How Bright is our future?

The problem is, we are seen as a bit of a joke, like the place to go when you cant get a gig elsewhere or wanting just a payday. That is no surprise to everyone here if you are honest with yourselves.

That said, I think there are a few positives. I'm not in an essay mood today so imma be brief.
Fans- we have them, we are a big club. We need to sort out our identity to go the extra yard, but thats not performance related, but it shows we are important to the NRL landscape.

Spine- For all our shittiness, we have a great spine. Bula/galvin/Luai/Korisau with Sezer and da silva as backup is premiership worthy if we are just talking spines and nothing else. It isnt that simple but spines are the backbone of a team and the best thing to have, and we have that downpat. This is conditional on Luai firing. Get some english starch in the forwards, some leb guys and a few star backs and it's a new team.

Youth- We have one of the best nurseries and this cant be ignored. Yes we will struggle to keep them, but it is easier to stop a fish jumping out of water than vice versa. Retention is easier than recruitment. If we manage this, we are out of the cellar.

Location- No matter where you are in Sydney, the tigers are nearby, so we have a leg up on say, Canberra or Perth in the market. As if you would not want to live in Balmain!

I also have another thought, I feel we have loaded up to much on the polynesian muscle type of player. I've said it before but compare us to the doggs, last year they had alot of these guys and they relied on muscle and not ticker and IQ and when they couldnt outmuscle they unravelled. Same reason england beats the islands internationally despite being less star studded or the doggs are 5th. all these nationalities, shapes and sixes play a role but we are kidding ourselves if we dont acknowledge this. We need a mix of power, size, starch, ethic and footy IQ. I think this is also a reason why Richo was in England.
 
The problem is, we are seen as a bit of a joke, like the place to go when you cant get a gig elsewhere or wanting just a payday. That is no surprise to everyone here if you are honest with yourselves.

That said, I think there are a few positives. I'm not in an essay mood today so imma be brief.
Fans- we have them, we are a big club. We need to sort out our identity to go the extra yard, but thats not performance related, but it shows we are important to the NRL landscape.

Spine- For all our shittiness, we have a great spine. Bula/galvin/Luai/Korisau with Sezer and da silva as backup is premiership worthy if we are just talking spines and nothing else. It isnt that simple but spines are the backbone of a team and the best thing to have, and we have that downpat. This is conditional on Luai firing. Get some english starch in the forwards, some leb guys and a few star backs and it's a new team.

Youth- We have one of the best nurseries and this cant be ignored. Yes we will struggle to keep them, but it is easier to stop a fish jumping out of water than vice versa. Retention is easier than recruitment. If we manage this, we are out of the cellar.

Location- No matter where you are in Sydney, the tigers are nearby, so we have a leg up on say, Canberra or Perth in the market. As if you would not want to live in Balmain!

I also have another thought, I feel we have loaded up to much on the polynesian muscle type of player. I've said it before but compare us to the doggs, last year they had alot of these guys and they relied on muscle and not ticker and IQ and when they couldnt outmuscle they unravelled. Same reason england beats the islands internationally despite being less star studded or the doggs are 5th. all these nationalities, shapes and sixes play a role but we are kidding ourselves if we dont acknowledge this. We need a mix of power, size, starch, ethic and footy IQ. I think this is also a reason why Richo was in England.
I think a lot of people see explosive running & power & completely overlook lazy inside defence, numbering up, discipline.

Smart, hard working players will often outplay the physically gifted over time.
 
Our attack is reaping more points lately but let’s be serious….until the defence is fixed, we are going nowhere, I mean we scored 6 tries tonight and still lost by 18.
 
Our attack is reaping more points lately but let’s be serious….until the defence is fixed, we are going nowhere, I mean we scored 6 tries tonight and still lost by 18.
They just need to learn not to clock off after doing the good stuff .
Just need to play the full 80 mins .
 
They just need to learn not to clock off after doing the good stuff .
Just need to play the full 80 mins .
We have the worst ljne speed of any team in the comp. Watch the bulldogs closely they are offside every tackle from how fast they move up. We stand there waiting for them.

But to this thread, future is looking very bright some great juniors coming through like bula and Galvin. Can we keep them is the question .
 
I think we are improving.
We’ve gone from;
2022 - not being in the game from kick off. Men vs Boys vs the other 15 teams.
2023 - losing the game after the 20mins mark for whatever reason; too many variables.
2024 - being in the contest until half time.

On this trajectory we can expect to be competitive for at least 2/3rds to 3/4s of a match next year.
 
We've already scored more points for than we did in '22...and should score more than last year.
Defense is a different story.
Points against:
2022 - 679
2023 - 675
2024 - 614 with four games to go... Will.be on a par with the other spoon years odds on
 

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