Smith still has what it takes says coach Barker
Last updated 11:37, Tuesday, 13 May 2008
FORMER Workington Town playmaker Brett Smith made an impressive return for the club’s Reserve Grade against Batley after over two years on the sidelines.
And coach Craig Barker reckons Smith will be back in first-team contention when he returns to full fitness.
The 30-year-old featured at loose-forward in the 30-18 home defeat against the Bulldogs.
“Brett’s experience showed in the second-half,” said Barker. “He showed glimpses.
“His tank was running low towards the end, but he’s definitely going to be a candidate for the first-team once he gets game time.
“He’s a class player and very versatile, with a good rugby brain.”
The reserves’ boss was not downhearted by the defeat and expects to welcome up to eight new players in the coming weeks.
“The lads playing now have down really well for us,” Barker added. “And others have informed me they want to play after they have fulfilled their amateur club commitments.
“The squad will change and there will be competition for places, which is a healthy headache to have.
“It will improve the side, and hopefully in three or four weeks time, with some new lads in, we will have racked up our first win.
“We got off to a slow start against Batley, but as the game went on, we got some self-belief and played some decent rugby with the ball.
“These lads are at the club because we think they are capable of making a career out of it.”
Rob Scott, Tyrone Dalton and Scott Burgess crossed for Town, who travel to Salford on Saturday.
Barker was in joint temporary charge of Town’s first-team for most of last season, alongside Les Ashe, and he is enjoying the switch to the reserves.
“I was chuffed to bits when asked to do this job by Dave Rotheram,” added Barker. “I took an awful lot of positives out of last year.
“We were on a massive learning curve and didn’t want to let down the fans or club. We experienced play-off rugby and got a lot of respect from the lads.”
