Farah vs Smith (AKA spwn vs everyone else)

[Big Pete]

Monday night summed up my thoughts on Farah quite well.

Did a few nice things and if you compared Farah and Smith on stats. you'd swear Robbie had the better game.

But he didn't.

His options at time were short-sighted, throwing an awkward pass close to the line when his runner had 3 forwards on him.

But the coup de gras was his ability to give away 3 crucial penalties at the wrong time.

It sums him up to a tee yet it's so often ignored.

 

[Kimlo]

Which once again comes to him needing to overplay his hands to try to win it for his team, Smith just needs to pass to Cronk and Slater and let them do their magic. Melbourne were just outplaying them in every aspect (hence giving away 14 penalties because they couldn't keep up) so Smith never had a need to try and pull something out of the fire or any pressure to get his team to win because Cronk does everything perfectly and Slater comes up with the right option 9/10. Anasta was playing halfback with Moltzen at fullback, that's worse than Norman and Wallace.

 

[Big Pete]

Farah should work smarter not harder.

Okay, Smith has a better team but that doesn't excuse Farah from making all the mistakes he made and honestly it's a cop out.

 

[Broncoman]

Farah is a more attacking style of hooker while Smith is a more defensive one. Farah can get a team on the front foot through his effective kicking, running and passing game. He has been criticised for being a liability in defence but I disagree, he makes 30+ tackles a game, tops the Tigers tackle count and made an Origin record 63 tackles in game 2 last year. Cameron Smith is the best hooker in the game though as his achievments tell the story but im with Spwn in the Farah argument that he isn't far behind smith.

Big Pete- Buderus was penciled in as a starter. Farah was the 3rd choice hooker behind him and Ennis and was only selected when Bedsy pulled out

Spwn- On the post about him getting being overlooked for Origin for Micheal Penis was ridiculous. I would pay the NSW selectors to ensure Ennis will never get an Origin jersey again.

 

[Alec]

Farah is a more attacking style of hooker while Smith is a more defensive one.

Well, yeah Smith is an excellent defender. Must he's by far the best when his team is in possession of the ball too.

 

[Kimlo]

Farah should work smarter not harder.

Okay, Smith has a better team but that doesn't excuse Farah from making all the mistakes he made and honestly it's a cop out.

Well you're pulling out one game. You're also over stating Farah's so called tendency to make errors.
Have a look at the stats for the first 5 rounds, Farah has conceded 5 penalties and made two errors, Smith has made one error, one penalty. Farah has so far averaged a penalty a game which for someone who averages 40-50 tackles, nothing extreme. Two errors in 5 games from someone who handles the ball 100 times per game, also nothing extreme. Farah has 5 try assists, Smith 2.

 

[Dexter]

Massive gap IMO, Smith brings his forwards onto the ball so much better he creates the space for Cronk and co and makes them look good. Also his composure leaves Farah for dead. Farah starts to lose it under pressure and that flows through his team whereas Smith keeps so calm it helps the Storm play every minute without worrying too much about the scoreboard.

 

[Big Pete]

I highlighted last night's game because not only is it topical but it was an instance where they went head to head and Smith outplayed him.

Stats are probably the worst way to measure how effective a hooker is, in fact, that was one of the points I made earlier. :glare:

 

[Kimlo]

Well if you're going to bring up things like errors and penalties, then stats are completely relevant.
This argument is pretty lolzy anyway, it's basically arguing by how far is Smith better than Farah, I don't think he's far ahead, some of you guys think he's far ahead. It's not really going to reach an end result lol. My opinion is if Smith was playing for the Tigers and Farah for Melbourne for the last 7 years (as well as QLD/NSW swap) with all else equal then Smith wouldn't be considered the far and away best hooker in the game.

 

[Porthoz]

Massive gap IMO, Smith brings his forwards onto the ball so much better he creates the space for Cronk and co and makes them look good. Also his composure leaves Farah for dead. Farah starts to lose it under pressure and that flows through his team whereas Smith keeps so calm it helps the Storm play every minute without worrying too much about the scoreboard.

This, absolutely this! It's the less visible stuff that makes Smith so good!

 

[Kimlo]

Farah is a more attacking style of hooker while Smith is a more defensive one. Farah can get a team on the front foot through his effective kicking, running and passing game. He has been criticised for being a liability in defence but I disagree, he makes 30+ tackles a game, tops the Tigers tackle count and made an Origin record 63 tackles in game 2 last year. Cameron Smith is the best hooker in the game though as his achievments tell the story but im with Spwn in the Farah argument that he isn't far behind smith.

Big Pete- Buderus was penciled in as a starter. Farah was the 3rd choice hooker behind him and Ennis and was only selected when Bedsy pulled out

Spwn- On the post about him getting being overlooked for Origin for Micheal Penis was ridiculous. I would pay the NSW selectors to ensure Ennis will never get an Origin jersey again.

Haha M Penis was horrible in origin. I don't think it was an indication of Farah not being good enough, just stupid NSW selectors thinking he should be ahead of Farah, like Gidley ahead of Hayne at fubllack...

 

[Big Pete]

Well if you're going to bring up things like errors and penalties, then stats are completely relevant.

When NRL stats start keeping figures like bad passes or bad options then let me know.

The only stat I brought up were the 3 penalties in the one game and that was to illustrate my point that he always does something stupid in a match.

I think the fact Farah couldn't make himself the obvious candidate ahead of Ennis of all people certainly reflects poorly on him.

He was nearly going to be behind Buderus and Hinchcliffe until City/Country rolled around.

 

[Kimlo]

When NRL stats start keeping figures like bad passes or bad options then let me know.

The only stat I brought up were the 3 penalties in the one game and that was to illustrate my point that he always does something stupid in a match.

Well then we're arguing completely subjective matters. Farah puts on more try assists which means he probably puts on more good passes than Smith too.

If we were putting this on a rating scale, I'd have Smith at 9.5 and Farah at 9 as far as overall play goes.

 

[Big Pete]

It took you this long to realise this is a subjective matter? :001_tt2:

Closing statement: Smith has been the best player in the world for 7 seasons now while Farah has only hit good form in the last year or so and has some ways to go before he bridges the gap. If Farah had have been able to maintain his 2007 form, then this conversation would be different, but it averted him for a long time. I wonder how long Farah will be able to maintain his form and whether he'll be able to help guide NSW to their first victory in 8 years? Time will tell.

Until then, Farah is merely a good player.

Smith is a great.

 

[Kimlo]

I'll accept your points and leave it at that, haha.
Lets see how 2013 plays out, both players are a joy to watch, origin time will be interesting.

p.s Locky is the best player IMO and Hodges is second :001_tt2:

 

[Browny]

Compare Smith and Farahs composure in Game 3 last series origin.

 

[tkday]

What the hell have I just read!?!?!

 

[Browny]

What? my post or the entire thread?