Skilful Smith offers window to Panthers’ forward future

Penrith prop Lindsay Smith is the first to concede he isn’t ready to replace James Fisher-Harris as one of the Panthers’ much-feared bash brothers, yet.

A potential starter at Penrith next year, Smith will have an audition on Sunday against Newcastle with Warriors-bound Fisher-Harris injured for the next month.

Alongside Moses Leota, Fisher-Harris has formed one of the most fearsome front-row pairings in the competition over the past four years.

The Kiwi duo have won three premierships together, dominated the middle and constantly been the most underrated cog in the Penrith machine.

Training buddies during the COVID-19 restart in 2020, Leota and Fisher-Harris have also embraced the moniker of bash brothers, and are tight both on and off the field.

It’s a brotherhood Smith doesn’t expect to replicate either, granting he doesn’t pack the same physicality as Fisher-Harris.

“It’ll be a little bit different. They have a special relationship, they have played together for a long time,” Smith said.

“I don’t think a cut-and-paste copy of Fish is out there in the comp, so you can’t just fully replace him.

“As a front-rower, you have to try and have an intimidation factor and try and be aggressive.

“Fish is one of the best in the game at it and everyone is a little different in the way they go about it. It’s something I have worked on and will continue to work on.”

Penrith players also found it hard to see Smith becoming known as one of the bash brothers.

But they do see him as a man who can get through a heavy workrate and offer options in attack, with data showing he passes more often than Fisher-Harris this season.

His kick-ahead try-assist against Brisbane last month also stands out as a reason why Penrith teammates believe him to be good at anything he tries.

“He’s not your typical aggressive prop,” second-rower Liam Martin said.

“He’s not an aggressive block at all…but he’s got outstanding skill and he’s probably the most skilful forward we have.

“He works extremely hard and slots in perfectly. You just know you can trust him to be there.

“We’ve had that many clips of him, he just pops up from nowhere because he keeps moving and just keeps doing his job.”

Penrith do have options for next year, including moving Martin or Scott Sorensen to start at prop.

Any of the three could change Penrith’s structure somewhat with their ability to shift the ball, in a summer when the Panthers also lost five-eighth Jarome Luai.

“It might be a little bit more of an add-on, or an evolution in the way we play. Maybe it is a different style,” Sorensen said.

“But I also feel like he (Smith) simplifies his job starting to how he would off the bench.

“He might want to tuck it under the arm when he is starting, where off the bench he would be a little more creative.”