For me both Smith and Farrimond are organisers primarily.
The reason our halves are so effective is because French is generally a strike player whilst Smith is the midfield general.
Game has changed since the days of Tommy and Deacon.
They could make a good partnership in the future but Farrimond needs time to mature and develop that strike at first team level.
To be honest I’d be surprised though if we see it for more that a season or 2 if at all as front line halves.
I think Farrimond will replace Smith in the similar role rather than play with him, as I expect within 3 years Smith will have headed to the NRL.
Jon, I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just saying you don't know and until you see them play together, that remains the case. It's not like Farrimond is a clone of Smith. They have overlapping skillsets but they also have several points of difference. Farrimond is more of a running threat for example. Not at the same level of French, for sure, but then neither is anyone else in Superleague. To suggest that 2 halves have to be polar opposites to be effective is, at the risk of sounding blunt, nonsense. Peet has recently said that they're looking to develop Smith's running game (why, if French is the running half?) and that they want French to develop his kicking game (why, if Smith is the kicker?). The answer to both those questions is, of course, that overlapping skillsets is desirable. Obviously, you would want points of difference too, but both halves being able to kick, for example, gives you options and makes you less predictable.
I've seen enough of Farrimond to be able to say that he has things in his locker that Smith doesn't have. Obviously, at 18 years of age, it's a question of whether he can continue to develop these enough to stand out at Superleague level as he does at academy level. That's the only variable that would determine whether he and Smith could perform well together, not that they have some similarities.
Finally, you say the game has moved on. Good half back play today is exactly the same as it's always been. Edwards and Gregory would be as good a pairing today as it was then. Deacon and Leuluai wouldn't suddenly become ineffective against Dodd and Lomax or Williams and Drinkwater when they won a title against much better players.
Statistics: Posted by Phuzzy — Thu Jun 20, 2024 1:27 am
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