Smith v Smith: Tony plays down brotherly rivalry for Wakefield v Wire

Warrington coach Tony Smith has acknowledged that there will be an element of sibling rivalry to this Sunday’s game against Wakefield.

The Wildcats are, of course, coached by Smith’s big brother Brian, but the Wire head man insists that other elements will be more important in the contest.

“There will be, yeah,” he said, when asked when any fraternal rivalry would be present in the fixture.

“We haven’t spoken about it too much. We’ve pretty much carried on as we normally would.

“We’ve had a couple of phone calls with each other throughout the week.

“But, yes, it’s a unique situation in the sporting world, two brothers as head coaches of their respective teams.

“There’s coaches in the NFL but not too many other places.

“So it’s a unique situation, but it’s pretty much business as usual for us.

“There won’t be too much emphasis placed on any of that.

“My brother is a fantastic coach who I respect enormously, and he’s got them playing well at the moment, so it’s a matter of me getting my team to play as well as they can.

“If they can do that then it gives us a good chance.”

The two brothers obviously know each other very well, but Tony Smith thinks that neither of them really has the advantage in that regard.

“I don’t think either one of us has got an advantage in that respect,” he said.

“We know each other pretty well, and what we believe in. We’ve got similar philosophies, we’ve worked together, we’ve coached together.

“We’re not too far different in some of our philosophies of the game, but it still comes down to on the day, and how your team performs and executes.

“Hopefully we will have a good day, and we can send him home a little bit miserable.”

Smith thinks his brother’s team are not to be taken lightly, either, as their recent results have shown that they can hurt teams, despite their lowly league position.

“They’re dangerous, they’re very dangerous at the moment,” he added.

“They’ve been a dangerous team all year in terms of their attacking prowess, it’s just some of their defence, and some of that’s been tightening up as well.

“They’re on the up and hopefully we are as well, so it’s got the makings of a positive contest.”