Re: RD 1 - Blues Lose To Tigers (Aftermatch Angst & Teeth Gnashing)
Reply #335 –
Playing Smith as the sub was a gamble and we lost. However, I'm not too concerned about the decision because Smith was one of the best performed recruits in the pre-season comp and bringing him on late in the game would have provided valuable experience without too much pressure on his limited endurance. Daisy's awful injury put paid to that.
A more conservative approach would have been to have Armfield, Boekhurst or Tutt as the sub. Armfield would have been my preference simply because you know what you're going to get. Boekhurst hasn't shown a lot so far and giving him a run might send the wrong message. I'm not convinced that Tutt will be a player but, if you want to give a newby a go, he would probably have been a better option than Smith simply because he has several pre-seasons under his belt.
I hope Smith is taken aside and told that the club is happy with his performance but he needs to tear it up in the NBs for 6 or 8 weeks to build his stamina.