2021 Thoughts and team possibilities

[voice_of_reason]

The only weak link in that list is Garner, his a second grader at best from what his dished up this year.

I think Garner is a solid player hobbled by having to protect weaker defenders around him. He does extra work, gets fatigued and then struggles to make his own tackles or hit the line hard in attack.

We shouldn't have players who can't defend in their own right. There will always be times when you need to help someone out but in a normal, structured defence you should be able to rely on the bloke next to you to make his tackle. He's still only 24, with the help of some hard heads he could flourish.

 

[Aceshigh]

Got to agree lily , Garner just has’nt aimed up for mine but unfortunately he has a contract , i hope he improves out of sight but at this time he is a weakling

 

[JC99]

2021 will be very similar to this season. Fingers crossed we can sign one or two decent guys but overall our squad will be the same especially if we move to 28 man rosters. Gonna be another crappy year to be a tigers fan, I can’t wait for 2022

 

[pawsandclaws1]

The only weak link in that list is Garner, his a second grader at best from what his dished up this year.

I think Garner is a solid player hobbled by having to protect weaker defenders around him. He does extra work, gets fatigued and then struggles to make his own tackles or hit the line hard in attack.

We shouldn't have players who can't defend in their own right. There will always be times when you need to help someone out but in a normal, structured defence you should be able to rely on the bloke next to you to make his tackle. He's still only 24, with the help of some hard heads he could flourish.

I enjoyed reading your.post. Defence wins games. Leilua and Nofoliama are poor defenders. Also Garner had a great combination with Brooks, no doubt enjoying the stronger defence on the left. Brooks also enjoyed having a hole runner next to him.

 

[happy_tiger]

Our forward pack will be strong next year:

Utoikamanu
Musgrove
Twal
Garner
Lucy
Blore
Mcintyre
Aloiai
Mikaele

That is a strong exciting pack. That pack has something the tigers have always needed, big strong players.

I don't know ...try putting it up against the other 15 squads and see what you think then

 

[Thaiger]

The only weak link in that list is Garner, his a second grader at best from what his dished up this year.

I think Garner is a solid player hobbled by having to protect weaker defenders around him. He does extra work, gets fatigued and then struggles to make his own tackles or hit the line hard in attack.

We shouldn't have players who can't defend in their own right. There will always be times when you need to help someone out but in a normal, structured defence you should be able to rely on the bloke next to you to make his tackle. He's still only 24, with the help of some hard heads he could flourish.

I enjoyed reading your.post. Defence wins games. Leilua and Nofoliama are poor defenders. Also Garner had a great combination with Brooks, no doubt enjoying the stronger defence on the left. Brooks also enjoyed having a hole runner next to him.

Agree totally.

I went out and watched Sydney Shield side Ryde Eastwood and there is a second rower who played in the the centres called Regan Hughes who is a gun attacker and defender. I think he scored 3 tries in the back row the week before. OK it was only Shield against a Belrose team captained by Jamie Buhrer but to beat the comp leaders by 50-6, week before something similar - the defence from the forwards and outside backs in particular was brutal.

Unfortunately virtually none of these players will get a look in next year due to Covid.

Defence is often very much underrated. I'm sure Warren McDonnell who was there notices these things.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

The only weak link in that list is Garner, his a second grader at best from what his dished up this year.

I think Garner is a solid player hobbled by having to protect weaker defenders around him. He does extra work, gets fatigued and then struggles to make his own tackles or hit the line hard in attack.

We shouldn't have players who can't defend in their own right. There will always be times when you need to help someone out but in a normal, structured defence you should be able to rely on the bloke next to you to make his tackle. He's still only 24, with the help of some hard heads he could flourish.

I enjoyed reading your.post. Defence wins games. Leilua and Nofoliama are poor defenders. Also Garner had a great combination with Brooks, no doubt enjoying the stronger defence on the left. Brooks also enjoyed having a hole runner next to him.

Agree totally.

I went out and watched Sydney Shield side Ryde Eastwood and there is a second rower who played in the the centres called Regan Hughes who is a gun attacker and defender. I think he scored 3 tries in the back row the week before. OK it was only Shield against a Belrose team captained by Jamie Buhrer but to beat the comp leaders by 50-6, week before something similar - the defence from the forwards and outside backs in particular was brutal.

Unfortunately virtually none of these players will get a look in next year due to Covid.

Defence is often very much underrated. I'm sure Warren McDonnell who was there notices these things.

Thanks for the update. I hope we can get our lower grades playing next year. I thoroughly enjoy watching the young players coming through.

 

[2005magic]

Reckon there is a valid question in there without knowing answer myself. How many inadequate defensive players can a team carry on the field? WT seem to have more than a few with question marks over their defensive abilities each week. Do the better teams have less?

 

[Aesopian]

Our forward pack will be strong next year:

Utoikamanu
Musgrove
Twal
Garner
Lucy
Blore
Mcintyre
Aloiai
Mikaele

That is a strong exciting pack. That pack has something the tigers have always needed, big strong players.

The key is the top 2 names. They need to be fit and healthy every week
next year, providing impact from the bench.

You can see the drop off whenever our starters are pulled for a spell. Been atrocious all year. Our field position cops a hammering because of it. No go forward which pressures our defence, then inevitably they get gassed and concede points.

IMO it's been more concerning than our halves issue.

 

[Nelson]

Our forward pack will be strong next year:

Utoikamanu
Musgrove
Twal
Garner
Lucy
Blore
Mcintyre
Aloiai
Mikaele

That is a strong exciting pack. That pack has something the tigers have always needed, big strong players.

We look weak at 2nd row to me - Garner just hasn't kicked on in the way we hoped and does not commit himself enough in defence. We also don't have a dynamic option at lock.

Isaiah Papali'i (off contract) would be an option as a starting 2nd rower. He's a solid defender and only 21 with 60 odd games of first grade under his belt. Better than what we have I think (other than Leilua).

Lock I think we need some creativity given Benji has been setting up a lot of the points and won't be here - Tyrone May maybe? Off contract but is good mates with Nathan Cleary and may not want to leave Penrith.

 

[tiger_one]

^^^^^^^

Luke Garner is an attacking edge forward.
His style is to run lines off creative halves.
He did that off Brooks early on.
What's happened?

 

[Newtown]

Our forward pack will be strong next year:

Utoikamanu
Musgrove
Twal
Garner
Lucy
Blore
Mcintyre
Aloiai
Mikaele

That is a strong exciting pack. That pack has something the tigers have always needed, big strong players.

We still need a new forward leader.

 

[gallagher]

Our forward pack will be strong next year:

Utoikamanu
Musgrove
Twal
Garner
Lucy
Blore
Mcintyre
Aloiai
Mikaele

That is a strong exciting pack. That pack has something the tigers have always needed, big strong players.

I don't know ...try putting it up against the other 15 squads and see what you think then

I don't know how many times that pack had to fail for people to realise how crap it is.

 

[TigerSJ]

Our forward pack will be strong next year:

Utoikamanu
Musgrove
Twal
Garner
Lucy
Blore
Mcintyre
Aloiai
Mikaele

That is a strong exciting pack. That pack has something the tigers have always needed, big strong players.

We still need a new forward leader.

I agree - that we need a leader - probably at least 2 quality aggressive and mobile forwards who run good metres and play long minutes every week.
I don’t agree - that the list adds up to a strong exciting pack, as apart from Uto it’s the same pack we had this season that has been owned by nearly every team in the comp. Furthermore when we have a few injuries we are back to the plodders.
This pack needs a hard running experienced prop to lead the way and a quality ball playing lock to add some skills. Easy to say of course.

 

[Cobarcats]

Just Add a Carr is my 1st to get signed, depending on what's left in the kitty I'd have
James Cameltoe as my 2nd signing, and
Kevin Proctologist 3rd.
After a cleanout of:
C. Steve McQueen,
Squizzy Taylor,
Robert Bunnings and
Chris Lawrence of Arabia
I would then get a cheapee like
Coopers Ale John's ( and recruit his father Reg Ragen to coach the half's)
Christian Dior Welsh is a workhorse along side
Alex Johnson as a great finisher would be awesome.
The recruitment of big
Stefano Utoikamanu will also bolster our go forward once he has metres in his legs to play quality minutes.
We need our prophet Moses to kick goals every day in pre-season.

 

[Nelson]

^^^^^^^

Luke Garner is an attacking edge forward.
His style is to run lines off creative halves.
He did that off Brooks early on.
What's happened?

Brooks has regressed which has reduced Garner's effectiveness in attack and now his attacking flair no longer makes up for his deficiencies in defence (which have become greater probably on the back of a lack of confidence). He's a liability that we can't afford at the moment - he plants his feet in the line way too much.

 

[TigerVinnie]

What does everyone think the chances are we run with a 80min hooker? I don't know if Liddle would be up to it but hopefully with injury-free offseason he can put on some more size to withstand the full game.

I just feel all successful sides don't run with a back on their bench unless they're a team full of superstars that can pick up the extra slack. I would love to see 3 aggressive forwards and one second rower/more mobile forward (Mcintyre style) taking the 4th spot. I can't remember the last time we have had no backs consistently on the bench.

 

[bptiger]

Go hard for Staines , and burton , pick up Welch and a couple of young players and I think we could improve next year .

 

[TigerSJ]

How many do we let go ....12-15

Lets be real with ourselves ..how many are NRL standard as far as we match with Storm ,Roosters etc

Assuming Momo has been re-signed... How many you keeping from this list?

Alex Seyfarth
Benji Marshall
Chris Lawrence
Chris McQueen
Dylan Smith
Elijah Taylor
Matt Eisenhuth
Oliver Clark
Paul Momirovski
Robert Jennings
Sam McIntyre

Good question- in my view McIntyre is the only one. That leaves 9 players moving on plus Uto coming in. I dont understand the talk about no roster spaces and no cap money?!?
Sure there are some upgrades and some development players moving into the squad (by the way, do we have to sign them on as NRL squad members or can we let them go?), but, considering there’s also fine money to be added, something doesn’t add up to me.

 

[TillLindemann]

Our forward pack will be strong next year:

Utoikamanu
Musgrove
Twal
Garner
Lucy
Blore
Mcintyre
Aloiai
Mikaele

That is a strong exciting pack. That pack has something the tigers have always needed, big strong players.

The key is the top 2 names. They need to be fit and healthy every week
next year, providing impact from the bench.

You can see the drop off whenever our starters are pulled for a spell. Been atrocious all year. Our field position cops a hammering because of it. No go forward which pressures our defence, then inevitably they get gassed and concede points.

IMO it's been more concerning than our halves issue.

I think having Musgrove over the last 2 months would have made quite a difference to be honest. I think with him and Stefano we have a fairly strong pack for next year.