Brian Smith is yet to decide on his future at Wakefield Wildcats after the Australian completed his rescue job at the club with a 24-16 victory over Bradford Bulls.
The former St George, Parramatta, Newcastle and Sydney Roosters coach joined the Wildcats in May and guided them through the relegation-promotion playoffs.
“I’m not 100 percent sure yet,” said Smith when asked if he would remain at Wakefield. “You can tell that I’ve enjoyed myself. It’s three times I’ve been to the UK and this Super League is exciting in its own right.
“It’s got a brand that I don’t think the people who own the game don’t realise how good the brand is. We just need to do it more often.
“It’s not like anything I’ve ever been involved in really before. The promotion and relegation that happens in this country is completely foreign to us Aussies. What happened was just fantastic for our club and I feel for Bradford because they’ve worked so hard trying to get back up. I hope they do next year.
“I’ve done a few of those sorts of gigs before but a great deal of credit to particularly the younger guys in the team but probably the senior guys are the ones that have held that together really well for us.”
Smith’s Wildcats were seeking to retain their Super League status at Belle Vue – in a clash dubbed the ‘Million Pound Game’ – while the Championship Bulls had the chance to return to the top tier at the first time of asking.
In a see-sawing battle that saw the two sides often trading tries, former North Queensland hooker Scott Moore scored the vital try in the final minute to seal the 24-16 victory for the Wildcats.
Bradford must now go back to the drawing board but head coach James Lowes was left seething after the final whistle at both referee Richard Silverwood and the ‘Million Pound Game’ concept.
“I’m devastated, I’m devastated for two reasons. Firstly we shouldn’t have been in this situation to start with,” said Lowes.
“I know I’m going to get into trouble but I’m absolutely sick of it. This shouldn’t be how it happens in our game, it’s a disgrace. To lose the game on two major referring decisions of this magnitude is unacceptable and we’ve lost our game from that.
“There was a two-man steal on the ball, and early in the first-half we had a (Matty Blythe) try disallowed for no apparent reason.
“These are major refereeing decisions in a major game which we shouldn’t even be hearing because it’s an embarrassment to our sport.
“There’s nothing to gain out of it so why are we putting ourselves in this position. Why are we putting these boys under so much pressure when we don’t need to do that? I’m sick of it, I’m sick of all of this occasion.”
