Wests Tigers Deep Dive of the Week

[Merlot]

sorry jumping the queue ,give Hope a run if he's bulked up

 

[Merlot]

Defense is a mindset , here is an idea , if Premierships are won on defense how about ???
and it trickles /runs thru the club

 

[Jolls]

sorry jumping the queue ,give Hope a run if he's bulked up

Hope at 13? I hadn't considered him at all.

 

[Jolls]

Defense is a mindset , here is an idea , if Premierships are won on defense how about ???
and it trickles /runs thru the club

Defence is definately a mindset but it is defeinitely something that can be improved with focus. I would take your exampe one step further and say defence is a leadership requirement and every leader we have shoudl be setting the tone.

 

[Merlot]

Defence is definatelyh a mindset but it is defeinitely something that can be improved with focus. I would take your exampe one step further and say defence is a leadership requirement and every leader we have shoudl be setting the tone.

yep , my 1st coach told me that , They all need to take it on and improve the tone

 

[innsaneink]

We apparently have a pretty decent wrestling coach....we need to start to win,.consistently, the ruck in attack and defense with our wrestle.
That and line speed.
I see people talk about line speed when refererencing a possible new recruit or a single .player. Pretty.pointless one.player setting the tone if the rest arent following...line speeds as much an attitude as defence

 

[Jolls]

We apparently have a pretty decent wrestling coach....we need to start to win,.consistently, the ruck in attack and defense with our wrestle.
That and line speed.
I see people talk about line speed when refererencing a possible new recruit or a single .player. Pretty.pointless one.player serting a tone if the rest arent followeing...line speeds as much an attitude as defence

I mentioned it to Merlot last night - line speed requires good leadership to drive and reinforce the mindset. You and he are both right - it all comes from within - its a mindset and attituce combined with the fitness that makes it work.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Defence is definatelyh a mindset but it is defeinitely something that can be improved with focus. I would take your exampe one step further and say defence is a leadership requirement and every leader we have shoudl be setting the tone.

Thanks for your efforts, though you should definatelyh be getting to bed earlier instead of feeding us 🙂

 

[Jolls]

Thanks for your efforts, though you should definatelyh be getting to bed earlier instead of feeding us 🙂

Was up last night with an sinusitis. It was a good way to try and take my mind off the pain in my head!

 

[gregjm87]

A less contentions subject for us to debate. I think we all agree that our defence in 2025 was one of our weak points. Richos comments about our right edge combined with the way we gave up simple points at crucial times are clear enough indicators of our need to improve in this area. Part of the solution is based on our ability to get out of our own end and have the oppostion starting sets deeper in their own half, but the most important aspect is how we play when the pill isn't in our hands.

Deep Dive 17. Line Speed and Defensive Intensity: How the Wests Tigers Become a Tougher Defensive Unit

Defence goes a long way to winning. There are schools of thought that Defence is the core to building a winning team. There are other schools of thought that are based more on attack than defence – but suffice to say: defence is a critical enabler regardless of the which school of thought you align yourself with.

So what is defence? It is a combination of line speed, aggression at the ruck and tackling technique/wrestling. Effective defence forces mistakes and lowers the opposition’s strike rate.

Where Wests Tigers sit now (end 2025). (This is the defensive problem to solve)

• We improved in patches but remain inconsistent in controlling the middle and in generating line speed. The opposition frequently create time and space through our slow or hesitant edges, soft tacklers and our defenders being sucked inwards; creating gaps/overlaps. Our right edge has been suspect in particular; however, the problem really exists across the park.
• The recruitment of Kai Pearce-Paul as a high-work rate edge is a step in the right direction. He is a player that should lift our right-edge aggression and help cut down overlaps. But one signing won’t fix our systemic defensive issues.

Why line speed matters

Line speed isn’t just “running up quickly”. It is a coordinated team trigger that forces the attacking team to play faster, make rushed decisions, and limits second-phase play. When executed correctly it:

• Denies the ball-carrier time, forcing hurried passes/footwork and increased handling errors;
• Compresses attacking options and funnels play into areas where the defence has strength;
• Allows post-contact defensive scramble to be more effective because less momentum has been built by the attacking side.

What do Wests Tigers need to change to increase our defensive intensity?

Personnel & role clarity. Each edge requires an on-field leader to coordinate and manage defensive intensity. This player should be the trigger for line speed calls. The players need to lead by example in tackle volume and physicality to force teams to hesitate on that side. Ideally that should be KPP on one edge and Sam F on the other; however, intensity could be set by the 13 or 9 on either side of the ruck just as easily. The key Is ensuring clarity.

• Addition recruitment. We are short two key personnel:
  • A mobile, aggressive middle forward who can contest the ruck and tackles and also slow the play-the-ball. A defensive alpha to lead the pack. Terrell May has a good work rate but does not win the collision often enough.
  • A disciplined centre who can finish tackles and not drift. Starford Toa does a job; however, his defence, at times, is below par. Recruitment/replacement needs to prioritise high tackle efficiency. Can Makasini develop into that role? Does Taylan May shift sides to accommodate this?

Tactical adjustments

• Aggressive early set speed from the markers and adjacent middles to pin the dummy half where possible and force the opposition to play early. This coordinated approach denies, where practicable, the ability of the dummy half to engage the A and B defender allowing an early defensive shift to apply pressure.
• The “no suck” rule. Defenders, particularly edge defenders, have to avoid being “sucked in” by inside runners. Outside backs must be capable of handling one on one defensive situations
• Controlled pressure. Inside pressure is not an automatic response. Inside pressure around the ruck is a must, but drifting across must be a coached response to specific attacking shapes. We need clear rules for when to drift (apply constant inside pressure) and when to remain compressed. Used correctly inside pressure can force the play outwards to squeeze the attack between the outside defenders and the touch line. Inside pressure also provides the required momentum for effective cover/scramble defence to deal with line breaks.

Coaching & culture. Our defence coach must own a “measurable” plan. What isn’t measured can’t be improved so throughout the pre-season (in particular) and into the regular season measured defensive cycles need to be executed with a focus on continuous improvement.

• Small wins: Start with a “Defence Charter”. For example, “non-negotiables”: line speed, square defensive stance, marker pressure, and clear communication. These must be measured and compliance rewarded publicly.
• Video with data overlay: GPS + tackle data show players their line speed and missed-tackle patterns in game clips. Visual feedback accelerates behaviour change.

Metrics. The defensive pattern will determine what metrics are useful to the Defence Coach. However, it is likely that the following set will make up the core of the data being measured:

• Average time to first defensive step (marker reaction time). Target a reduction by 0.2–0.3s over 2025 in preseason with ongoing monitoring to maintain/improve the standard throughout the regular season.
• Line speed/advantage line percentage. Identify the % of plays where the defensive line is up at/behind the advantage line 1s after the play-the-ball.
• Missed tackles per game & tackle efficiency. Separate and treat the edges and middles separately.
• Opposition post-contact metres (PCM). A reduction in PCM reflects better first contact.

The metrics need to be measured throughout the pre-season and weekly during the competition rounds. The metrics must be meaningful and measurable and then presented on a simple dashboard for the team, and individual players, to enable easy self-evaluation of performance levels and areas requiring improvement.

Defensive Risks

• Risk: Overcommitting to line speed leaves gaps in the defence for grubbers and kicks behind the line.
  • Mitigation: Maintain marker discipline with a focus on identifying kick and drop off cues.
• Risk: Fatigue from high-intensity defensive sets late in halves/games.
  • Mitigation: conditioning program and rotation plan; staggered line speed responsibilities

What success looks like in 2026

• Reduced oppositon offloads and second-phase play,
• Fewer line breaks conceded in first contact,
• a visible increase in edge tackle pressure and volume.

The eye test: fewer easy sets inside the oppositions 40m, more forced errors, shallow set completion.

I have outlined where I would be heading if I was Benji/Hodgo. What are your thoughts on how we overcome our defensive deficiencies?

2 defensive areas we absolutely suck at in my opinion is winning contact and inside pressure.
By winning contact we don't necessarily need to be belting blokes. The game has moved past that some what to catch and wrestle. We seem to have too many middle players who struggle with either the catch or the wrestle (or both). Repetition of wrestle training (one on one and 2 and 3 on one) to actually holt
momentum and turn players (legally, another part some of our players struggle with).

Catch and wrestle really does appear to be a skill set we are missing pretty much across the board with our forwards. One of the sayings that piss me off most in rugby league is "defence is an attitude". No! It is a skill that like any other can be developed.

It is only after winning some rucks will the line have time to generate speed. Until then we can talk about line speed all we want but you can't generate line speed when you are only getting back onside when the ball is being played.

Next is the lack of inside pressure. To often we are asking our backs to make one on one tackles, often after check and releasing when confronted with a mismatch in numbers. And when they show the high shot you can see our middles languishing in the centre of the field rather than pushing across. We need to identify why this continually happen and address the issue. Is it fitness, lazy, lack of accountability/standards in the past, coaching? Do they even understand their role when the ball is shifted?

Address these 2 issues and build from there.

 

[Jolls]

2 defensive areas we absolutely suck at in my opinion is winning contact and inside pressure.
By winning contact we don't necessarily need to be belting blokes. The game has moved past that some what to catch and wrestle. We seem to have too many middle players who struggle with either the catch or the wrestle (or both). Repetition of wrestle training (one on one and 2 and 3 on one) to actually holt
momentum and turn players (legally, another part some of our players struggle with).

Catch and wrestle really does appear to be a skill set we are missing pretty much across the board with our forwards. One of the sayings that piss me off most in rugby league is "defence is an attitude". No! It is a skill that like any other can be developed.

It is only after winning some rucks will the line have time to generate speed. Until then we can talk about line speed all we want but you can't generate line speed when you are only getting back onside when the ball is being played.

Next is the lack of inside pressure. To often we are asking our backs to make one on one tackles, often after check and releasing when confronted with a mismatch in numbers. And when they show the high shot you can see our middles languishing in the centre of the field rather than pushing across. We need to identify why this continually happen and address the issue. Is it fitness, lazy, lack of accountability/standards in the past, coaching? Do they even understand their role when the ball is shifted?

Address these 2 issues and build from there.

Two very good points and possibly glossed over a littel in the deep dive. I did mention them both when I described our 2025 defence as "slow or hesitant edges, soft tacklers and our defenders being sucked inwards" - but certainly not as explicitly as you have pointed out.

Inside pressure is a two edged sword and there are times where you want to remain compressed an others where we should be using inide pressure to drive the attacking actions. You are on the money though we lack accountability and standards in that area.

The point I was trying to drive in relation to our defence is that apart from the technical we need to have measurable metrics to drive improvement; specifically in the two areas you identified:

• Average time to first defensive step (marker reaction time). Target a reduction by 0.2–0.3s over 2025 in preseason with ongoing monitoring to maintain/improve the standard throughout the regular season. (immediate inside pressure)
• Line speed/advantage line percentage. Identify the % of plays where the defensive line is up at/behind the advantage line 1s after the play-the-ball. (as you identified needs ruck control as a key enabler)
• Missed tackles per game & tackle efficiency. Separate and treat the edges and middles separately. (directly related to catch and wrestle)
• Opposition post-contact metres (PCM). A reduction in PCM reflects better first contact. (directly related to catch and wrestle)

I wish I had used your more concise language when I pulled it together last night. I think we are very much on the same page though despite the different terminology.