Smith’s a new man
THOSE expecting the old George Smith to rock Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night will be briefly disappointed before they realise why he rates the new model as better.
It’s easy to get stuck in a time warp with Smith as the dreadlocked menace who terrorised opponents at the breakdown a decade ago for the Wallabies and Brumbies.
Smith has evolved just as a young tearaway fast bowler called Dennis Lillee did when he became a smarter, more scheming world-beater in the 1970s and early ’80s.
Flanker Smith has never been a one-trick pony and he would not have survived at the top level until 36 if he was.
Smith’s backrow partnership with Scott Higginbotham and raw-boned Adam Korczyk is one of the most exciting selection steps for the Reds at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night.
Coach Nick Stiles yesterday made it clear that getting the right backrow balance was allimportant when tackling a bigbodied, physical pack like that of the Durban-based Sharks.
Higginbotham is the lineout-winning, ball-running element and Korczyk fizzes with breakdown energy and youthful mobility in a frame he has bulked up to 107kg.
“Look, George is a freak and having a blindside flanker like Korczyk, who can play like another No.7, is a point of advantage for us,” Stiles said.
“And we get a really good ball-running backrower like Hendrik Tui coming into the game off the bench with his impact.”
Smith linked with outside centre Samu Kerevi to take one pass at training yesterday, he’s a ballplayer when needed and he picks his ball-pilfering moments like an Olympic marksman.
“I hope they don’t expect the George Smith of old because I’ve developed into a different player,” Smith said of being moulded by his French, Japanese and English club experiences.
“I’d rather be the player I am now. I may not be as fast as I was when I was 19 but I think I’m a lot smarter in the way I play and read the game.”
Smith said two of the biggest plusses he’d seen since landing at the Reds were players willing to have a crack with “no inhibition” and a physically fit group able to put it into action.
Stiles rewarded Chris Kuridrani with a wing spot for his trial showing but teenage finisher Isaia Perese will be an exciting weapon from the bench.
Former Brisbane Broncos winger-fullback Lachie Maranta will play for Wests in their Saturday club trial against Souths to sharpen his rugby instincts.
“I’m very conscious of giving him the time to learn the game,” Stiles said.
It is a new era for the Reds with just six starters remaining from the side which limped out of last year’s meek three-win season seven months ago.
The Cooper-Smith-Higginbotham-Stephen Moore makeover is there but Perese, 2m beanpole Izack Rodda and prop Markus Vanzati are fresh faces for bench debuts.