LIVE GAME Round 20 vs. Rabbitohs

[Tiger Stripes]

I'll agree Doueihi wants the ball and that's a good thing. But to say Bula blatantly doesn't want it is absurd. He has proving time and again that he wants the ball and gets involved more than many fullbacks

I see Bula chiming in to the backline but running across the field giving no room for the wingers to get the ball. So rather than let the wingers get pushed over the line Bula dies with the ball.
He needs to straighten the attack and off load earlier, create the extra man. He certainly can't break a tackle or run around the defence. Learn his attacking limits.
And talking of his limits, why does he always defend the goal line next to their dummy half or the the first big bopper who just carry him over the line? Leave that for the forwards please.

 

[Qwertyrick]

Lol good game 🤣😳

 

[Tiger Stripes]

You cannot afford to have a fullback in the NRL who craps his pants and expect to win games, full stop.
Staines at fullback would make us a much better team.

I'm beginning to think that way. Is he safe under the high balls?

 

[weststigers]

Stefano had some blockbuster runs today but is an indifferent defender and has a weak work rate. His effort on the goalline looked poor to me and you'd expect a premier prop to be able to come on and lift a team, yet he came on and we went backwards. Probably harsh to blame that on him but He just regularly fades into the background and leaves the hit up for others. Even on dominant runs today he was put on his back for a slower play the ball.

Sione and Pole once again outplayed him.

I think Stef is the sidekick prop...he takes the runs after we are going forward to create extra damage.

He is not a pack leader. Sione showed he is the big dog today

 

[Tiger Stripes]

I hate that players play hurt for it. To me that’s cheating. Cheats should be punished.

They should be sent off for 10 minutes to have the injury attended to.

 

[TSP]

They should be sent off for 10 minutes to have the injury attended to.

by a trained actor!

 

[jirskyr]

Not true mate. Dylan Edwards couldn’t catch a cold for a while, had the yips. He learnt to catch again in reserve grade, like Luke should.

Definitely cannot forget how badly Dylan Edwards started in grade, I really doubted if he could turn it around he was so fragile.

 

[Vicious]

I'm beginning to think that way. Is he safe under the high balls?

Much safer than the other bloke, no doubt about that.

 

[innsaneink]

Todays game summary,
One step forward,
Two steps back,
One step forward,
Two steps back,
One step forward,
Two steps back
Full time another loss, 42-28 which means we have conceded at least 40 points in our last 4 matches.
Well done coaches, well done team, you’re officially a disgrace !

40+ conceded last FIVE games hal... Sorry

I'm sure there'll be more

A half decent team would love our final 8 or 9 weeks of the draw

 

[innsaneink]

42 tackles for TDS. He will
Definitely get there.

Small blokes get spotted but yeh he's a goer

 

[tigerballs]

Much safer than the other bloke, no doubt about that.

That's it. You are dead set the biggest goose on the forum and probably of the whole league watching population.

 

[TigerSJ]

As much as the effort was there today there were some glaring deficiencies in our game that made it too difficult to get the win.
1) our first contact in D as usual is too soft, we get numbers in a tackle and still don’t dominate. This causes us to be left on the ground allowing quick ptbs and momentum from the opposition dh. Also we don’t wrap up the ball!!
2) passive in D often standing watching when we need to take up their space.
3) dumb plays - offloads that are unnecessary and stupid errors.
4) a few players every week just kill us - this week it was Bateman, Laualii, Faataape.

Souths tries were so soft honestly they didn’t deserve to score most of them.

 

[TigerSJ]

Some thoughts on players today….
Sione F was good - needs to improve his passive D.
Sam F played well for the most part
Latu F - still don’t see what the hype is but obviously needs more time
Galvin tries hard but sometimes too much. Defensively weak too often. Needs to settle down. Don’t think his future is at 5/8.
AD was ok but still makes dumb errors
Klem needs to go.
Uto was better today but nowhere near enough workrate and weak in D
Pole runs hard but too passive in D at the moment
TDS looked great and will get better as he toughens up.
Miller needs another year at least to get fitter and harden up for NRL - was the worst prop on the field.
Twal first game back looked a little hesitant but is reliable without being overly effective.
Staines tried hard in A but went close to bombing his put down in the corner unnecessarily. His D reads are terrible and rushes in when he shouldn’t.
Luke L tried hard but made too many costly errors that led to tries that probably lost us the game.
Bateman is an idiot! As much as he defends well it isn’t better than you’d expect any NRL edge player to do l. His errors and dumb plays are just ridiculous.

 

[twentyforty]

I see Bula chiming in to the backline but running across the field giving no room for the wingers to get the ball. So rather than let the wingers get pushed over the line Bula dies with the ball.
He needs to straighten the attack and off load earlier, create the extra man. He certainly can't break a tackle or run around the defence. Learn his attacking limits.
And talking of his limits, why does he always defend the goal line next to their dummy half or the the first big bopper who just carry him over the line? Leave that for the forwards please.

The team should have at least one training session allocated each week specifically devoted to “chiming in.” The when, how, and why.

 

[king_sirro]

Some thoughts on players today….
Sione F was good - needs to improve his passive D.
Sam F played well for the most part
Latu F - still don’t see what the hype is but obviously needs more time
Galvin tries hard but sometimes too much. Defensively weak too often. Needs to settle down. Don’t think his future is at 5/8.
AD was ok but still makes dumb errors
Klem needs to go.
Uto was better today but nowhere near enough workrate and weak in D
Pole runs hard but too passive in D at the moment
TDS looked great and will get better as he toughens up.
Miller needs another year at least to get fitter and harden up for NRL - was the worst prop on the field.
Twal first game back looked a little hesitant but is reliable without being overly effective.
Staines tried hard in A but went close to bombing his put down in the corner unnecessarily. His D reads are terrible and rushes in when he shouldn’t.
Luke L tried hard but made too many costly errors that led to tries that probably lost us the game.
Bateman is an idiot! As much as he defends well it isn’t better than you’d expect any NRL edge player to do l. His errors and dumb plays are just ridiculous.

Agree with most here. However I'm surprised you didn't get a glimpse of what Latu brings. I thought you could see his touch of class a couple of times the way he engaged the line. Over time he will have more line break assists then anyone in the team. In fact it won't even be close. Hits hard in defence to

 

[Tigers_Wests]

Another one we let slip. Super frustrasting to go down against a rather weak bunnies side when we had gained all the momentum at 28 to 24 up.

All we needed to do was hold the ball and we win comfortably. The worst part is when we leak 1 try you can nearly guarantee another 1 or 2 will be coming quickly.

It was good to see some of the young guys put on some quality. TDS especially has showed us what he can do and why he will be the next in line after Api. Galvin was involved in everything and Latu showed some promise late too. Sione Fainu for mine was really impressive. Still needs to be a bit more physical in defence...but his carries and PCM is excellent.

To those writing off Luke Laulili'i...the kid is 18. I will admit he had a shocker of a 2nd half that did cost us. But he showed enough in that first half with some strong carries, quick play the balls and that linebreak/try assist that he has something to work with in the future. In any other team he wouldn't be required in NRL at this point of his career and would be fine tuning his skills in KOE Cup. Give the kid time.

The senior players are not setting the standard and need to be held accountable. Bateman made 2 incredibly poor plays when we were getting on top. The error 10 metres out and the forcing an offload to Bula not long after. Time for him to drop down (hopefully Ice is back next week). Klemmer offers very little on the field and I am sure we won't take up his 2026 option so that means 1 more year of him. Sezer has also been disappointing the past month. His kicking game was his greatest asset early in the year....now we never see it.

Interested to see if we go with Latu or Sully at 7 next week. Hoping to see Latu get more minutes to see what he can do.

Quick turnaround and international travel, so would assume if Benji is thinking of changes from the Cup team, they might get withdrawn from the team today.

 

[Squater]

Another one we let slip. Super frustrasting to go down against a rather weak bunnies side when we had gained all the momentum at 28 to 24 up.

All we needed to do was hold the ball and we win comfortably. The worst part is when we leak 1 try you can nearly guarantee another 1 or 2 will be coming quickly.

It was good to see some of the young guys put on some quality. TDS especially has showed us what he can do and why he will be the next in line after Api. Galvin was involved in everything and Latu showed some promise late too. Sione Fainu for mine was really impressive. Still needs to be a bit more physical in defence...but his carries and PCM is excellent.

To those writing off Luke Laulili'i...the kid is 18. I will admit he had a shocker of a 2nd half that did cost us. But he showed enough in that first half with some strong carries, quick play the balls and that linebreak/try assist that he has something to work with in the future. In any other team he wouldn't be required in NRL at this point of his career and would be fine tuning his skills in KOE Cup. Give the kid time.

The senior players are not setting the standard and need to be held accountable. Bateman made 2 incredibly poor plays when we were getting on top. The error 10 metres out and the forcing an offload to Bula not long after. Time for him to drop down (hopefully Ice is back next week). Klemmer offers very little on the field and I am sure we won't take up his 2026 option so that means 1 more year of him. Sezer has also been disappointing the past month. His kicking game was his greatest asset early in the year....now we never see it.

Interested to see if we go with Latu or Sully at 7 next week. Hoping to see Latu get more minutes to see what he can do.

Quick turnaround and international travel, so would assume if Benji is thinking of changes from the Cup team, they might get withdrawn from the team today.

Thought the kids had a crack. Yes they made mistakes but thats gonna happen. The biggest liabilites are bateman and Klemmer. Time to cut the apron strings and sell them for whatever we get for them. They offer nothing and I think they younger guys know it.

 

[Buttface]

I've kept a book since the first one when I was a kit and kilo brewer to all grain. 609 in 32 years isn't that much.

A Brewing record/diary, I like it.
No, 609 in 32 years doesn’t sound a lot. I’ve only got a small still, so I reckon I’ve probably done that in ten but wouldn’t know bcoz I wasn’t smart enough to keep a ledger. 👍🏻

 

[Buttface]

I’m confused, I thought this was about the game today, how in the hell did we get on to home brewing ?
And who gives a damn about how many batches you’ve made !

Fair call Hal. He mentioned his Batch number and that had me intrigued.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Wests Tigers halfback Aidan Sezer is facing a stint on the sidelines after being hit with a Grade 2 Dangerous Contact charge in Saturday's loss to the Rabbitohs.

The halfback was sent to the sin bin for the tackle on South Sydney fullback Jye Gray in the 68th minute and will sit out two games if he takes the early guilty plea. Sezer will miss three matches if he fights the charge and loses.