Wigan Warriors lost 10-6 to Hull KR but the performance of playmaker Harry Smith come under scrutiny from pundit Jon Wilkin.

Playing without Bevan French once again, the England number seven made a number of handling errors and found himself involved in a personal battle with England rival Mikey Lewis, even going down to one knee in an apparent attempt to win a penalty after a gentle tap from the Hull KR man.

That was a moment that Jon Wilkin picked up on as he picked fault with Smith’s performance, accusing him of getting involved in the personal battle too much, rather than focusing on running the game.

“I thought it was shocking, I thought it was a shocker,” Wilkin declared when asked about Smith’s performance.

“I thought this (incident with Lewis) signified where he was at. I thought he was engaged in loads of strange things that I’ve not seen Harry Smith engage in.

“He was pushing, he was dragging people around and then Harry Smith takes a dive to try and milk a penalty.”

Wigan Warriors star told to ‘get his ducks in a row’

As he continued his assessment, Wilkin called on Smith to simply focus on rugby league and not on the personal spats on the field.

He asked: “Do you know what Harry Smith needed to do? And what he’s needed to do since Bevan French has been out? It’s to get his ducks in a row and get the things that he does well right.

“Get his skill right, get his kicking game right. They’re the fundamentals of his game and they’re miles off it.”

Featherstone Rovers head coach Paul Cooke was also on punditry duty and he explained that Smith’s performance was likely a result of the absence of Bevan French, a player he claims that the Englishman misses more than any Super League player misses a teammate.

He argued: “I don’t think there’s a team in the competition that misses anybody like Wigan Warriors misses Bevan French and I don’t think there’s a player in the competition that misses a big player that’s in a successful team like Harry Smith misses Bevan French. He’s the ying to the yang.

“That’s a hell of a responsibility and he’s not particularly handed it well tonight. That doesn’t mean he won’t be good for the rest of the year.”