FORCE SECURE SMITH

The Emirates Western Force has added the try scoring skill and attacking prowess of Hurricanes ace David Smith to their squad for next season.
A player with genuine ‘X-Factor’, Smith scored seven tries last season in just four starts and at 24 years of age has his best rugby ahead of him. His Super Rugby performances in 2010 were acknowledged with selection in the Barbarians side that tackled Ireland and England in the UK, scoring a try against the English at Twickenham.

“It will be a big change for me but when I told my family that I was going to Perth they were very supportive, especially when I told them how excited I was to get a fresh start and join a new team in a new environment,” Smith said from New Zealand.

“I’ve played in Perth three times before but never lived there. I’ve had heaps of people telling me that Perth is a really good city and the Force will do well this year. I think they have some good players and coaches at the club.”

Smith will arrive in Perth in late November after recently finishing his commitments with Taranaki in New Zealand’s ITM Cup where he played alongside new Emirates Western Force playmaker Willie Ripia, also a team mate at the Hurricanes.

“It’s nice to come over and have at least a few boys that I already know,” Smith said of the chance to link up again with Ripia and also prop Tim Fairbrother who played in Wellington before heading west.

“I’m also looking forward to playing alongside some the boys I’ve only ever had the chance to play against. Guys like James O’Connor, I played against him and I’ve also watched him play in other games and just think he is such a good athletic young kid coming through.”

Smith will form part of a formidable outside back combination which Emirates Western Force Head Coach Richard Graham will able to call on. The Samoan born flyer joining the likes of O’Connor, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Nick Cummins and Cameron Shepherd to name a few.

“David is a player that has the capability to be a genuine star in the modern day game and his attacking capabilities will be hugely beneficial for us,” Graham said.

“He has a very good work ethic and is a committed team man. No doubt his speed and genuine ability to beat people will have our sea of blue on the edge of their seats and wanting to see more.

“Following a very good season in Super Rugby he backed it up with his performances in the ITM Cup with Taranaki and will add to what is already a very strong outside back group assembled in Perth.”

As an opposition player Smith was a thorn in the side of the Emirates Western Force on more than a few occasions. He scored a late try for the Hurricanes in a one point come from behind win at Subiaco Oval in 2009 and was again the danger man last season, scoring two tries when the sides clashed in Wellington.

Smith’s ability to inflict pain on the scoreboard is something Emirates Western Force coaching staff will no doubt be happy to have working in their favour next season, while his arrival also covers the loss of recently retired veteran Scott Staniforth.

“We’ve been able to react quickly to Scott’s retirement and believe that we have found a replacement that possesses similar attributes in terms of his tenacity and determination to get to the try line,” Graham said.

Having already represented the New Zealand Sevens side, Smith will be the Emirates Western Force marquee player in 2011 and said his move west was motivated by team success rather than individual accolades.

“I think of myself as a team man and always put the team first. I’m looking forward to working with all the boys in Perth to become a unit that loves to run with the ball and have many areas from where we can score,” Smith said.

“It’s all about us being in front on the scoreboard at the end of the game and I think with the players we have we will be able to do that more often next season.”

Player Profile
Name:David Smith
Date of Birth: 12/10/1986 (Samoa)
Position: Wing
Height: 172cm
Weight: 90kg
Provincial teams: Auckland, Wellington, Taranaki
Super Rugby Points: 70 (14 tries)
Super Rugby Caps: 41 (Hurricanes 34, Blues 7)
Honours: New Zealand Sevens

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Good stuff!

Lots of new faces and names to learn and 100 days til kick-off.

Welcome David :cheers:
Have really enjoyed watching your style of play, now you are in the real black and gold land, even if wearing blue...

Great News, Welcome aboard David.

It is going to be a ripper of a season, at last someone with out and out toe in the back line.

We are sure going to be a Force with those Hurricanes behind us.

stoked about this signing... as ive said before we have in the past lacked someone with a good step and a quick out the gate speed and David brings both in spades...

needs to work on offloads and defence and he will be a complete winger....

Winger/offloads :confused:

hehe... i shoulda put one of these in i guess :sarcastic:

If there was a choice between Petoors and Smith then I think it was the wrong choice but don't get me wrong I am not complaining about Smiths ability.

Thing is that Pretorius is a fairly big liability. I don't know if we need Smith but at least he doesn't have any injury demons. Plus Smith is probably a whole lot cheaper. It does mean a lot is riding on Willie Ripia.

I hope Graham is planning to use JO'C as a 15/backup 10.

James Occonor at Inside centre
Never rate him at fullback. Sheps is da man!

Well 12 or 15 and backup 10 then. He needs to be handling the ball though. He unloaded a pretty awesome pass on the run around the 45min mark against Wales. If Giteau hadn't dropped it, someone would have definitely crossed the chalk. I really like the balance of our backs at the Force. Except for depth at lock and fly-half, we have a very good team. Given Willie Ripia's strength as a kicker, and both Shepherd and Mitch Inman being around 190cm, I'd like to see a couple of speculative kick passes next year. Since they are both over 100kgs if they don't get the ball they can steam-roll whoever does.

Cullet is no lightweight either!! :)
Agree that JOC needs to handle the ball. At 12 JOC will make up for the vision and stepping Ripia lacks in order to keep the defensive line honest.

Smith is a good signing, and surely will give RG the confidence to play around with JOC and the 10-12 channel a bit more. It's not like we need him covering the wide stuff any more. Last year he played 15 mainly because Shep was hurt and Dane wasn't up to it. we now have Shep, Cullet, Smith, Mafi, Dellit and maybe the likes of Sidey and Inman to play on the outside. Lots of experience and talent backed up with some smokeys which might make the grade.

I reckon Alfie Mafi would be best placed on the wing, or the bench and Rabbit given the 12 (with a roving mandate to fill any gaps which might appear due to injuries or tactics)

but that being said, there are lots of shuffles that could take place with the backs we have. I don't think I'd argue against pretty much any of the candidates for 12 getting a go, because they all have something to offer.

I've watched alll of Ripia's games with Taranaki since he joined the Force. He is a good distributor of the ball and a big part of his game is the long cut-out pass to the OC and wingers so the outside backs should see a fair bit of the ball, the only down-fall of having JOC at 12 is that Ripia does not seem to utilise his 12 as much as other 10's but I'm sure they will come up with a number of different moves to bamboozle the opposition.. :evillaff:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tazzmania

at last someone with out and out toe in the back line.

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And no midget at 92kg, either. :thumbsup: