver weren’t in the right spot. Many being too high. The difference between the first receiver receiving a great pass from dummy half or a mediocre one is very noticeable. That split second of extra time the 6 and 7 will get with a decent pass from the nine can make a big difference. A few off passes from dummy half is expected but I reckon Smith consistently threw mediocre ones the other night.

Another concern is Smith’s lack of minutes. He’s supposedly on 800k a year. For that you’d want him playing 65 minutes minimum just like all the top dummy halfs do.

I love what Smith brings to the team in other aspects but his contributions are a concern. He has an option in his favour for next season. Will be very interesting to see what he decides to do.

He’s gonna have an option of staying or leaving for less money so I doubt he’ll be going anywhere.

I like him though, Adds plenty of punch in the middle.

[Bates]

The weakest link in our spine is Keary.