Farah slams Tigers' NRL defence

[Guest]

Farah slams Tigers' NRL defence
Russell Jackson AAP Wed, Aug 08, 2012 - 6:04 PM
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Captain Robbie Farah has challenged his Wests Tigers teammates to lift defensively or risk NRL oblivion in 2012.

The Tigers produced a magical second-half display of attacking rugby league to come back from 22-6 down to beat cellar-dwelling Parramatta 51-26 on Monday night.

Led by the mercurial Benji Marshall, the Tigers ran in nine tries including four to rookie winger Marika Koroibete but it's the five four-pointers conceded Farah is worried about.

With four rounds remaining, the Tigers are eighth on the ladder and play 12th-placed St George Illawarra at Allianz Stadium on Saturday and Farah says big improvement is needed from the joint venture.

"The 50 points, I guess, was pleasing but, defensively, we let ourselves down and there's a lot we need to work on for us to compete against the top sides in this competition," Farah said.

"What we threw up on Monday night was not good enough. Our mojo is not back. Come and talk to me in three or four weeks if we've strung a couple of wins together.

"We've only won a game and I don't think teams will be worried about us at the moment."

One thing Farah was pleased about was Marshall's return to form after the halfback carved the hapless Eels to pieces.

"I know Benji's been a bit hard on himself and he's been a bit down with his performances in the last few weeks," Farah said.

"He was up for a big game and it was really pleasing to see him somewhere back to his best.

"For us to improve and keep improving, we need Benji playing well. He's so important to us and, when he's playing well, we are always going to be a chance of winning a game."

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Hit them where it hurts. Pay cuts for defensive negligence.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[dermo]

Hit them where it hurts. Pay cuts for defensive negligence.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

Our highest paid players would quickly become our lowest

 

[bundyboy]

Hit them where it hurts. Pay cuts for defensive negligence.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

Our highest paid players would quickly become our lowest

Koroibete's hit on sandow was worth a million !
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[cusschops]

Hit them where it hurts. Pay cuts for defensive negligence.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

Our highest paid players would quickly become our lowest

Koroibete's hit on sandow was worth a million !
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

He hurt himself more than sandow though
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[bundyboy]

Hit them where it hurts. Pay cuts for defensive negligence.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

Our highest paid players would quickly become our lowest

Koroibete's hit on sandow was worth a million !
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

He hurt himself more than sandow though
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

That's what it's all about ! Putting your body on the line ,saved a certain try , gained respect ,turned the game ,champion effort !!
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[cusschops]

Our highest paid players would quickly become our lowest

Koroibete's hit on sandow was worth a million !
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

He hurt himself more than sandow though
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

That's what it's all about ! Putting your body on the line ,saved a certain try , gained respect ,turned the game ,champion effort !!
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

True
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[innsaneink]

Yawn, another gunna article

I though Benji was going to put away the flashy long passes etc etc last week, play nice & tight?

Load of crap

 

[happy_tiger]

Until I see Benji have a big game against a top side I won't be convinced he is back

Unless we can keep the Saints to the barest minimum points wise I don't believe any talk I hear either

Actions speak louder than words

 

[Guest]

Hard to defend: big win fails to cover the cracks at Tigers
August 9, 2012
Glenn Jackson
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AFTER a match which would have been followed by the drinking of both half-full and half-empty sports drink bottles, Wests Tigers players must have wondered whether to celebrate or commiserate. The Tigers scored 51 points against Parramatta on Monday night but conceded 26 points - 22 in the opening 17 minutes.

Yesterday, it was clear the negatives of their Monday night encounter were being focused on more than the positives. The Tigers know they can attack - yet they also know they can defend, which made their performance without the ball so disappointing.

Tigers players met yesterday with assistant coach Steve Georgallis, who prepares their defence, in an attempt to smooth over the cracks before Saturday night's clash with the Dragons.

''Hopefully, we can rectify the mistakes that we made,'' skipper Robbie Farah said. ''He [Georgallis] doesn't go out there to embarrass us or anything, but things needed to be said to highlight the errors that we made so we can fix them.

''It's not anything too ruthless but a lot of the boys put their hands up and admitted their mistakes.

''Obviously, we can take a bit of confidence out of scoring the points that we did, but defensively we need to be a lot better. It was such an important game. We knew what was at stake, and for us to start the way [we did] was very disappointing.''

Second-rower Gareth Ellis said the Tigers attacked better when their defence was sound. ''That's the story of the Tigers,'' Ellis said.

''When we're on, defensively, we usually go on and win comfortably, and that's the key at least for the next four rounds.

''Everyone says it, it's the old cliche, defence wins matches. It's something that we really need to work hard on. Even when things do go wrong, you scramble back and get numbers there.''

The Tigers scrambled into eighth spot with the victory, but Farah said the team's opening 22 rounds had been below expectations.

''We've got four weeks now to cement our spot in the eight and push as high as we can and then, once you're in the semi-finals, it's a whole new ball game,'' the hooker said.

In fact, right now is a new ball game. Farah said the squad had decided last week to consider their final five home-and-away fixtures as a separate competition. They are one from one.

''We've got four more to go and, when that's over, I guess we'll reassess things,'' Farah said. ''We spoke about the fact that we couldn't change anything that's happened so far this year. We couldn't go back and change anything.

''This next five weeks we knew was crucial for us and, obviously, that started last week against Parra … it didn't start as well as we would have liked but we showed good character to come back into the game.

''At 22-6 down, our season was on the line and we were good enough to come back and win that game. Hopefully, that was a small step forward.''

 

[cunno]

I've got the tickets for Saturday night and after reading the article above, can I really look forward to a solid defensive effort from the Wests Tigers? I hope so but I'll hold my expectations until the efforts of the team come to light (or don't) defensively early in the game, they will give an indication of whether they have turned up to defend or not and whether their actions match their words. Looking for a big improvement from Ellis, I know that he is returning from injury but he has stated the case 'Tigers attack better when defense is sound' come on Gareth, so big hits please. Would like to see the dragons battered by the end of the game. Will reality match the quoted word, time will tell, I hope so.