Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

I love the passion on this Forum and only wish our players showed the same passion and spirit.

Does anyone truly have faith in the current board, coaches and players that WT can turn it around in the next couple of seasons or do you see no real changes and being bottom 4 and the whipping boy of the NRL as our reality. My teenagers who support other clubs have never really seen much success at WT in their lifetime.

It is getting harder to give a real shit about the team even though I will stay loyal.

I hardly own any current WT apparel these days and the ones I do own stay in draws.

The way the form of Api (best hooker last year) and Papps (best second rower last couple of years) have gone down makes it harder to attract players decent players to the club as they will see their form and value go down.

I don't have a solution to WT problem but something has to give soon.
 
Flippedy said:
Yes he won’t improve here unfortunately. Api was the best hooker in the NRL last season and Papalii was close to being the best backrower - both are struggling in this current outfit, so no surprise a young player like Laurie would struggle also.
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And the reason that all those good players we got to strengthen our team,

Effectively are struggling with our team, because Being in this team with Brooks is like playing in a 12 man side, watch API this monday look for his halfs to be backing
him up,
It wont happen,
And this happened all the time for API, the halves of Penrith were always there backing him up.

TAKE NOTE HOW MANY TIMES YOU SEE BROOKSY BACKING API UP, SO HE HAS A PLAYMAKER TO GIVE BALL TO INSTEAD OF A PROP, IF HE CHOOSES TO DO SO.

And this then brings your Papali's into play???
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
Unless something significantly shifts in performance soon, the best thing for our club moving forward is to move on those players who have consistently exhibited poor attitudes & have been part of our losing culture over an extended period.

Luke Brooks, Daine Laurie, Tuki Simpkins & Tommy Talau - not re-signed.
Adam Doeuihi, David Nofoaluma & Alex Twal - provide them opportunity to sign elsewhere in '24.

Wakeham, Lomi Saukuru, Staines & Seyfarth are all off contract too however Wakeham, Staines & Seyfarth could push for 1-2 year deals based on their performance this season.

Then promote or bring in 7-10 players who exhibit leadership qualities, footy IQ, positive attitudes along with the right physical attributes & footy skill for their positions.
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Footy IQ has been soo poor at this club for too long.
There was a moment against the bulldogs, when the dogs made a break down the wing, and threw a loose pass which bounced off a tiger went forward and rolled to Tupou's feet.
He saw it, recognised he was offside and left it. The dogs ended up diving on the ball and sliding into touch gifting the ball back to WT and stopping dogs momentum.
It seemed an innocuous moment at the time, but it immediately stood out to me because you just know if it was Nofa there instead of Tupou, he would have dived on it and given away the penalty. And that has been typical of the Tigers for as long as I can remember, thoughtless and stupid errors that apply unnecessary pressure on our defence at crucial points in the game, because I question that some players even know the rules of the game sometimes...
That one moment from Tupou immediately suggested to me that he is meant to be at first grade level.
 
liltiger said:
Yes I know but my point being there might be someone at board level forcing the coaches hand. He might be a favourite player of theirs or something, I'm just saying it is the only logical conclusion I can come up with as to why Brooks has never been sent to reserve grade by multiple coaches.
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Yeah I get where ya coming from but that reasoning does not compute
 
AdelaideTiger said:
Footy IQ has been soo poor at this club for too long.
There was a moment against the bulldogs, when the dogs made a break down the wing, and threw a loose pass which bounced off a tiger went forward and rolled to Tupou's feet.
He saw it, recognised he was offside and left it. The dogs ended up diving on the ball and sliding into touch gifting the ball back to WT and stopping dogs momentum.
It seemed an innocuous moment at the time, but it immediately stood out to me because you just know if it was Nofa there instead of Tupou, he would have dived on it and given away the penalty. And that has been typical of the Tigers for as long as I can remember, thoughtless and stupid errors that apply unnecessary pressure on our defence at crucial points in the game, because I question that some players even know the rules of the game sometimes...
That one moment from Tupou immediately suggested to me that he is meant to be at first grade level.
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Really good post. I praised how Jofo made a slight high tackle last year and he looked really upset at himself. We need players that make good decisions. It's a game but it's also professional sport. I don't care how tough you are or how hard you can bang or whatever. I want to see guys that understand they are professional footy players and they have to do their jobs.

If we then add some talent to that we'll turn this massive turd around.
 
Flippedy said:
It does if the board couldn’t really give a stuff about football and are only interested in making money from the leagues club and its community initiatives.
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My thoughts are, the Tigers are flying financially so Wests Ashfield would be happy, winning games would be a bonus. I just think the boards expectations of success are completely different to us fans who measure it through winning on the field.
 
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Earl said:
Really good post. I praised how Jofo made a slight high tackle last year and he looked really upset at himself. We need players that make good decisions. It's a game but it's also professional sport. I don't care how tough you are or how hard you can bang or whatever. I want to see guys that understand they are professional footy players and they have to do their jobs.

If we then add some talent to that we'll turn this massive turd around.
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We're closer than 0-5 would suggest. Add a half that can manage a set of 6, and a fullback that can draw an extra defender and get a pass away and we are cooking with gas. Staines I think could actually fill the 1 spot, but we need a to find a half somewhere.
 
AdelaideTiger said:
We're closer than 0-5 would suggest. Add a half that can manage a set of 6, and a fullback that can draw an extra defender and get a pass away and we are cooking with gas. Staines I think could actually fill the 1 spot, but we need a to find a half somewhere.
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I agree with that summation. We need to punt the problems now even if it means putting in less experienced players to show we're not going to put up with lazy, inept or precious players- just wish we could get the necessary cattle now to do that.
 
mikey said:
I agree with that summation. We need to punt the problems now even if it means putting in less experienced players to show we're not going to put up with lazy, inept or precious players- just wish we could get the necessary cattle now to do that.
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Brooks needs time in reserve grade. Keeping him in firsts to keep his price high for a potential trade/swap/release is now null and void, with him being off contract after this year. Can we get Madden back from the Broncos? Or can we grab one of the decent 7s from Qld Cup or are they all contracted to NRL clubs anyway via feeder team arrangements? We need someone who can organise.
 
AdelaideTiger said:
We're closer than 0-5 would suggest. Add a half that can manage a set of 6, and a fullback that can draw an extra defender and get a pass away and we are cooking with gas. Staines I think could actually fill the 1 spot, but we need a to find a half somewhere.
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I agree we aren’t potentially far away if there are 2-3 key changes in the first 17. For a few years I’ve been watching both our main halves consistently run down any space that has been created out wide by drifting sideways and negating overlaps. The good teams consistently execute these chances and score from them at a lot higher % than WT. As evidenced by the first few rounds we had no shortage of opportunity inside the opposition 20. Our try ratio was really bad.

The other part we consistently are well below average in is pass execution. Some of the recent falcons and passing to the wrong person in overlaps (ie the person who is covered and not open), or passing behind, or over the head, etc, etc, just shows the halves are far from elite or get rushed. Top teams don’t make these mistakes anywhere near as often.

A lot has also been said of how poor our kicking is. Kicking dead, not kicking high enough to allow players to get to the falling ball, kicking over the sideline, poor position kicking, etc. With Ipap’s recent try off a bomb, Wakeham actually nailed the execution, perfect height and landed 1m in front of the tryline for him to run onto with momentum. Again, elite halves do this consistently, we do it rarely.

Finding a quality 7 (and ideally a 6 as well but would settle for one elite half as a starting point) and a game breaking X factor 1 needs to be top of the list for next stage of rebuild. We drop that into our current team and we turn a corner I believe.

The other unknown is how much of our woes is from the coaching team? Is it all through not having enough quality on the key position playing roster or are the structures and coaching contributing? Not quite sure on this front. The key to Benji’s success when he takes over as head coach will be to jag an experienced or quality up and coming assistant coach or 2 (people like Flanagan to assist or a Ciraldo type 4 years ago) to share the load.
 
88 said:
I agree we aren’t potentially far away if there are 2-3 key changes in the first 17. For a few years I’ve been watching both our main halves consistently run down any space that has been created out wide by drifting sideways and negating overlaps. The good teams consistently execute these chances and score from them at a lot higher % than WT. As evidenced by the first few rounds we had no shortage of opportunity inside the opposition 20. Our try ratio was really bad.

The other part we consistently are well below average in is pass execution. Some of the recent falcons and passing to the wrong person in overlaps (ie the person who is covered and not open), or passing behind, or over the head, etc, etc, just shows the halves are far from elite or get rushed. Top teams don’t make these mistakes anywhere near as often.

A lot has also been said of how poor our kicking is. Kicking dead, not kicking high enough to allow players to get to the falling ball, kicking over the sideline, poor position kicking, etc. With Ipap’s recent try off a bomb, Wakeham actually nailed the execution, perfect height and landed 1m in front of the tryline for him to run onto with momentum. Again, elite halves do this consistently, we do it rarely.

Finding a quality 7 (and ideally a 6 as well but would settle for one elite half as a starting point) and a game breaking X factor 1 needs to be top of the list for next stage of rebuild. We drop that into our current team and we turn a corner I believe.

The other unknown is how much of our woes is from the coaching team? Is it all through not having enough quality on the key position playing roster or are the structures and coaching contributing? Not quite sure on this front. The key to Benji’s success when he takes over as head coach will be to jag an experienced or quality up and coming assistant coach or 2 (people like Flanagan to assist or a Ciraldo type 4 years ago) to share the load.
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Agree!
The inability to straighten the attack and continual crabbing across field kills me, it's such basic stuff.
The poor kicking game is wholly and soley on the halves, as you put it, too many opportunities in great field position, to come away with so few points.
The passing game woes too can be blamed on the halves, it's bad communication and play calling, sure the timing is off, but good halves create the space for their outside men, not the other way around.
The coaches can have a a few more weeks, because there are signs of life, but a win or two must come in the next few weeks.
 
weststigerman said:
I agree with your point. I don't know how many players have to come here and flop for people to realise maybe it's not just the player's fault.
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And just as many go elsewhere and play finals. We don't develop players because there are no player standards at this club. Who sets the tone? Can't lay it on the new guys - no doubt they are still in shock.
 
ovoevo said:
WHERE did this story that Bateman refused to play with Hastings come from? Because I've checked all my sources over here and nobody can verify it. What I've been told is there were some frank exchanges at Wigan within the leadership group (including Hastings, Bateman, Tommy Leu and Farrell) when coach Matty Peet was in the process of taking over. But the idea that Bateman delivered an ultimatum to Wigan saying he flat out refused to play with Hastings has drawn nothing but head scratching. What I'm wondering is whether someone in the Australian media deliberately pushed that story out there as a shot against Hastings. Something going on here because the Hastings I've had (some) dealings with and others far greater are completely baffled by some of the outrageous stuff which has been written about him. Only heard positives from the people at Wigan & Salford especially. Sure, he can be a bit prickly at times. But that aint a crime ...
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Don't know who it originated with but have heard Kent repeat it several times
 
weststigerman said:
Warriors looking at Ice apparently.

Are we desperate enough to swap him for Volkman?

I’d say no, but it’s useless having good forwards with no halves.
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It's illegal to ask about him directly. Why isn't the NRL coming down on them or Bennett for that matter.

They might not offer anything but using the media to show your interest is bad form.
 
liltiger said:
My thoughts are, the Tigers are flying financially so Wests Ashfield would be happy, winning games would be a bonus. I just think the boards expectations of success are completely different to us fans who measure it through winning on the field.
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If we win on the field the financial section would explode.
 
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