Tim Smith... 2010 ???

[Sabre]

**Tim out of darkness for comeback**
THE sun bounces off Tim Smith's face as he sits in a green field on the outskirts of Melbourne. He lies back basking in the warmth. In the light. But the darkness still lives inside him. The depression that ruined his career at Parramatta.
Smith looks down at his shadow as he talks about the two weeks he spent sitting in a room in a Gold Coast rehabilitation clinic. With just a bed, a sink and a toilet, he was locked in this room, but he wasn't alone. The snarling black dog was there too. All teeth and terror.
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"I will always be bipolar,'' Smith said. "That is something that will never go away. I will get depressed from time to time, but it is something I have to deal with.
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"It is something I would not wish on anyone, but I have just had to learn to deal with.''
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Just three years after being labelled the next Peter Sterling, this former Dally M rookie of the year found himself in a hospital room confronting his demons. His career had come crashing down after a series of alcohol-related misdemeanours.
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After playing three games of season 2008, Smith fronted a press conference at Parramatta Stadium on April 14 and told the world he was standing down from rugby league.
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While choking back tears, he also revealed he had been diagnosed with bipolar and said he needed help.
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"It was tough,'' Smith said. "Real tough. I was really lucky I had a lot of people around me that were very supportive. I don't know what would have happened without that support because it was the hardest time of my life. I spent two weeks in the clinic. I had to go in and talk about all this personal stuff.
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"They made me get it all off my chest. I would wake up early and go and talk to people. I had to open up about all my problems. I would have two or three of those sessions and then go back to my room and think about it. I had to stay there until they thought it was OK.''
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Darkness had engulfed Smith in the weeks leading up to his shock departure from the Eels.
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He spent most of his time in his bedroom with the curtains drawn shut. "I just had to leave the Eels. It was for me and I did it for myself. I am still, to this day, glad I did it because I was in a real bad place.''
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But 16 months on, Smith can see the light. He survived a 12-month stint with English Super League giants Wigan without incident. He now has his sights set on a return to the NRL.
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"I have always wanted to get back,'' Smith said. "At the time I needed to get away because of all the drama, but I am back now.
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"I think I have just grown up as a person. Obviously I have a girlfriend now and she has helped me a lot. We have known each other for a few years and we started dating about four months ago. She has helped give me stability.''
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Smith, 24, is willing to do whatever it takes to return to the NRL and will play for just $50,000 a year if he has to.
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"Hopefully within a week or two I will have something nutted out,'' he said. "But I know I have to start all over again. I am not going to be on the money I was on, but I am willing to take that paycut.
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"I just want to get back in it and prove to myself I can be the player I know I can be.

 

[magpiecol]

The Tigers have enough depth in the halves without resorting to a hack like Smith.

Oh yes? And who of those players has a kicking game anywhere near as good as Smith's?

I'm not saying that we should sign him but he would not be bad at the right price. Let's face it, if Prince had been playing for Wests last night they would have won by a country mile. Check out all the top sides. They all have genuine half backs that can put pressure on opposing sides with their kicking game.

Sheens seems to think that we can get by without a genuine half. So he uses Marshall, Moltzen, Morris and Farah without any success. Seven years with one finals appearance. Not good enough. We need a REAL half back.

ps. He had two REAL half backs and did not play them. One of them is still playing with Balmain. Go figure.

 

[Ausmunin]

I would sign him for $50k a year.

 

[alien]

If he only wants $50k then maybe we could think about it. I'm not sure how much room we have in our cap though. If we can get Tim Smith and a quality prop then that would be good but we need a quality prop first.

 

[Vicious]

I agree with Magpie Col in one way as our kicking game is still a big problem, BUT if we were to sign a player such as Tim Smith, what do we do with Moltzen ??? I`m not convinced with Moltzen as a fullback, he goes real well in general play, but doesn`t seem committed enough when it comes to diving on kicks and he doesn`t seem interested in running the ball back from kick returns. In saying that Tim Moltzen is a player with enourmous talent and I think he has a decent kicking game himself if utilised. My belief is that we just need some damaging ball running back rowers and possibly another damaging ball running centre depending on how Ayshford progresses. When you have damaging ball runners on the fringes, it`s not hard for the halves to create, Benji does a good job with only 2 danger men in Lawrence and Ellis, imagine we had 3 or 4 of them ?
At the end of the day I truly believe we have the the talent from within our own ranks to have a highly competitive football side, it`s just a matter of utilising the players that can help make us become a better football side !!!

 

[hadds75]

How many tries have we scored off kicks this year?? itd have to be by far the lowest int he NRL. Every game we play a team scores at least one against us though.