@avocadoontoast said in [OFFICIAL: Wests Tigers sign James Tamou](/post/1233275) said:
Per Brent Read
The science behind Tamou
Wests Tigers have copped plenty of flak for their recruitment in recent years. Behind the scenes, changes have taken place to ensure the mistakes of the past aren’t repeated in the future.
The Tigers have taken a more analytical view of recruitment and it helps explain why they chased Penrith captain James Tamou, whose signing was officially confirmed on Friday morning.
Wests have been deadly inside the red zone — the opposition 20m area. So good, they rank among the best in the NRL.
Their issue hasn’t been scoring when they get close to the opposition line. Their challenge has been finding their way down the field so they can put themselves in a position to launch their attack.
The Tigers rank 13th in total metres and 13th post-contact metres this season. They needed to find more metres and Tamou has been targeted to do just that.
The Panthers skipper, who will turn 32 later this year, has been one of the most efficient forwards in the competition in 2020.
Nine frontrowers have run for more metres, but Tamou has led the way when it comes to metres per minute. No one gets close.
Not Payne Haas. Not David Klemmer. Not Josh Papalii. The quality of Tamou’s work when he is on the field has been top notch.
He has helped Penrith march down the field, belying his age and the toll on his body as he prepares to enter a 13th season in first grade.
There are other intangibles that Tamou brings as well. Leadership is the obvious one, the grizzled veteran expected to provide an example to Wests Tigers’ young pack of forwards on what it takes to be a professional.
That came into the Tigers’ thinking as well. Under the system they have now adopted, the club identifies targets using a matrix developed by the club’s recruitment analyst, Scott Woodward.
The player is then given a percentage mark where weighting is given to areas such as personality, medical record and skill. The Tigers will rarely consider a player unless he registers 80 per cent or more. Tamou clearly fits the bill.
“James brings a wealth of experience to our forward pack and is a player who has experienced success at every level of the game,” Tigers coach Michael Maguire said.
“He has shown throughout his career to be a player who constantly improves not only himself but those around him, and I have no doubt he will play a key role in the development of our forward pack moving forward.”