Can we deal with the pressure now we are in the the 8??

Eddie

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Don't get me wrong, the boys have been playing some good football. All bought about by a greater committment and desire without the football. Without having seen the games being overseas I gather the last 2 wins have come about more through some last ditch defensive efforts then any sort of flashy football.

But. and its a big but, now with us INSIDE the 8, I think this changes things a little. The last 5 weeks we have been able to pla quite freely as a side not expected to figure. we have been hiding away in 11th and 12th and slowly creeping up. There is no doubt we have snuck up from no where to be within one came of going into 5th spot, which is quite incredible. However being inside the 8 with 4 weeks to go, its a familiar feeling. i mean you can never get there too early but it definetly brings about a bit more pressure. The last 2 seasons we have been in identical 10/10 positions and come home with 1 win from 4\. Can our team finally stand up in the last month of the season.

We can bury the ghosts of 2000,2004,2007 and 2008 and bury that final month hoodoo in 2009\. We have the majority of our players fit and out confidence should be high. Im reluctent to go into 2005 comparisions with this winning streak because in 05 we were blowing teams off the paddock.

This is a huge month for this football club. A huge month for Tim Sheens. If he can give us a 3/1 ratio in the last month as opposed to 1/3 then he will have well and truly kept the wolves at bay and theres every chance we could do some damage in the finals.

Its good at the moment, everyone is feeling good we have won 5 in a row and were one win from 5th etc. However this is where it really starts, the last month sprint. 12/12 might not be good enough, i wouldnt be confident. 11/13 will be a disaster.

cmon lads…
 
The results from the other teams have played out well for us.

The opportunity has been presented and it's time to take it.
 
I get the impression that other teams expects the wheels to fall off, once again, and as a result treat wests-tigers lightly.
do not want to think too far ahead, other wise the team will lose sight of their goal.
that is to win game against the sharks.
if and when that happens, concentrate only on the next game to be played.
 
Now that we are in the eight the playing semis is totally within our control…have we learnt from our past years mistakes and will we stay in the eight??....Gee I hope so,,,,we are such an exciting team when on song and I can just imagine the public getting behind the Tigers again and urging them on as the semis roll around....
 
I think they have been playing with as much internal pressure as previous years when in the 8.

They have moved to a more grinding style of game as well which gives me hope
 
i think we have alot more forward leaders in the side now than previous years.
skando showed it on the weekend,galloway has all year when fit.payten knows what big time footy is about.gibbs has stepped up and had a strong workrate all year.
ellis and rhino will never stop trying and galea has found his feet in the team now.

they are the ones who need to finish this year out for us.
we are not carrying multiple players who were hit and miss in effort in the previous years.

i'm still nervous about the next month though.
 
I got more confidence in our ability to handle it this time. Ellis, Skandalis, Farah and Marshall bring a wealth of experience at a high level. Just think were hearing better things come out of our mouths and right now they're backing it up.
 
I think we can… the player and club officials seem to be very composed in the media and I honestly believe that is the feeling within the club right now..
We've got ourselves in the position not off the back of luck (Manly will claim otherwise... bahaha) but hard work! We're taking it to the teams we are playing, we aren't panicking or constant over-chancing our hands.

I think a lot of sides atm wouldn't want to be playing the Tigers... I do have concerns with Gallant looking to be out for the year as our halves combination seems to be perfectly balanced atm with him at fullback... Hopefully Sheens won't use Morris in the halves and looks to have either Collis or Hanbury there..

We've got the players and the attitude imo to certainly give this comp a shake up...
 
Different scenario this season, every other year we have been sliding our of the eight, this season we have come from behind and appear to have some momentum at the right time of the year. Our last three will be very tough but with a nearly full strength squad I think we are in with a better shot than the last three seasons.
 
I think the good thing atm is there seems to be a heap of focus on parramatta getting in , so hopefully it will make us even more focused on our goal.
 
As stated I think our squad is better this year.

Morris off the bench and 2 attacking halves makes a huge difference. Ellis is also one of our top 3 players and he is obviously a new addition to the squad.

Still I think it will be tough - Farah needs to get some form, Marshall & Ellis need to keep playing like guns & all the other players need to step up.
 
If Morris is moved back into the halves, we'll crumble.

If not, then I think we are a good chance. Big test will be the last three matches, especially the Parra one. I don't know how anyone can be confident against Parra.
 
If the attitude in defence remains - meaning line speed, commitment and intent in the tackle, making the extra effort to wrap up the ball, last ditch efforts on goal line etc. then this will attribute to Wests being able to withstand the pressure to make the finals.

However, i am concerned regarding the positional changes that may now affect the structure and dynamics of the team. I sincerely hope Sheens uses his head and replaces Gallant with a fullback option rather than shifting Lawrence or Molzten to the back which could destabilise Wests Tigers attacking formula.
 
@Gobbs said:
If the attitude in defence remains - meaning line speed, commitment and intent in the tackle, making the extra effort to wrap up the ball, last ditch efforts on goal line etc. then this will attribute to Wests being able to withstand the pressure to make the finals.

However, i am concerned regarding the positional changes that may now affect the structure and dynamics of the team. I sincerely hope Sheens uses his head and replaces Gallant with a fullback option rather than shifting Lawrence or Molzten to the back which could destabilise Wests Tigers attacking formula.

With the pigs doing their job we are a much better team than past seasons….Gallant's injury poses issues more worrying is that Lawry's absence required Sheens to switch Ayshford to accomodate Collis who for some unknown reason with all his first grade experience can only it seems play right centre....Both sides suffered with the Rorters tries coming down both edges....Luckily the Sharks rarely go sideline to sideline too many thick backrowers....

A right side defence of Morris Collis and Ryan who relies a lot on Ayhford and Moltzen in defence does not fill me with confidence....Neither does breaking up the left side which has been very hard to crack largely due to Lawrence.....

How about Benji plays fullback in defence ....Lawrence in attack...
 
I think we can as we are flying under the radar as the Eels are going great guns. We just need to keep focused and stick with formulas that have seen us win five games in a row. We can't let the pressure of the media get to us.
 
parra game will be the biggest and real litmus test. they are our bogie side. the shear size they have around the park and their forwards are the worry. throw in hayne who is in awesome form and its a very tough assignment. if we pickup the intensity like we have had in the last couple of games before the roosters we are in with a big shot.
 
i know exactly how so many here are feeling! like you, i will be happy when finals week arrives and the tiges are there. until then, its a nervous month ahead!
the main point is not whether or not they are falling out of or moving up to the eight, but rather how they have fared in the last month when being a bona fide proposition for the eight. having said that, i didnt have great expectations for the roosters game, as i half expected them to falter when the going started to get tough, but to their great credit they ground out the win, which gives me a lot of hope this year is different.

as i said earlier in the year, the halves was the problem and it was rectified by moving moltzen there.
i may raise a few hackles here, but i think more relies on marshalls ability to step up now that there is real pressure on the team. it is one thing to play a blinder against the titans in the final round last year, and against the roosters first time around this year, but now is his time to prove his doubters (me included) wrong and to really step up.
in recent times he has given himself a great platform to do this by dramatically reducing his mistakes by not constantly trying to pull off the big play (thank god!), so heres hoping for a great next **TWO** months!
 
I think the Tigers are a better team than last year and are better prepared to handle the pressure. The forward pack is stronger and the defence is tighter than last year and the team looks more composed in the second half of the season. The big risk plays have been phased out over the last few weeks and we're actually grinding out wins for a change.

I'm pretty confident the Tigers will get their payback from last year at Leichardt against the Sharks this Sunday. The Tigers were woeful in that game and they'll be keen to erase that one with a win at Shark Park.

The remaining 3 games will be tough but each game is a week to week proposition at this stage.
 
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