According to Tony Smith on Radio Manchester after the game, Briers was
taken off because he wasn't following the game-plan.

He was taken off to allow him to think about it.

Smith said "he took it well, he didn't sulk or anything, and when he came back on later he did what we had planned, and he was instrumental in the final try".

The interviewer then said after the interview was finished, "seems at Warrington, if you don't do what you are supposed to do, you're off".

Problems ?

Tony Smith is a Ledge..

Absolutely no problems whatsoever. Lee wasn't doing what the Manager wanted so the Manager took him off.
Part of the reason Manchester United have been so great these past 20 years is that Sir Alex has a game plan and demands that all the players play to his plan. Mr Smith is doing exactly the same, Mr Smith is in charge and the players do what he says end off.

As I said absolutely no problems whatsoever, a strong Coach who knows what he wants ensuring his players play the game he wants.

Fair enough. If the team aren't playing well it tends to be the manager that gets the push, not the players.

If that was the real reason then a huge pat on the back to Mr TS. NO player is bigger than the club. Thankfully we are no longer in a position where, if you simply turn up to training you are guaranteed a game on the Sunday.

I didn't get the impression that there was anything wrong with Briers' attitude yesterday, just that his kicking was poor early on and there didn't seem to be any great link-up between him and Myler.

I would agree that his return, allied with the movement of Monaghan back to hooker, provided the spark and the cunning we needed to get over the line and kill the game off in the nervy couple of minutes after Brett's try.

His return was the turning point for me. We didn't look like scoring on their line when he was off. The worry for me now is that when Myler had the chance, he didn't show anything to suggest he is nothing but a support player.

Let's be honest, how often has briers got us out of a hole! Until he came back on we lacked direction, as soon as he returned he was moving up the defensive line up and set up the winner. Myler needs to step up to the plate and be less worried about messing his hair up!

Indeed Briers return was a turning point - TS's genius 'sit in the corner for 20 minutes' worked precisely how he wanted it too. Myler clearly lacks/has lost his confidence. He needs to find it quickly as fans are losing faith. Hodgson stepped up the pace instead imo.

Briers needed that break for sure as you could see he was struggling with things, for example poor kicking at times and getting caught out in defence when they made a break down our left channel. Worked to perfection though as he came back on the field refreshed and in a better frame of mind, his decision making improved and became a key impact to giving us that edge to get over the try line.

Yes a big worry, but if we can see it so can Mr Smith who you can guarantee will do whatever is needed to rectify the problem, whether it be drop him or give him a different role, direction, on the day

It's not genius from Smith to take a player off when he's not playing well. It happens ALL the time.

Coaches just don't usually admit it in public.

i had to work and couldnt get to the game, but the commentators on Radio Humberside said Monaghan was outstanding, involved in everything. hes one of those players that everyone seems to stand off and watch, rather than tackle him, that too me just shows how good he is.

I thought monaghan was outstanding.... He changed between positions and he always looked like the most likely threat.... And his defense was top class.

A simple question to those who have responded to this ... What do you understand to be the difference between 6 & 7, and if Myler was a stand off then why did Smith bring Higham on to allow Monas to play 6. Why not just put another forward on if you think both half back positions are the same ?

because he took briers off so who else have we got to play at 6 hmmm monas.... so how can we bring anoither forward on when we got to bring a hooker to cover monas. i think myler didn't step up because he was not told by the coach to play that way.

So if there's no one else on the field play 6 then you can't bitch because Myler didn't !

Smiths teams have been done done classically in terms of half backs, you have a playmaker, and a supporting half back that takes on the line and is a distributor. So the idea that Myler should have stepped up to do both jobs is .

Well said Steve. Myler and Briers are completely different in their style. We didn't buy Myler to replace Briers, we got him to complement him. Some people on here have short memories, Myler scored nearly 20 tries last year, despite missing a good chunk of the season.

This all sounds great.

Where it falls down is you need someone else who can take over the playmaker role like Briers otherwise the only effect is making a gesture.

If we're in a big game and Briers is off form and Smith brings him off, what happens then. Does Myler or Bridge step up as a playmaker and show Briers how to organise a team around the park?

I feel this slapping Briers wrists which is what it seems to have become may not be the best policy.

I cant believe Solomona stuck to the Game plan on Sunday either, I thought he was quite awful at times...will Smidger come out and say he took him off because he wasnt following game plans...I doubt it.

If he (briers) didnt stick to the game plan because he got confident when we were two scores up after 10 minutes, surely there are better ways to get him back on track than taking him off and allowing the opposition into a game they should never have got into.....

We nearly got done and he could have blamed it on Briers for not following the game plan...I just dont think it was a master stroke...

well, him getting dropped early 09 was heralded, adn we've not had a problem for nearly 2 years (jesus has it been that long) since.

thing is though, we don't know what he's been like in training or how thats been this week, i'm not saying there are problems but you know if he's not trained as well as smith would like, which may have been reflected in the game.

Tis all ifs and buts though.

To use your logic; keep Briers on regardless of whether he is sticking to the gameplan, regardless of whether we are getting mullered or winning at a canter.

Interesting.

Well it depends whether an out of form Briers is better than the other options. Which he probably is.

If we had not scored in the last 4 minutes and were now looking at played 2, lost 2, would Smith still be hailed as a genius for bringing Briers off? The verdict on here would have been "why when we are chasing the game do we bring off our best player?"

You are utilising theory to assess fact. Smith subbed him, which was obviously the right thing to do, as it yielded the desired effect; a win.

If we hadnt have won on Sunday people would have been questioning TSs tactics. If Briers had stayed on we might have got beat by 12 and people would have been questioning TSs tactics.

He did what he thought was right FOR THE TEAM at the time. End result the decision was right....Sorted!