2025 finishing 13th on the ladder. Pass or Fail fro season 2025?

Some players really went off the boil over the second half of the year. Pole and Turuva in particular. Pole is right on the edge of becoming another Seyfarth if he doesn’t pull it together next season. And Turuva scored 9 try’s from his first 9 games. And only scored 2 in the next 15. Still a big fan of both, but both have to bounce back. On the flip side, Samuela was pretty ineffective during the first part of the season, but came on big time, playing like he did last season on the run home. So that was good to see. Overall, I guess the season is a failure. But getting out of the bottom 4 after three consecutive spoons is some consolation. You’d think it’s top 8 or bust for Benji next season.
 
Avoiding spoon - pass
Finishing above dragons - pass 🤣
Not making top 8 - fail
Not winning 3 in a row - fail
Another failed season
Can go on & on about wests tigers report card this season but won't
Hopefully this rebuild which has taken 14 seasons will finally take shape in 26 but I'm not hugely confident
😭
 
At the start of the season I said winning 10 games would be a pass mark. We won 9. So I guess thats a fail. That being said, pass or fail is a false binary, thus why its a ladder with 17 places. No one can deny we improved from last year. Black and white thinking is rarely a healthy mindset. Black, white and orange on the other hand.... 😉
 
Fail,
Wins over the cows and tits in the last 3 weeks would have changed it to pass, but they were horrible capitulations. The team didn't care if we won those games. They went out to have fun, which stems from the coach in my opinion.
 
It’s a 50-50 for me.

The good
Emergence of Taylan and Latu is encouraging as is what Makasini can bring.
The rejuvenation of Douiehi as a lock/half.
Bula’s continual improvement.
Samuela’s and Sione’s back half of the season
Apart from Bird, I think we bought reasonably well.
Team seems to be tight knit and they mostly fight and compete up until the end.

The bad:
Depth is still a huge problem. Api and Terrel should not play 80
Defence was inconsistent throughout the season.
Bench selections were often head scratchers
Inability to win 3+ in a row
Pole and To’a’s drop in form

The ugly
Galvingate was a mess that impacted the teams structures and was a huge distraction.
Luai didn’t have a “Batman” season. He isn’t a general on the field despite his reported off field influence.
Losing six in a row killed the season
Losing to Titans and Cows when well ahead.
We need to recruit key roles while moving some on in the off season.
 
I hate thinking that so much of our success was flukey.

Terrell May has been damn outstanding. Yet we lost 4 forwards, maybe Batemans attitude was the factor... maybe it was the coaching. But we lost 4 forwards... So our coach puts a bench of Centers??

Had May not played what has often been the best football I have seen from a Tigers forward, where would we be?

The best thing I saw in 2025 was our backline defense. Turuva and Skelton claimed their parts, Toa said his defense and game raised from playing with Turuva... That means though we have brought good defense rather then train it.

2 times we were opened up, Penrith and Storm. Both times they went straight through the middle. Add KPP + May well maybe that stops but it's clear people found a way to can us and we couldn't do much about it. ...


There is a lot to look forward too. I see some of what we did wrong addressed. I just hope Benji isn't too experimental next year. We really need to get the basics right and treat teams with respect.
 
The concern is where are we improving next year? With only one notable gain, in KPP, who has been average at beat since his signing was announced, we virtually have the same squad. And the losses against the Cows and Titans highlighted that no matter how much we have improved from the spoon years, the soft underbelly that the club has always suffered from is still there. Continuously losing those types of games shows that we still have a long way to go.
 
An improved side doesn’t lose 6 in a row & also doesn’t let a size able lead slip at home against an ordinary side or against the team coming last.

It was the usual Wests Tigers roller coaster, give us moments of belief but lacked consistency and can never compete for 80mins.

I also question the culture shift. If players are happy to lose, give up during games or can’t handle the right level of training standards that transition into results then the culture being talked about hasn’t shifted as much as being told.

Sure we had Galvin & TDS leave amongst others in off season but the leaders didn’t step up when we needed them to. We also had the least injuries and suspensions for ages and still finished towards the bottom half of the ladder.

Based on my views start of year thought we needed to hit 28pts and with a more positive F&A.
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
I also question the culture shift. If players are happy to lose, give up during games or can’t handle the right level of training standards that transition into results then the culture being talked about hasn’t shifted as much as being told.
Click to expand...
Obviously you need the playing group behind the coach, but I think this club is an example of players being too close to the coach. I think Benji sees himself as their mate, just as much as he is their coach. And when he runs around with them in training drills, it just feels like he’s one of the boys. If he ever got injured, did his knee or something, it would make the club look so amateurish.
 
I think most on this forum would say our defence at times is terrible, it’s almost like we are gassed , so if u look at teams like panthers and raiders they keep going for 80 minutes.
To loss that last game , was very disappointing, our attack failed to do anything in the 2nd half , then the defence fall away .
We really need another front rower and a class lock , if we don’t address these two spots much won’t improve, but happy to miss the spoon
 
I'm giving it a C - neither pass nor fail to me.
Never expected to reach the 8 but was hoping we would avoid the spoon.
Good to win more games, see the roster improved and more team spirit but there a number of shoulda/ coulda games, which if we had won, would have made it a B- even if we missed the semis.
The end of the season was disappointing, especially Saturday, but I do believe there's more hope than in Christmases past.
As many others have stated, need a good middle, another prop, and a solid back to reach next level.
Benji still has a C for me but doing better than I ever expected. Let's hope the team rallying around him coniues for next year and he gets the assistants he and the team need to go onward and upward.
 
There have been games all season where teams lose control in D - it's not unique to us. Look at the scorelines - even when teams win they are letting in 20 plus points. The speed of the game and the rules make it very difficult to defend if you can't maintain possession.
Hence why discretionary penalties are so damaging.
I think we finished around where we should have. The recent Cowboys and Titans games both terrible losses, and the Melbourne game a day to forget.We lack some physicality up front and speed, and teams that have it expose us.
 
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