Tim Smith

[Damien]

I came across this article about Tim Smith and just had to share as I think it's one of the best RL articles I've read. It's a long one but we'll worth a read.

I actually remember when he came to Wigan and it was very obvious that there were a lot of issues there with various off field incidents. When he first signed he was sat directly in front of me watching the game and he just couldn't stop or settle. Interesting to hear too how he enjoyed his time at Wakefield when all the pressure was off.

It's great to see him turn his life around and I think there are a lot of lessons in there for people:

It's not that Tim Smith doesn't think about it. Anyone would think about it, from time to time. It just doesn't get to him anymore.

The 2005 Dally M Rookie of the Year, the ultimate rookie of the year, the greatest rookie rugby league has ever seen and perhaps will ever see, turned 40 years old in 2025.

It's a big birthday for anyone, but has a special resonance for Smith because of the 40 try assists he put together during that debut season with Parramatta, an NRL record that will likely never be broken.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-11/tim-smith-nrl-parramatta-eels-2005-try-assist-record/105260356

[Jonty58]

I am glad to see he is doing well.

He had so much potential, I have had a bit to do with Parramatta and I had to think for a second about this article.

I almost forgot about Tim.

[Angelic Cynic]

The fella Brian Noble signed for Salford while releasing Sneyd & Fages who went on to lift silverware,while all he managed was a drunken car crash with another superstar signing who continued going downhill.

Sad story...

[Upthetown01]

Excellent read

[Tommygilf]

When playing for Wakefield (1st stint) he lived on my street. Seemed a good chilled bloke with a nice family - can totally see why he blossomed in the less pressured environment at Wakey.

They had a pretty good team in that time, Paul Aiton, Kyle Amor, Ali Lauititi, Dean Collis etc, especially good considering the administration in 2011!

[WN83]

Always recall the story about his end at Wigan and how he apparently wagged his tackle at a group of OAP's, who were doing an over 60's gym class, while Smith was on the rowing machine in a gym in the town.

I don't remember much else from his time at Wigan (apart from Noble keep picking him ahead of a clearly once in a generation talent in Sam Tomkins), which probably isn't a great sign but glad to hear he's doing well as I know he's had issues. 

[StandOffHalf]

That debut season at Parra in 2005 was something special.

The first year I watched the NRL closely, and he was magical.

[StandOffHalf]

I loved how Smith squared up when passing, with the ball being passed deep behind him and creating more space for the receiver. I haven't seen anyone else with that consistent skillset and way of positioning himself as he passed..

[Sports Prophet]

Great article

[north yorks trinity]

3 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

I loved how Smith squared up when passing, with the ball being passed deep behind him and creating more space for the receiver. I haven't seen anyone else with that consistent skillset and way of positioning himself as he passed..

Yes I can picture that from his time at Wakey. Very distinctive.

[Trojan Horse]

7 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

I loved how Smith squared up when passing, with the ball being passed deep behind him and creating more space for the receiver. I haven't seen anyone else with that consistent skillset and way of positioning himself as he passed..

Trueman has that ability (hopefully he can show it more often) and appears to have an absolute age on the ball with everything else appearing slow motion.  It’s a very rare trait that I think just comes naturally to a select few but is quite rare these days. 
 

Used to enjoy watching Smith at Trinity and he could lead a team round the park with ease. 

[StandOffHalf]

1 hour ago, Trojan Horse said:

Trueman has that ability (hopefully he can show it more often) and appears to have an absolute age on the ball with everything else appearing slow motion.  It’s a very rare trait that I think just comes naturally to a select few but is quite rare these days. 
 

Used to enjoy watching Smith at Trinity and he could lead a team round the park with ease. 

The way that Trueman's body follows the passing direction is much more typical though. Tim Smith had the ability to position himself square to the posts as he pulled the ball back, almost flicking it behind him. It was a neat way of presenting a threat right to the defensive line and opening up outside space.

[DoubleD]

Sad to hear his kids are into fumble ball but no surprise when he states he’s not sure what he’s doing out there while coaching it……….much like all the players on the field

[corvusxiii]

On 11/05/2025 at 09:23, Damien said:

I came across this article about Tim Smith and just had to share as I think it's one of the best RL articles I've read. It's a long one but we'll worth a read.

I actually remember when he came to Wigan and it was very obvious that there were a lot of issues there with various off field incidents. When he first signed he was sat directly in front of me watching the game and he just couldn't stop or settle. Interesting to hear too how he enjoyed his time at Wakefield when all the pressure was off.

It's great to see him turn his life around and I think there are a lot of lessons in there for people:

It's not that Tim Smith doesn't think about it. Anyone would think about it, from time to time. It just doesn't get to him anymore.

The 2005 Dally M Rookie of the Year, the ultimate rookie of the year, the greatest rookie rugby league has ever seen and perhaps will ever see, turned 40 years old in 2025.

It's a big birthday for anyone, but has a special resonance for Smith because of the 40 try assists he put together during that debut season with Parramatta, an NRL record that will likely never be broken.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-11/tim-smith-nrl-parramatta-eels-2005-try-assist-record/105260356

Such a breath of fresh air as regards the ptb. Why have we allowed our game to be reduced to the present tedious ugly grub fest? (only for the Ref to penalise a valid ptb?). 

[DG70]

Really good read and comes over as a good guy, that combo at Salford with Rangi Chase in the halves should have been box office.

[StandOffHalf]

 

I finally got around to reading this.

The caption to the above photo says that this is Reece Lyne, heehee. It's an interesting piece, although it descends into a bit of sappiness. The writer obviously doesn't know or care about the British game, treating it as a brief postscript to be forgotten about. The dismissiveness about Wakefield vs Widnes being ''as far away as possible'' from the highs of Parra at the start of his career betrays an Aussie-centric viewpoint.

Edited May 13 by StandOffHalf

[Jonty58]

1 hour ago, StandOffHalf said:

 

I finally got around to reading this.

The caption to the above photo says that this is Reece Lyne, heehee. It's an interesting piece, although it descends into a bit of sappiness. The writer obviously doesn't know or care about the British game, treating it as a brief postscript to be forgotten about. The dismissiveness about Wakefield vs Widnes being ''as far away as possible'' from the highs of Parra at the start of his career betrays an Aussie-centric viewpoint.

It’s an Australian article aimed at Aussie’s.

What were you expecting?

[StandOffHalf]

8 minutes ago, Jonty58 said:

It’s an Australian article aimed at Aussie’s.

What were you expecting?

Basic journalistic standards in terms of captioning photos correctly would be nice.

[Jonty58]

27 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Basic journalistic standards in terms of captioning photos correctly would be nice.

Oh, I thought your complaint was about an Australian journalist not giving enough credit to his time in England.

 

[StandOffHalf]

1 hour ago, Jonty58 said:

Oh, I thought your complaint was about an Australian journalist not giving enough credit to his time in England.

 

Not so much a complaint as an observation, hehe.

Edited May 13 by StandOffHalf

[Poptart]

To be fair, Widnes v Wakefield is a million miles away from NRL and Parramatta.

One of the most skillful players I've seen play the game, but the talent was overshadowed by his own demons.

Glad he's doing well.

Very well thought of at Wakefield despite  him nearly blowing the million pound game for us because of his antics.

Edited May 14 by Poptart

[north yorks trinity]

1 hour ago, Poptart said:

To be fair, Widnes v Wakefield is a million miles away from NRL and Parramatta.

Give or take 989,475 miles or so you're right.

https://www.geodatos.net/en/distances/from-wakefield-to-sydney

Sorry, slow day at work!!

[north yorks trinity]

Further apologies, I hadn't noticed it was a Widnes home game. I haven't got time to do a repeat calculation (not such a slow day) but Widnes is, thankfully, a very long way from Wakefield so maybe you're right after all!

[StandOffHalf]

4 hours ago, Poptart said:

To be fair, Widnes v Wakefield is a million miles away from NRL and Parramatta.

One of the most skillful players I've seen play the game, but the talent was overshadowed by his own demons.

Glad he's doing well.

Very well thought of at Wakefield despite  him nearly blowing the million pound game for us because of his antics.

It struck me as an unnecessarily snide put-down of English RL to describe it in those terms (''3,500 diehards'', etc).