A few observations

[king_sirro]

Our right side defence is dispicably embarrassing.
What has happened to Kevvy and Nofo? At the start of the year they were hammering people. Now they are constantly out of position and finger grabbing. They were our weak link tonight and have been several times now.

I think we underestimate how important Moses is to our right side defence. That may say strange considering how much he cops it about defence. But his decision making and communication is exactly what Kev and Nofo need inside them. Believe it or not they missed Moses defending inside them. No one communicates better than Mitch and when you have 2 outside backs that can make bad decisions, its vital to have a good decision maker inside them talking all the time.

 

[Gary_Bakerloo]

I loved the Lawrence at 6 idea

Defensively he is a massive improvement and he straightens us up in attack

I think we have enough points in us and you could still play Moses off the bench as a back up hooker /half if we keep brooks on the other side

The role of Lawrence was very interesting to me. With all due respect to our preferred starting "spine", are we one ball player too heavy in this area?

Brooks looked a completely different player. Without seeing stats, to me he got more touhes with the ball, but critically, he looked a lot better with guys around him running straight and hard. Farah also played well and could it be this was from knowing he had three options, forward run, brooks or go himself.

As I said, nothing against the preferred spine. However, we looked calmer last night when close to the line. With all 4 starting, do we have too many chiefs, too many options and that leads to indecision?

It was raised in the press conference with Taylor.

 

[Masterton]

The hugs at the end were great.

That was my favourite part of the whole match. Shows they are still genuinely playing for each other and care about winning.

 

[Love_the_WestsTigers]

We did well to walk away with the 2 points
We looked shot when they started to make a come back
The defence at the start was solid, quick off the line and hitting hard however at the start of 2nd half when the bunnies starting to put points on our defence started to doubt itself
It went back to the holding back and sliding style which gave then ample offload chances

Watch the reply to see what I mean
I suspect it has a lot to d with confidence

 

[TIGER]

Without throwing a cold wet towel over our win, my observation was souths were woeful and they still nearly beat us. I'll leave it at that

And that says a lot about you - cant mention the adversity under which the win was achieved, just that the opposition was poor, which it was.

And if you read some of my other posts, i praise us for turning it around, but I'm a realist and i call it like i see it and Souths we're terrible, i think everyone can agree that if we come up against a commited opposition this forum would be a lot different right now. Melbourne were almost as bad 2 weeks ago yet they still beat us.

 

[TIGER]

We did well to walk away with the 2 points
We looked shot when they started to make a come back
The defence at the start was solid, quick off the line and hitting hard however at the start of 2nd half when the bunnies starting to put points on our defence started to doubt itself
It went back to the holding back and sliding style which gave then ample offload chances

Watch the reply to see what I mean
I suspect it has a lot to d with confidence

It has a lot to do with losing the ruck and fatigue, having to back up and make effort after effort. Once a team gets a roll on and we have to pick ourselves up off the ground and get to marker quickly we fall apart, we're bad at reseting our defensive line and dominating a ruck once we lose it and it usually leads to points. Last week was a classic example it was a tidal wave slowly rolling in and ww we're literally powerless against it.

 

[Love_the_WestsTigers]

We did well to walk away with the 2 points
We looked shot when they started to make a come back
The defence at the start was solid, quick off the line and hitting hard however at the start of 2nd half when the bunnies starting to put points on our defence started to doubt itself
It went back to the holding back and sliding style which gave then ample offload chances

Watch the reply to see what I mean
I suspect it has a lot to d with confidence

It has a lot to do with losing the ruck and fatigue, having to back up and make effort after effort. Once a team gets a roll on and we have to pick ourselves up off the ground and get to marker quickly we fall apart, we're bad at reseting our defensive line and dominating a ruck once we lose it and it usually leads to points. Last week was a classic example it was a tidal wave slowly rolling in and ww we're literally powerless against it.

Halatau had his best game last night but the poor bloke was so spent he didn't even bother getting into marker position so many times in the 2nd half.

Having no marker alone advanced them 10meters.

Not bagging anyone, they really gave it their all but those were the things I noticed

 

[Twodogs]

Without throwing a cold wet towel over our win, my observation was souths were woeful and they still nearly beat us. I'll leave it at that

True. We made easy metres up the middle without Woods. Soufs have some serious issues.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

thank god livestream had fox sports commentary not ch9

its bloody chaos on ch9 - absolute trash

im understanding this season why people literally mute that crap its #!@#ing crap. when you have the commentary side by side it really does make it clear which is amateur hour

They were gearing themselves up for an 80 minute Souths love-a-thon. Gus even said right on kick off that he was expecting GI to make a statement, and you just know they were presenting it as a Souths redemption game and we were….....just there. So glad we threw a bucket of ice water over that crap.

 

[palms]

I think it has been a blessing in disguise having Woods and Grant injured at the same time. Ava Seumanufagai has been nothing short of outstanding since Woods has been injured. The way he has stepped up into the senior prop position has been impressive considering he himself is still just 24\. Likewise, Aloiai has really stepped up over the last few games and continues to get better. He hits hard and sticks in defense and looks to have a really good motor. For a 20yr old in just his 9th first grade game I believe he will become a really solid prop. Lets look at some stats since Woods has been out….

Ava

Round 7 - 16 runs 166m 24 tackles 0 missed 0 penalties 0 errors
Round 8 - 13 runs 117m 28 tackles 1 missed 0 penalties 0 errors
Round 9 - 14 runs 133m 28 tackles 1 missed 0 penalties 0 errors

I have always maintained that Ava is a starting prop. Once we are at full strength, Grant coming off the bench will ensure we maintain those quick play the balls and strong charges. Combined with Aloiai and JJ's leg speed and power hopefully those middle periods will become a lot stronger.

 

[jirskyr]

Our right side defence is dispicably embarrassing.
What has happened to Kevvy and Nofo? At the start of the year they were hammering people. Now they are constantly out of position and finger grabbing. They were our weak link tonight and have been several times now.

Nofo is a terrific front-on defender, i.e. when he's set and they run straight at him. He dumped someone again last night, I think Gray.

But he is a hopeless slide and up-and-in defender, never seems to pick the right mark or moment when to stay in or out. So often when they shift left, he looks panicked.

 

[TIGER]

Did anyone see Brooks hit Sam Burgess front on and put him on his back? Classic little man on big man front on tackle ala Ben Hunt. Admittedly Burgess was hitting it up like a cat.

 

[old_man_tiger]

Without throwing a cold wet towel over our win, my observation was souths were woeful and they still nearly beat us. I'll leave it at that

And that says a lot about you - cant mention the adversity under which the win was achieved, just that the opposition was poor, which it was.

And if you read some of my other posts, i praise us for turning it around, but I'm a realist and i call it like i see it and Souths we're terrible, i think everyone can agree that if we come up against a commited opposition this forum would be a lot different right now. Melbourne were almost as bad 2 weeks ago yet they still beat us.

Tiger you are right to be a realist, we are a long way off. My only issue with your view is where you say Souths nearly beat us. As we learnt against parra, the storm and newcastle nearly winning/losing has nothing to do with winning and losing. One gets you 0 points, the other gets you 2 points. I don't think we can put the boot in after close losses and then use the same arguments to criticise close victories. If you win 28 games in a season by one point you have won the grand final, so I'll take any win, over any quality opposition.

 

[happy_tiger]

Our right side defence is dispicably embarrassing.
What has happened to Kevvy and Nofo? At the start of the year they were hammering people. Now they are constantly out of position and finger grabbing. They were our weak link tonight and have been several times now.

I think we underestimate how important Moses is to our right side defence. That may say strange considering how much he cops it about defence. But his decision making and communication is exactly what Kev and Nofo need inside them. Believe it or not they missed Moses defending inside them. No one communicates better than Mitch and when you have 2 outside backs that can make bad decisions, its vital to have a good decision maker inside them talking all the time.

I think Naiqama's problem is he comes screaming out of the line and smashing fresh air too often and clubs are expecting him to do it , and Nofoaluma's always had issues as well

 

[happy_tiger]

I loved the Lawrence at 6 idea

Defensively he is a massive improvement and he straightens us up in attack

I think we have enough points in us and you could still play Moses off the bench as a back up hooker /half if we keep brooks on the other side

The role of Lawrence was very interesting to me. With all due respect to our preferred starting "spine", are we one ball player too heavy in this area?

Brooks looked a completely different player. Without seeing stats, to me he got more touhes with the ball, but critically, he looked a lot better with guys around him running straight and hard. Farah also played well and could it be this was from knowing he had three options, forward run, brooks or go himself.

As I said, nothing against the preferred spine. However, we looked calmer last night when close to the line. With all 4 starting, do we have too many chiefs, too many options and that leads to indecision?

It was raised in the press conference with Taylor.

Bloody good point and I'd never even considered it

Too many cooks in the kitchen , Tedesco can play as the 2nd ballplayer and having a 6 who can straighten us up is ideal

Have we stumbled onto the key to the WT's and some success ??

 

[Snake]

I loved the Lawrence at 6 idea

Defensively he is a massive improvement and he straightens us up in attack

I think we have enough points in us and you could still play Moses off the bench as a back up hooker /half if we keep brooks on the other side

The role of Lawrence was very interesting to me. With all due respect to our preferred starting "spine", are we one ball player too heavy in this area?

Brooks looked a completely different player. Without seeing stats, to me he got more touhes with the ball, but critically, he looked a lot better with guys around him running straight and hard. Farah also played well and could it be this was from knowing he had three options, forward run, brooks or go himself.

As I said, nothing against the preferred spine. However, we looked calmer last night when close to the line. With all 4 starting, do we have too many chiefs, too many options and that leads to indecision?

It was raised in the press conference with Taylor.

Bloody good point and I'd never even considered it

Too many cooks in the kitchen , Tedesco can play as the 2nd ballplayer and having a 6 who can straighten us up is ideal

Have we stumbled onto the key to the WT's and some success ??

I never take to much out of an individual game..last night was what it was fill ins all over the park and a jagged win.Rowdy has to go back to the forwards ,Taylor has to persist with the 2 halves just to talented not to,Rowdy has found his spot!.

 

[goldcoast_tiger]

I loved the Lawrence at 6 idea

Defensively he is a massive improvement and he straightens us up in attack

I think we have enough points in us and you could still play Moses off the bench as a back up hooker /half if we keep brooks on the other side

The role of Lawrence was very interesting to me. With all due respect to our preferred starting "spine", are we one ball player too heavy in this area?

Brooks looked a completely different player. Without seeing stats, to me he got more touhes with the ball, but critically, he looked a lot better with guys around him running straight and hard. Farah also played well and could it be this was from knowing he had three options, forward run, brooks or go himself.

As I said, nothing against the preferred spine. However, we looked calmer last night when close to the line. With all 4 starting, do we have too many chiefs, too many options and that leads to indecision?

It was raised in the press conference with Taylor.

Bloody good point and I'd never even considered it

Too many cooks in the kitchen , Tedesco can play as the 2nd ballplayer and having a 6 who can straighten us up is ideal

Have we stumbled onto the key to the WT's and some success ??

I never take to much out of an individual game..last night was what it was fill ins all over the park and a jagged win.Rowdy has to go back to the forwards ,Taylor has to persist with the 2 halves just to talented not to,Rowdy has found his spot!.

In a game when there should have been a fair bit of confusion early, surprisingly, there wasn't any.
Rowdy slotted in there without any problems . Right from the start playing in the same team when they were/are still learning, was killing them, but he may be the experience and steadiness that one of them needs.
Don't know what we do with the one left out as we look like having both at least for next year. Maybe it was just a bit of luck , but maybe this is Chris's place. But we'd need a second rower to replace him with

 

[happy_tiger]

You can still have him a back rower , Moses off the bench can play some 6/9 ….

I can't believe how this simple move ,makes so much sense and I didn't see it

It kills off so many issues in our backline when you think of it

WOW seriously WOW

 

[Geo]

Ok Tim….

 

[old_man_tiger]

The role of Lawrence was very interesting to me. With all due respect to our preferred starting "spine", are we one ball player too heavy in this area?

Brooks looked a completely different player. Without seeing stats, to me he got more touhes with the ball, but critically, he looked a lot better with guys around him running straight and hard. Farah also played well and could it be this was from knowing he had three options, forward run, brooks or go himself.

As I said, nothing against the preferred spine. However, we looked calmer last night when close to the line. With all 4 starting, do we have too many chiefs, too many options and that leads to indecision?

It was raised in the press conference with Taylor.

Bloody good point and I'd never even considered it

Too many cooks in the kitchen , Tedesco can play as the 2nd ballplayer and having a 6 who can straighten us up is ideal

Have we stumbled onto the key to the WT's and some success ??

I never take to much out of an individual game..last night was what it was fill ins all over the park and a jagged win.Rowdy has to go back to the forwards ,Taylor has to persist with the 2 halves just to talented not to,Rowdy has found his spot!.

In a game when there should have been a fair bit of confusion early, surprisingly, there wasn't any.
Rowdy slotted in there without any problems . Right from the start playing in the same team when they were/are still learning, was killing them, but he may be the experience and steadiness that one of them needs.
Don't know what we do with the one left out as we look like having both at least for next year. Maybe it was just a bit of luck , but maybe this is Chris's place. But we'd need a second rower to replace him with

Guys I remember posting something very similar in 2006 or 2007 on the old forum, under a different user name (was too young for this one lol)

I felt we always played better when one of prince, Farah, Hodgson or Marshall were out, but really struggled without 2 or more.

I think sheensius figured it out when he signed that young fella, Jonny Cronk, but it never quite worked.

On a related note, I remember when Souths were coming back at us and we had a couple of sets to defend our own line. CL was there, in the middle, making tackles that broses might not have made. It is for for thought.