SMITH’S RED MIST LIFTS
MATTY SMITH insists there won’t be any repeat of his red-mist kicking madness at Widnes on Friday.
The Wigan scrum-half was the goalkicking hero last Thursday with his last-gasp penalty to beat Leeds 26-24.
But Smith is still embarrassed by an incident that got him suspended earlier in the season.
Smith was furious when 12-man Widnes snatched a 22-22 draw, after Wigan had been 16-0 ahead.
In his frustration the England man kicked Vikings full-back Rhys Hanbury and copped a one-match ban. He said: “That was something I regret and I won’t be kicking anybody this time – just more goals hopefully.
“It will be the first time I’ll have seen Rhys Hanbury since then so I’m sure I will apologise to him.”
Smith’s winner against leaders Leeds gives Wigan a shout of finishing top with two games left.
If he’d missed, they would have been out of the running and facing a possibility of slipping as low as fifth by the time the Super Eights start.
But Smith insists he loves the pressure of potentially do-or-die kicks like that.
He said: “That’s why I kick goals because it’s great when you kick them. Sometimes you miss but you have to take the bad with the good.
“It’s a big responsibility because when you come up against the likes of Leeds, where Kev Sinfield doesn’t miss, then you have to kick yours.”