8th spot is there for the taking.

[Tigermama]

That loss to the Knights basically cost us 2 games….the win plus a significant boost to our for and against. Good sides have put a flogging on the Knights which is so important in the final competition for spots in the 8.
Looking at our draw we will be very lucky to scrape into the finals- we have some tough games ahead I think we will win half of our remaining games and finish 2 or 3 games outside the 8.
Would love to be wrong.

The Knights game and the Raiders flogging have really hurt us in regards to ladder position and +/-….

Yep. Sure has. :frowning:

 

[Tigermama]

The 8th spot is there for the taking i agree Eddy. But not by us. Not this year anyway.
Next year should be our year to make the finals. 😛ray:

 

[Spartan117]

I think we shouldn't get discouraged if we lose to the Dogs. We are still a chance at getting into the finals if we lose. Looking at our run home:

Doggies (A)
Bye
Dragons (A)
Eels (A)
Cowboys (H)
Titans (H)
Panthers (A)
Warriors (A)
Raiders (H)

That's a decent Run Home….

I dont rate the dogs that highly, They are certainly not contenders IMO.

If our forwards dig in then we can get this one for sure.

All depends in the big guys.

 

[ricksen]

I don't think we've left ourselves with enough margin for error, and we'll miss out.
We do look to be playing better over the last month or so, but we still concede too many points. Looking back at Saturday, we really needed to keep the margin up to make ground back in terms of F/A. Harsh thinking perhaps, but given the damage done earlier in the year, that's the reality.
I actually thought we defended pretty well on Saturday, and yet we still let in 26 points.

 

[Love_the_WestsTigers]

We can but the immediate assignment on hand on Friday is an extremely difficult one.
Dogs are a very strong team both on paper and physically.

First step to making the 8 starts Friday, the rest can wait

 

[larrycorowa]

I don't really care if we make the 8 as I can't see us doing too much damage. We have too many holes in our squad to do much damage. As long as we make a significant move up the table I'll be happy as it demonstrates we are moving forward and gives the squad some reward for their year.

 

[ricksen]

We can but the immediate assignment on hand on Friday is an extremely difficult one.
Dogs are a very strong team both on paper and physically.

First step to making the 8 starts Friday, the rest can wait

I assume you mean it starts Friday with a good session at the Captain's run, as the game against Canterbury is on Saturday.

 

[Snake]

The best scenario this week is to protect the for and against as a huge blow out this week and defiantly no 8th spot. There will be no 2 points but the score has to be a good one.

 

[851]

I love the enthusiasm of the forum members in regards to making the 8…however from my perspective,Iam very pleased that we have made significant improvements in areas of our game that we were lacking over the years,particularly our defense,this year we have performed much better than previously and I can see us progressing much further next year...I can still remember at the beginning of the year people saying we will be bottom 4 this year,we are much better than that and if we do make the 8 it is an added bonus..the significant changes that have gone on this year are noticeable and I do hope we can progress further up the ladder as the season draws to a close...

Credit must go to the new recruits,coaches and admin,all in all I think we are finally heading in the right direction to be a force in the NRL in years to come,especially if our young guns develope even further and we retain key players and recruit a couple of seasoned players in key positions that we need filling...and yes I do hope we can make the 8 this team does deserve to get there..

Very good post and spot on with accuracy…I hope all those who want JT out read this post

Last year we averaged 23.41 points against per game, after 17 rounds we are averaging 25.37 points per game, we are worse than last year.

 

[TrueTiger]

I love the enthusiasm of the forum members in regards to making the 8…however from my perspective,Iam very pleased that we have made significant improvements in areas of our game that we were lacking over the years,particularly our defense,this year we have performed much better than previously and I can see us progressing much further next year...I can still remember at the beginning of the year people saying we will be bottom 4 this year,we are much better than that and if we do make the 8 it is an added bonus..the significant changes that have gone on this year are noticeable and I do hope we can progress further up the ladder as the season draws to a close...

Credit must go to the new recruits,coaches and admin,all in all I think we are finally heading in the right direction to be a force in the NRL in years to come,especially if our young guns develope even further and we retain key players and recruit a couple of seasoned players in key positions that we need filling...and yes I do hope we can make the 8 this team does deserve to get there..

Very good post and spot on with accuracy…I hope all those who want JT out read this post

Last year we averaged 23.41 points against per game, after 17 rounds we are averaging 25.37 points per game, we are worse than last year.

Nothing like negativative 851,keep producing the stats to support your argument to win brownie points….we are far better than we were last year,within the club and on the ladder....that's the way I see it.... :smiley:

 

[stevetiger]

There is this theory amongst JT and his minions that defence is winning us games. The facts back up the viewpoint that when we play attacking footy we win more games. We have to continue playing attacking footy.

For the minions who can't seem to grasp the concept that you can play attacking footy and still try to defend as well it is actually possible to do both. That is how you win games.

we are far better than we were last year,within the club and on the ladder….that's the way I see it.... :smiley:

Spot on. It's because we are playing much better footy when we have the ball. Thank god the coaching staff have finally recognised this or the players have rebelled. I don't care which so long as we win games.

 

[Love_the_WestsTigers]

We can but the immediate assignment on hand on Friday is an extremely difficult one.
Dogs are a very strong team both on paper and physically.

First step to making the 8 starts Friday, the rest can wait

I assume you mean it starts Friday with a good session at the Captain's run, as the game against Canterbury is on Saturday.

Yeah sorry, i actually meant Saturday , game day. typed Friday instead.

 

[851]

I love the enthusiasm of the forum members in regards to making the 8…however from my perspective,Iam very pleased that we have made significant improvements in areas of our game that we were lacking over the years,particularly our defense,this year we have performed much better than previously and I can see us progressing much further next year...I can still remember at the beginning of the year people saying we will be bottom 4 this year,we are much better than that and if we do make the 8 it is an added bonus..the significant changes that have gone on this year are noticeable and I do hope we can progress further up the ladder as the season draws to a close...

Credit must go to the new recruits,coaches and admin,all in all I think we are finally heading in the right direction to be a force in the NRL in years to come,especially if our young guns develope even further and we retain key players and recruit a couple of seasoned players in key positions that we need filling...and yes I do hope we can make the 8 this team does deserve to get there..

Very good post and spot on with accuracy…I hope all those who want JT out read this post

Last year we averaged 23.41 points against per game, after 17 rounds we are averaging 25.37 points per game, we are worse than last year.

Nothing like negativative 851,keep producing the stats to support your argument to win brownie points….we are far better than we were last year,within the club and on the ladder....that's the way I see it.... :smiley:

Get real, what else are you basing it on, points per game is what defence is based on, get over it we have the second worse defence in the NRL.

 

[TrueTiger]

Very good post and spot on with accuracy…I hope all those who want JT out read this post

Last year we averaged 23.41 points against per game, after 17 rounds we are averaging 25.37 points per game, we are worse than last year.

Nothing like negativative 851,keep producing the stats to support your argument to win brownie points….we are far better than we were last year,within the club and on the ladder....that's the way I see it.... :smiley:

Get real, what else are you basing it on, points per game is what defence is based on, get over it we have the second worse defence in the NRL.

I don't have to get real 851,in my opinion the team and club have performed much better this year than last….Manly ,Roosters,and South's were the big thing in the part few years and we are doing better than them,and we have a lot of young and inexperienced players than they have....I try and keep a positive outlook on the team performances,some games will be crap and others will be fantastic,but they are young ,learning and fringe first graders as back up....

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Anyone that can't see the team has improved and is heading in the right direction has rocks in their head.

 

[diedpretty]

Its such a shame this week is spoilt by the dead rubber Origin which to me significently puts a dampener on our chances of building momentum at the right time of the year. If we beat the Dogs I would have confidently said were on track to make this Top 8\. However from 7-10 it will be a mountain to climb.

We aren't used to being disadvantaged at Origin time. Normally its our chance to play a team that's minus some stars.
With three key WTs players out.Playing against a very Strong side, we'll be doing it tough this week

Yea its weird isn't it - we are far more disadvantaged than a top 4 side. I just have this suspicion that Brooks is going to tear this game apart - he just seems to be building every week and if our forwards can at least hold their own I think he might shine.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Its such a shame this week is spoilt by the dead rubber Origin which to me significently puts a dampener on our chances of building momentum at the right time of the year. If we beat the Dogs I would have confidently said were on track to make this Top 8\. However from 7-10 it will be a mountain to climb.

We aren't used to being disadvantaged at Origin time. Normally its our chance to play a team that's minus some stars.
With three key WTs players out.Playing against a very Strong side, we'll be doing it tough this week

Yea its weird isn't it - we are far more disadvantaged than a top 4 side. I just have this suspicion that Brooks is going to tear this game apart - he just seems to be building every week and if our forwards can at least hold their own I think he might shine.

He seems to stand up when Farah is out. It will be a big ask, but the team selected isn't the worst team we could have put out. If we can do a better job holding them in the middle and the right edge do their job, why the hell not?

 

[851]

Last year we averaged 23.41 points against per game, after 17 rounds we are averaging 25.37 points per game, we are worse than last year.

Nothing like negativative 851,keep producing the stats to support your argument to win brownie points….we are far better than we were last year,within the club and on the ladder....that's the way I see it.... :smiley:

Get real, what else are you basing it on, points per game is what defence is based on, get over it we have the second worse defence in the NRL.

I don't have to get real 851,in my opinion the team and club have performed much better this year than last….Manly ,Roosters,and South's were the big thing in the part few years and we are doing better than them,and we have a lot of young and inexperienced players than they have....I try and keep a positive outlook on the team performances,some games will be crap and others will be fantastic,but they are young ,learning and fringe first graders as back up....

I watch every week and hope and sometimes believe we can out score the opposition, because even when we win we usually concede 20 points.
I am under no illusions about our defence, I just hope Teddy and the boys can conjour up enough points to get the win each week, because we can't keep a team to 10 or 12 points.
And have a look at the roosters, souths and manly injury toll this year, look at the players they have used and you will see why they are where they are.
The comp is weaker than the last few years, especially after the top 5 or so, we can take advantage of this if we have a dig.

 

[innsaneink]

I think also we are much better this year than last… But defence still needs a huge amount of work.
Kidwell needs to go... Not Taylor

 

[happy_tiger]

Lets be honest here with Parramatta making it a Top 9 this year the chance to make the finals has never been more there for the taking. 11 wins might even get you there, but more likely 12.

The way I'm reading it we need to finish ahead of St. George, Penrith and the Titans to make finals. This is even considering that the Warriors and Raiders make it ahead of us . Now that is something that we should be relishing in Saints, Penrith, Gold Coast - 3 pretty average sides that I think we have covered talent wise. There is no reason we cant finish above these sides.

The good news is we play all these 5 sides in the run in. We get to take 2 points off them if were good enough.

Its such a shame this week is spoilt by the dead rubber Origin which to me significently puts a dampener on our chances of building momentum at the right time of the year. If we beat the Dogs I would have confidently said were on track to make this Top 8\. However from 7-10 it will be a mountain to climb.

Young Edward , this team will get my attention in regards to Top 8 aspirations if they win this week

We still need to find away to fix our for and against , things were looking up briefly on Saturday , but fell away late