Madge was brought in as the Tigers’ saviour.

[TigerWest]

As others have mentioned, the biggest concern is if Madge quits.

Off the back of Ivan quitting, and then a proven premiership coach quits, we may as well fold or relocate.

As, James Graham said last night, when he came to Wigan he completely changed their defence, and he did the same at Souths.

For whatever reason, coaches and players seem to hit the wall when they spend extended time at the club. I have no idea how this happens.

Think about players like Packer, Reynolds, and Mbye who were decent players before they got here. BJ was much better at Canberra. We occasionally get a player that improves here like LL, but it is way too rare.

Is it the losing culture? Is it the facilities? Is it 1000 home grounds? I don't know.

The coach isn't the issue. It's the head office.
So many errors were made even as far back as Sheen's/Humphreys days. We need some top administration.
I hate Phil Gould but it's the type of guy we need.

We now have a good management team in place imo, what you have alluded to was yonks ago, the players need to look at themselves.

 

[avocadoontoast]

As others have mentioned, the biggest concern is if Madge quits.

Off the back of Ivan quitting, and then a proven premiership coach quits, we may as well fold or relocate.

As, James Graham said last night, when he came to Wigan he completely changed their defence, and he did the same at Souths.

For whatever reason, coaches and players seem to hit the wall when they spend extended time at the club. I have no idea how this happens.

Think about players like Packer, Reynolds, and Mbye who were decent players before they got here. BJ was much better at Canberra. We occasionally get a player that improves here like LL, but it is way too rare.

Is it the losing culture? Is it the facilities? Is it 1000 home grounds? I don't know.

The coach isn't the issue. It's the head office.
So many errors were made even as far back as Sheen's/Humphreys days. We need some top administration.
I hate Phil Gould but it's the type of guy we need.

We now have a good management team in place imo, what you have alluded to was yonks ago, the players need to look at themselves

I agree the players need to look at themselves but there has been huge turnover since Maguire arrived. For whatever reason, the players he brought in aren't working.

He's won two premierships so he has runs on the board, but whatever reason he doesn't work at the Tigers. Since Sheens Cleary was the only one that got them playing well.

 

[TigerWest]

As others have mentioned, the biggest concern is if Madge quits.

Off the back of Ivan quitting, and then a proven premiership coach quits, we may as well fold or relocate.

As, James Graham said last night, when he came to Wigan he completely changed their defence, and he did the same at Souths.

For whatever reason, coaches and players seem to hit the wall when they spend extended time at the club. I have no idea how this happens.

Think about players like Packer, Reynolds, and Mbye who were decent players before they got here. BJ was much better at Canberra. We occasionally get a player that improves here like LL, but it is way too rare.

Is it the losing culture? Is it the facilities? Is it 1000 home grounds? I don't know.

The coach isn't the issue. It's the head office.
So many errors were made even as far back as Sheen's/Humphreys days. We need some top administration.
I hate Phil Gould but it's the type of guy we need.

We now have a good management team in place imo, what you have alluded to was yonks ago, the players need to look at themselves

I agree the players need to look at themselves but there has been huge turnover since Maguire arrived. For whatever reason, the players he brought in aren't working.

He's won two premierships so he has runs on the board, but whatever reason he doesn't work at the Tigers. Since Sheens Cleary was the only one that got them playing well.

I believe we have the best team we have had in ages, they have an opportunity to go into the WT's history as the team to get us back into the top 8, how much more incentive do they need?

 

[Papacito]

As others have mentioned, the biggest concern is if Madge quits.

Off the back of Ivan quitting, and then a proven premiership coach quits, we may as well fold or relocate.

As, James Graham said last night, when he came to Wigan he completely changed their defence, and he did the same at Souths.

For whatever reason, coaches and players seem to hit the wall when they spend extended time at the club. I have no idea how this happens.

Think about players like Packer, Reynolds, and Mbye who were decent players before they got here. BJ was much better at Canberra. We occasionally get a player that improves here like LL, but it is way too rare.

Is it the losing culture? Is it the facilities? Is it 1000 home grounds? I don't know.

The coach isn't the issue. It's the head office.
So many errors were made even as far back as Sheen's/Humphreys days. We need some top administration.
I hate Phil Gould but it's the type of guy we need.

This is spot on.

Madge has a squad next weekend made up of 12 players who were more or less unwanted by their previous clubs.

Every club needs a few of these blokes to keep things ticking over, but relying on them to perform consistently enough to secure a top 8 finish shows how clueless head office are.

 

[avocadoontoast]

As others have mentioned, the biggest concern is if Madge quits.

Off the back of Ivan quitting, and then a proven premiership coach quits, we may as well fold or relocate.

As, James Graham said last night, when he came to Wigan he completely changed their defence, and he did the same at Souths.

For whatever reason, coaches and players seem to hit the wall when they spend extended time at the club. I have no idea how this happens.

Think about players like Packer, Reynolds, and Mbye who were decent players before they got here. BJ was much better at Canberra. We occasionally get a player that improves here like LL, but it is way too rare.

Is it the losing culture? Is it the facilities? Is it 1000 home grounds? I don't know.

The coach isn't the issue. It's the head office.
So many errors were made even as far back as Sheen's/Humphreys days. We need some top administration.
I hate Phil Gould but it's the type of guy we need.

We now have a good management team in place imo, what you have alluded to was yonks ago, the players need to look at themselves

I agree the players need to look at themselves but there has been huge turnover since Maguire arrived. For whatever reason, the players he brought in aren't working.

He's won two premierships so he has runs on the board, but whatever reason he doesn't work at the Tigers. Since Sheens Cleary was the only one that got them playing well.

I believe we have the best team we have had in ages, they an opportunity to go into the WT's history as the team to get us back into the top 8, how much more incentive do they need?

I think it's the best roster we've had in ages too, but if Cleary's 2018 team played this team they'd kill them. They weren't super talented but they tried hard. Cleary got more out of the players that Madge (at least so far).

Sounds like i'm being super negative on Madge all the time, which I guess I am, but whatever he's doing is not working. It hasn't worked for over 2 seasons now and I don't care that it's been 2 games against top teams, the issue wasn't as much about the scoreline as it was about completely capitulating.

 

[jrtiger]

As others have mentioned, the biggest concern is if Madge quits.

Off the back of Ivan quitting, and then a proven premiership coach quits, we may as well fold or relocate.

As, James Graham said last night, when he came to Wigan he completely changed their defence, and he did the same at Souths.

For whatever reason, coaches and players seem to hit the wall when they spend extended time at the club. I have no idea how this happens.

Think about players like Packer, Reynolds, and Mbye who were decent players before they got here. BJ was much better at Canberra. We occasionally get a player that improves here like LL, but it is way too rare.

Is it the losing culture? Is it the facilities? Is it 1000 home grounds? I don't know.

The coach isn't the issue. It's the head office.
So many errors were made even as far back as Sheen's/Humphreys days. We need some top administration.
I hate Phil Gould but it's the type of guy we need.

This is spot on.

Madge has a squad next weekend made up of 12 players who were more or less unwanted by their previous clubs.

Every club needs a few of these blokes to keep things ticking over, but relying on them to perform consistently enough to secure a top 8 finish shows how clueless head office are.

Parra have a heap of similar players and they've been able to turn into a premiership contender, why can't we?

 

[jadtiger]

As always anything which comes out of the murdoch media is agenda and full of inacuracy.I hate giving that bigot a cent.

 

[fibrodreaming]

Sounds like i’m being super negative on Madge all the time, which I guess I am, but whatever he’s doing is not working. It hasn’t worked for over 2 seasons now

Perhaps there is something inherently wrong with WT that even a quality coach is unable to get consistently good performances from us.

It reminds me of a famous quote from Warren Buffet about a great management team taking over a business with poor business fundamentals. He said:

“When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for poor fundamental economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.”

I fear that if Madge is unsuccessful and quits the WT, it is not his reputation that will be tarnished, but our club, which will be seen as irredeemable.

Our future hangs in the balance. If Madge can't turn the joint around I fear we will be condemned to unending mediocrity.

 

[Papacito]

As others have mentioned, the biggest concern is if Madge quits.

Off the back of Ivan quitting, and then a proven premiership coach quits, we may as well fold or relocate.

As, James Graham said last night, when he came to Wigan he completely changed their defence, and he did the same at Souths.

For whatever reason, coaches and players seem to hit the wall when they spend extended time at the club. I have no idea how this happens.

Think about players like Packer, Reynolds, and Mbye who were decent players before they got here. BJ was much better at Canberra. We occasionally get a player that improves here like LL, but it is way too rare.

Is it the losing culture? Is it the facilities? Is it 1000 home grounds? I don't know.

The coach isn't the issue. It's the head office.
So many errors were made even as far back as Sheen's/Humphreys days. We need some top administration.
I hate Phil Gould but it's the type of guy we need.

This is spot on.

Madge has a squad next weekend made up of 12 players who were more or less unwanted by their previous clubs.

Every club needs a few of these blokes to keep things ticking over, but relying on them to perform consistently enough to secure a top 8 finish shows how clueless head office are.

Parra have a heap of similar players and they've been able to turn into a premiership contender, why can't we?

I did a quick count of their squad this weekend and get seven out of 17 who debuted with the Eels.

I don't follow the Eels closely but off the top of my head can think of a few Eels juniors that they've let go to other clubs, which suggests the talent they keep is very good.

Once you throw in some top-shelf junior talent on lower money, it gives you a bit more money to sign the Blake Fergusons of the league.

 

[hobbo1]

Plodders United ...we'll never be defeated

 

[izotope]

Good article but I was waiting for a point to be made and it was a bit anti-climatic. I love facts but it's usually better when they argue a point.

Agree, no punch at the end.

Think they might be short on leaks now our primary leaker has departed.

 

[nrlsurvivor]

People need to drop the 'trash' and 'agenda' stuff...that article is all backed up by facts and stats.

Reality is Madge DID do a hell of a job with our defense year one.

Reality is, right now, we are on an unprecedented 100 year run defensively as the only team in history to concede 26 plus 15 games in a row. That is a stunningly bad stat, and we can't just ignore it.

For whatever reason, with a superior roster now, our defense and record is much, much worse.

Madge is responsible for that, and he would know that.

Personally, I feel like the new rules / quicker ruck speed have brought us undone. We recruited a monster pack, just as the game changed to needing more mobile players. We have no kicking game, right at the time kicking has become the most needed skill in the game.

I was worried about the size as well, but look at the Raiders, Eels and Storm packs. They are huge and still performing under the new rules.

 

[PJ_]

*Maybe we just need to sack everyone at the club, board members down and start anew.
And relocate, and merge with storm.

 

[ElleryHanley]

People need to drop the 'trash' and 'agenda' stuff...that article is all backed up by facts and stats.

Reality is Madge DID do a hell of a job with our defense year one.

Reality is, right now, we are on an unprecedented 100 year run defensively as the only team in history to concede 26 plus 15 games in a row. That is a stunningly bad stat, and we can't just ignore it.

For whatever reason, with a superior roster now, our defense and record is much, much worse.

Madge is responsible for that, and he would know that.

Personally, I feel like the new rules / quicker ruck speed have brought us undone. We recruited a monster pack, just as the game changed to needing more mobile players. We have no kicking game, right at the time kicking has become the most needed skill in the game.

I was worried about the size as well, but look at the Raiders, Eels and Storm packs. They are huge and still performing under the new rules.

True, but they also have those really fast / mobile / backrowers who make 100 plus, give you 30 tackles and a few offloads.

They balance the big props.

Our backrow is very weak currently:

Twal: very one dimensional
Garner: hit or miss...rarely ever has a 100 meter game 'and' good D.
Luc: Great with the ball...tires and poor defensive cover.

 

[gallagher]

Need a win this weekend or come Monday, Fox will be having a field day.

That's our biggest fear???

 

[hobbo1]

Madge was brought in as the Tigers’ saviour. Now he’s the one who needs rescuing

SIMON BRUNSDON MARCH 24, 2021- From Fox League

When Michael Maguire took over South Sydney in 2012 the club had played one finals game in 23 years, collected four wooden spoons in that same period and spent two seasons out of the NRL competition.
His maiden season as Rabbitohs coach ended with a preliminary final. His second season ended the same.

His third campaign resulted in a drought-breaking premiership for the proud cardinal and myrtle.

Wests Tigers last won the competition in 2005. Their current finals drought stretches back to 2011 - coming up on a decade outside the top eight.

Michael Potter, then Jason Taylor, then Ivan Cleary all failed to get the big cats purring.

So when Cleary unceremoniously vacated the chair at the end of 2018, the Tigers went looking for a man who was a proven finalist, a title winner.

Maguire fit that bill. He had also won a Super Leauge title with Wigan in 2011.

He was a free agent looking for an NRL gig and a challenge that matched what he had achieved at Redfern.

But now entering his third campaign with the Tigers, Maguire seems to be struggling to repeat that feat.

Fox League expert Ben Ikin labelled the Concord club a bottom-four team prior to this season kicking off and, after badly losing their first two matches, his assessment looks on the money.

At the moment it certainly looks like that long finals drought will continue for at least another year.

Here’s where it has all gone so wrong.

A STATISTICAL HORRORSHOW

The year Cleary coached the Tigers, 2018, they were struggling badly.

Somehow they finished the season in 9th spot despite being ranked 15th in the NRL for points scored, 16th for tries scored, 11th for run metres, 14th for linebreaks, 12th for tackle busts, 14th for metres conceded, 14th for linebreaks conceded, and 16th (worst in the competition) for missed tackles.

They were averaging 35.92 missed tackles every week. The fact they managed to win 12 games was some kind of miracle.

Maguire’s first assignment was to inject some defensive steel into the line-up that had more holes than a block of Swisse cheese.


The 2019 Tigers were also 3rd in the NRL for offloads conceded, 5th for linebreaks conceded, and 10th for run metres conceded.

It was a marked and immediate improvement.

They finished that season in 9th place again but this time their statistics complemented their ladder position - they were 9th for points scored and 10th for points conceded.

While the ladder position hadn’t changed, it seemed Maguire had put his stamp on the side and things were looking bright for the NRL battlers.

There was hope that the Tigers would use the much-needed defensive improvement as a springboard to break the finals drought in 2020.

Instead they regressed.

The Tigers were scoring more points - 22 per game up from 19.79 the previous season - but their defence slipped.

They went from 3rd in the competition for missed tackles, down to 12th, missing 27.55 per week.

They fell to 10th for linebreaks conceded, 12th for tries conceded, and 10th for penalties conceded (down from 5th the previous year).

Rightly, the Tigers slipped to finish the 2020 season in 11th spot on the ladder.

So the good defensive work done in 2019 appeared to almost vanish in the space of 12 months, and they were back at the starting line.

The early stages of the 2021 season are not encouraging either.

They are averaging 35 missed tackles and 35 points conceded per game. They have been 14th in the competition for run metres gained, 12th for metres conceded, 12th for penalties conceded, and 15th for tries conceded.

After the loss to the Roosters, NRL 360 panellists Phil Rothfield and Ben Ikin compared the two teams.

“Would a Wests Tigers player get into the Roosters side?” mused Rothfield, to which Ikin replied, “probably not. No”.

MISFIRING MARQUEE MEN

The Tigers have given a lot of rope to halfback Luke Brooks over the years.

He was the player they held onto when the ‘Big Four’ were split up - Mitchell Moses, James Tedesco, and Aaron Woods all left.

Guys like Benji Marshall and Josh Reynolds were pushed down the pecking order so Brooks could take control of the side.

They handed him a brand new four-year deal only a couple of years ago, reportedly worth $850,000 per season.

But Brooks - the kid once tipped to be NSW’s next long-term Origin halfback - has struggled to match that money.

Midway through last season he was brutally axed by coach Maguire.

Against the Roosters last week he had a stinker, in both defence and attack.

“(Brooks) is feeling the pressure because there’s not much around him this year,” Ikin said, referring to the weak Tigers roster.

Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers misses a tackle against the Roosters.
Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers misses a tackle against the Roosters.Source: Getty Images
“I don’t think he’s up to it. I don’t think he’s a franchise player.

“He can be a quality halfback if he is surrounded by another strong game manager, is my view. That’s when you’re going to get the best out of Luke Brooks.”

But Brooks is certainly not alone.

There’s a number of players who have eaten up large chunks of the Tigers’ salary cap, and are battling to earn their keep.

Josh Reynolds and Ben Matulino were both taking home upwards of $800,000 before they were moved on by Madge.

Russell Packer remains, despite playing only seven games last year and a total of six games in 2019, on a contract said to be worth $750,000 a year.

Then there’s firebrand centre Joey Leilua, who left the Raiders on a deal reportedly worth $600,000 in 2020.

Leilua missed seven tackles against the Roosters.

Balmain legend Steve Roach is one of many pundits who can’t figure Leilua out.

“He sucks you in, he sucks me in. I watch him play sometimes and I go ‘this bloke is almost the best centre in the game’,” Roach told Fox Sports News.

“But there’s no consistency. If he keeps going the way he’s going he will be the bloke sitting in the pub one day and people say ‘see that bloke there? He could have been...’. Mate he could be anything.

“He’s got wonderful ability, I don’t know why he can’t put back-to-back-to-back games in.

“The thing is with the Tigers, and we’ve talked about the Roosters and the great depth at those good sides, when you bring someone into the side they’ve got to be better than the bloke that you’ve put out.

“Obviously there is a trigger there with Joey Leilua, he’s a wonderful player, but he doesn’t do it enough.

“He even said in the off-season, ‘I was so disappointed with the year last year that I had’. He had a chance in these first two rounds to redeem himself and he hasn’t.”

Last year Maguire was desperately trying to kick his well-paid stars into life when he spent weeks chopping and changing the team.

He rotated the halves with Brooks, Billy Walters, Benji Marshall, and Reynolds all getting a run through the spine, and in the reserves.

From the outside looking in, Maguire looked like a man struggling to find a pulse in a team that had shown so much improvement only 12 months earlier.

MADGE’S MARKET MOVES AND PUNTED STARS

The roster wasn’t in the best shape when Maguire arrived to take over.

As mentioned above, players like Matulino, Packer, and Reynolds were struggling with injuries and form, while collecting big salaries from Concord HQ.

Maguire took an axe to the squad and offloaded the likes of Matulino (medically retired), Esan Marsters, Tui Lolohea, Kevin Naiqama, and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak at the end of 2019.

He went to market and brought in Joey Leilua, Luciano Leilua, Zane Musgrove, Adam Doueihi, Shawn Blore, and others (see full roster movements below).

He also needed everyone at the club to get with his program... “on the bus” as his predecessor Cleary would say.

So Ryan Matterson, talented as he was, was granted permission to leave when he seemingly couldn’t conform to the coach’s style.

A year later Josh Aloiai followed Matterson’s cue and left Concord on rather bitter terms to join Manly.

Players like Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr, and Blayke Brailey were pursued by the club, only to slip away from Maguire’s grasp.

Young gun hooker Harry Grant spent 2020 at Concord on a swap deal from Melbourne, but the Tigers also failed to entice him to remain in Sydney.

So Maguire has had to take a different approach to recruitment.

This year he added experienced forward James Tamou, who captained Penrith to last year’s grand final.

James Roberts was thrown an NRL lifeline by the club and made his debut in Round 1. He’s had a rollercoaster career but his best is still very good, and Maguire may be the man to unearth that potential.

Joe Ofahengaue was unwanted at Brisbane and he, too, found a home at Concord. He’s still an Origin forward on his day.

Young talents Daine Laurie and Stefano Utoikamanu have come on board, poached from western rivals the Panthers and Eels respectively.

Still, the Tigers roster certainly lacks that star power.

As Ikin and Rothfield said, which players would make the final cut in Trent Robinson’s Roosters?

The salary cap is looking a little neater than it did when Maguire arrived, and the coach does have a certain pulling power with some players.

But he’s going to have to get the best out of what he’s got right now, if the club wants to become a major player in the NRL market again.

FULL ROSTER BREAKDOWN

The players who have left, and arrived, since 2018

2019

Players out: Robbie Rochow, Sauaso Sue, Tyson Gamble, Tim Grant, Pita Godinet

Players in: Robert Jennings, Ryan Matterson, Thomas Mikaele, Paul Momirovski, Oliver Clark, Tommy Talau

2020

Players out: Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, Ben Matulino, Matt McIlwrick, Tui Lolohea, Esan Marsters, Kevin Naiqama, Mahe Fonua, Robbie Farah, Ryan Matterson, Paul Momirovski

Players in: Luciano Leilua, Zane Musgrove, Billy Walters, Adam Doueihi, Joseph Leilua, Alex Seyfarth, Harry Grant, Sam McIntyre, Reece Hoffman, Shawn Blore, Asu Kepaoa

2021

Players out: Corey Thompson, Chris Lawrence, Matt Eisenhuth, Elijah Taylor, Josh Aloiai, Josh Reynolds, Chris McQueen, Harry Grant

Players in: Daine Laurie, Joe Ofahengaue, James Roberts, James Tamou, Stefano Utoikamanu

C.B.A.R

 

[avocadoontoast]

Madge was brought in as the Tigers’ saviour. Now he’s the one who needs rescuing

SIMON BRUNSDON MARCH 24, 2021- From Fox League

When Michael Maguire took over South Sydney in 2012 the club had played one finals game in 23 years, collected four wooden spoons in that same period and spent two seasons out of the NRL competition.
His maiden season as Rabbitohs coach ended with a preliminary final. His second season ended the same.

His third campaign resulted in a drought-breaking premiership for the proud cardinal and myrtle.

Wests Tigers last won the competition in 2005. Their current finals drought stretches back to 2011 - coming up on a decade outside the top eight.

Michael Potter, then Jason Taylor, then Ivan Cleary all failed to get the big cats purring.

So when Cleary unceremoniously vacated the chair at the end of 2018, the Tigers went looking for a man who was a proven finalist, a title winner.

Maguire fit that bill. He had also won a Super Leauge title with Wigan in 2011.

He was a free agent looking for an NRL gig and a challenge that matched what he had achieved at Redfern.

But now entering his third campaign with the Tigers, Maguire seems to be struggling to repeat that feat.

Fox League expert Ben Ikin labelled the Concord club a bottom-four team prior to this season kicking off and, after badly losing their first two matches, his assessment looks on the money.

At the moment it certainly looks like that long finals drought will continue for at least another year.

Here’s where it has all gone so wrong.

A STATISTICAL HORRORSHOW

The year Cleary coached the Tigers, 2018, they were struggling badly.

Somehow they finished the season in 9th spot despite being ranked 15th in the NRL for points scored, 16th for tries scored, 11th for run metres, 14th for linebreaks, 12th for tackle busts, 14th for metres conceded, 14th for linebreaks conceded, and 16th (worst in the competition) for missed tackles.

They were averaging 35.92 missed tackles every week. The fact they managed to win 12 games was some kind of miracle.

Maguire’s first assignment was to inject some defensive steel into the line-up that had more holes than a block of Swisse cheese.


The 2019 Tigers were also 3rd in the NRL for offloads conceded, 5th for linebreaks conceded, and 10th for run metres conceded.

It was a marked and immediate improvement.

They finished that season in 9th place again but this time their statistics complemented their ladder position - they were 9th for points scored and 10th for points conceded.

While the ladder position hadn’t changed, it seemed Maguire had put his stamp on the side and things were looking bright for the NRL battlers.

There was hope that the Tigers would use the much-needed defensive improvement as a springboard to break the finals drought in 2020.

Instead they regressed.

The Tigers were scoring more points - 22 per game up from 19.79 the previous season - but their defence slipped.

They went from 3rd in the competition for missed tackles, down to 12th, missing 27.55 per week.

They fell to 10th for linebreaks conceded, 12th for tries conceded, and 10th for penalties conceded (down from 5th the previous year).

Rightly, the Tigers slipped to finish the 2020 season in 11th spot on the ladder.

So the good defensive work done in 2019 appeared to almost vanish in the space of 12 months, and they were back at the starting line.

The early stages of the 2021 season are not encouraging either.

They are averaging 35 missed tackles and 35 points conceded per game. They have been 14th in the competition for run metres gained, 12th for metres conceded, 12th for penalties conceded, and 15th for tries conceded.

After the loss to the Roosters, NRL 360 panellists Phil Rothfield and Ben Ikin compared the two teams.

“Would a Wests Tigers player get into the Roosters side?” mused Rothfield, to which Ikin replied, “probably not. No”.

MISFIRING MARQUEE MEN

The Tigers have given a lot of rope to halfback Luke Brooks over the years.

He was the player they held onto when the ‘Big Four’ were split up - Mitchell Moses, James Tedesco, and Aaron Woods all left.

Guys like Benji Marshall and Josh Reynolds were pushed down the pecking order so Brooks could take control of the side.

They handed him a brand new four-year deal only a couple of years ago, reportedly worth $850,000 per season.

But Brooks - the kid once tipped to be NSW’s next long-term Origin halfback - has struggled to match that money.

Midway through last season he was brutally axed by coach Maguire.

Against the Roosters last week he had a stinker, in both defence and attack.

“(Brooks) is feeling the pressure because there’s not much around him this year,” Ikin said, referring to the weak Tigers roster.

Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers misses a tackle against the Roosters.
Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers misses a tackle against the Roosters.Source: Getty Images
“I don’t think he’s up to it. I don’t think he’s a franchise player.

“He can be a quality halfback if he is surrounded by another strong game manager, is my view. That’s when you’re going to get the best out of Luke Brooks.”

But Brooks is certainly not alone.

There’s a number of players who have eaten up large chunks of the Tigers’ salary cap, and are battling to earn their keep.

Josh Reynolds and Ben Matulino were both taking home upwards of $800,000 before they were moved on by Madge.

Russell Packer remains, despite playing only seven games last year and a total of six games in 2019, on a contract said to be worth $750,000 a year.

Then there’s firebrand centre Joey Leilua, who left the Raiders on a deal reportedly worth $600,000 in 2020.

Leilua missed seven tackles against the Roosters.

Balmain legend Steve Roach is one of many pundits who can’t figure Leilua out.

“He sucks you in, he sucks me in. I watch him play sometimes and I go ‘this bloke is almost the best centre in the game’,” Roach told Fox Sports News.

“But there’s no consistency. If he keeps going the way he’s going he will be the bloke sitting in the pub one day and people say ‘see that bloke there? He could have been...’. Mate he could be anything.

“He’s got wonderful ability, I don’t know why he can’t put back-to-back-to-back games in.

“The thing is with the Tigers, and we’ve talked about the Roosters and the great depth at those good sides, when you bring someone into the side they’ve got to be better than the bloke that you’ve put out.

“Obviously there is a trigger there with Joey Leilua, he’s a wonderful player, but he doesn’t do it enough.

“He even said in the off-season, ‘I was so disappointed with the year last year that I had’. He had a chance in these first two rounds to redeem himself and he hasn’t.”

Last year Maguire was desperately trying to kick his well-paid stars into life when he spent weeks chopping and changing the team.

He rotated the halves with Brooks, Billy Walters, Benji Marshall, and Reynolds all getting a run through the spine, and in the reserves.

From the outside looking in, Maguire looked like a man struggling to find a pulse in a team that had shown so much improvement only 12 months earlier.

MADGE’S MARKET MOVES AND PUNTED STARS

The roster wasn’t in the best shape when Maguire arrived to take over.

As mentioned above, players like Matulino, Packer, and Reynolds were struggling with injuries and form, while collecting big salaries from Concord HQ.

Maguire took an axe to the squad and offloaded the likes of Matulino (medically retired), Esan Marsters, Tui Lolohea, Kevin Naiqama, and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak at the end of 2019.

He went to market and brought in Joey Leilua, Luciano Leilua, Zane Musgrove, Adam Doueihi, Shawn Blore, and others (see full roster movements below).

He also needed everyone at the club to get with his program... “on the bus” as his predecessor Cleary would say.

So Ryan Matterson, talented as he was, was granted permission to leave when he seemingly couldn’t conform to the coach’s style.

A year later Josh Aloiai followed Matterson’s cue and left Concord on rather bitter terms to join Manly.

Players like Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr, and Blayke Brailey were pursued by the club, only to slip away from Maguire’s grasp.

Young gun hooker Harry Grant spent 2020 at Concord on a swap deal from Melbourne, but the Tigers also failed to entice him to remain in Sydney.

So Maguire has had to take a different approach to recruitment.

This year he added experienced forward James Tamou, who captained Penrith to last year’s grand final.

James Roberts was thrown an NRL lifeline by the club and made his debut in Round 1. He’s had a rollercoaster career but his best is still very good, and Maguire may be the man to unearth that potential.

Joe Ofahengaue was unwanted at Brisbane and he, too, found a home at Concord. He’s still an Origin forward on his day.

Young talents Daine Laurie and Stefano Utoikamanu have come on board, poached from western rivals the Panthers and Eels respectively.

Still, the Tigers roster certainly lacks that star power.

As Ikin and Rothfield said, which players would make the final cut in Trent Robinson’s Roosters?

The salary cap is looking a little neater than it did when Maguire arrived, and the coach does have a certain pulling power with some players.

But he’s going to have to get the best out of what he’s got right now, if the club wants to become a major player in the NRL market again.

FULL ROSTER BREAKDOWN

The players who have left, and arrived, since 2018

2019

Players out: Robbie Rochow, Sauaso Sue, Tyson Gamble, Tim Grant, Pita Godinet

Players in: Robert Jennings, Ryan Matterson, Thomas Mikaele, Paul Momirovski, Oliver Clark, Tommy Talau

2020

Players out: Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, Ben Matulino, Matt McIlwrick, Tui Lolohea, Esan Marsters, Kevin Naiqama, Mahe Fonua, Robbie Farah, Ryan Matterson, Paul Momirovski

Players in: Luciano Leilua, Zane Musgrove, Billy Walters, Adam Doueihi, Joseph Leilua, Alex Seyfarth, Harry Grant, Sam McIntyre, Reece Hoffman, Shawn Blore, Asu Kepaoa

2021

Players out: Corey Thompson, Chris Lawrence, Matt Eisenhuth, Elijah Taylor, Josh Aloiai, Josh Reynolds, Chris McQueen, Harry Grant

Players in: Daine Laurie, Joe Ofahengaue, James Roberts, James Tamou, Stefano Utoikamanu

C.B.A.R

Here's the abridged version:

Fox League thinks we're poo.

 

[hobbo1]

Madge was brought in as the Tigers’ saviour. Now he’s the one who needs rescuing

SIMON BRUNSDON MARCH 24, 2021- From Fox League

When Michael Maguire took over South Sydney in 2012 the club had played one finals game in 23 years, collected four wooden spoons in that same period and spent two seasons out of the NRL competition.
His maiden season as Rabbitohs coach ended with a preliminary final. His second season ended the same.

His third campaign resulted in a drought-breaking premiership for the proud cardinal and myrtle.

Wests Tigers last won the competition in 2005. Their current finals drought stretches back to 2011 - coming up on a decade outside the top eight.

Michael Potter, then Jason Taylor, then Ivan Cleary all failed to get the big cats purring.

So when Cleary unceremoniously vacated the chair at the end of 2018, the Tigers went looking for a man who was a proven finalist, a title winner.

Maguire fit that bill. He had also won a Super Leauge title with Wigan in 2011.

He was a free agent looking for an NRL gig and a challenge that matched what he had achieved at Redfern.

But now entering his third campaign with the Tigers, Maguire seems to be struggling to repeat that feat.

Fox League expert Ben Ikin labelled the Concord club a bottom-four team prior to this season kicking off and, after badly losing their first two matches, his assessment looks on the money.

At the moment it certainly looks like that long finals drought will continue for at least another year.

Here’s where it has all gone so wrong.

A STATISTICAL HORRORSHOW

The year Cleary coached the Tigers, 2018, they were struggling badly.

Somehow they finished the season in 9th spot despite being ranked 15th in the NRL for points scored, 16th for tries scored, 11th for run metres, 14th for linebreaks, 12th for tackle busts, 14th for metres conceded, 14th for linebreaks conceded, and 16th (worst in the competition) for missed tackles.

They were averaging 35.92 missed tackles every week. The fact they managed to win 12 games was some kind of miracle.

Maguire’s first assignment was to inject some defensive steel into the line-up that had more holes than a block of Swisse cheese.


The 2019 Tigers were also 3rd in the NRL for offloads conceded, 5th for linebreaks conceded, and 10th for run metres conceded.

It was a marked and immediate improvement.

They finished that season in 9th place again but this time their statistics complemented their ladder position - they were 9th for points scored and 10th for points conceded.

While the ladder position hadn’t changed, it seemed Maguire had put his stamp on the side and things were looking bright for the NRL battlers.

There was hope that the Tigers would use the much-needed defensive improvement as a springboard to break the finals drought in 2020.

Instead they regressed.

The Tigers were scoring more points - 22 per game up from 19.79 the previous season - but their defence slipped.

They went from 3rd in the competition for missed tackles, down to 12th, missing 27.55 per week.

They fell to 10th for linebreaks conceded, 12th for tries conceded, and 10th for penalties conceded (down from 5th the previous year).

Rightly, the Tigers slipped to finish the 2020 season in 11th spot on the ladder.

So the good defensive work done in 2019 appeared to almost vanish in the space of 12 months, and they were back at the starting line.

The early stages of the 2021 season are not encouraging either.

They are averaging 35 missed tackles and 35 points conceded per game. They have been 14th in the competition for run metres gained, 12th for metres conceded, 12th for penalties conceded, and 15th for tries conceded.

After the loss to the Roosters, NRL 360 panellists Phil Rothfield and Ben Ikin compared the two teams.

“Would a Wests Tigers player get into the Roosters side?” mused Rothfield, to which Ikin replied, “probably not. No”.

MISFIRING MARQUEE MEN

The Tigers have given a lot of rope to halfback Luke Brooks over the years.

He was the player they held onto when the ‘Big Four’ were split up - Mitchell Moses, James Tedesco, and Aaron Woods all left.

Guys like Benji Marshall and Josh Reynolds were pushed down the pecking order so Brooks could take control of the side.

They handed him a brand new four-year deal only a couple of years ago, reportedly worth $850,000 per season.

But Brooks - the kid once tipped to be NSW’s next long-term Origin halfback - has struggled to match that money.

Midway through last season he was brutally axed by coach Maguire.

Against the Roosters last week he had a stinker, in both defence and attack.

“(Brooks) is feeling the pressure because there’s not much around him this year,” Ikin said, referring to the weak Tigers roster.

Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers misses a tackle against the Roosters.
Luke Brooks of the Wests Tigers misses a tackle against the Roosters.Source: Getty Images
“I don’t think he’s up to it. I don’t think he’s a franchise player.

“He can be a quality halfback if he is surrounded by another strong game manager, is my view. That’s when you’re going to get the best out of Luke Brooks.”

But Brooks is certainly not alone.

There’s a number of players who have eaten up large chunks of the Tigers’ salary cap, and are battling to earn their keep.

Josh Reynolds and Ben Matulino were both taking home upwards of $800,000 before they were moved on by Madge.

Russell Packer remains, despite playing only seven games last year and a total of six games in 2019, on a contract said to be worth $750,000 a year.

Then there’s firebrand centre Joey Leilua, who left the Raiders on a deal reportedly worth $600,000 in 2020.

Leilua missed seven tackles against the Roosters.

Balmain legend Steve Roach is one of many pundits who can’t figure Leilua out.

“He sucks you in, he sucks me in. I watch him play sometimes and I go ‘this bloke is almost the best centre in the game’,” Roach told Fox Sports News.

“But there’s no consistency. If he keeps going the way he’s going he will be the bloke sitting in the pub one day and people say ‘see that bloke there? He could have been...’. Mate he could be anything.

“He’s got wonderful ability, I don’t know why he can’t put back-to-back-to-back games in.

“The thing is with the Tigers, and we’ve talked about the Roosters and the great depth at those good sides, when you bring someone into the side they’ve got to be better than the bloke that you’ve put out.

“Obviously there is a trigger there with Joey Leilua, he’s a wonderful player, but he doesn’t do it enough.

“He even said in the off-season, ‘I was so disappointed with the year last year that I had’. He had a chance in these first two rounds to redeem himself and he hasn’t.”

Last year Maguire was desperately trying to kick his well-paid stars into life when he spent weeks chopping and changing the team.

He rotated the halves with Brooks, Billy Walters, Benji Marshall, and Reynolds all getting a run through the spine, and in the reserves.

From the outside looking in, Maguire looked like a man struggling to find a pulse in a team that had shown so much improvement only 12 months earlier.

MADGE’S MARKET MOVES AND PUNTED STARS

The roster wasn’t in the best shape when Maguire arrived to take over.

As mentioned above, players like Matulino, Packer, and Reynolds were struggling with injuries and form, while collecting big salaries from Concord HQ.

Maguire took an axe to the squad and offloaded the likes of Matulino (medically retired), Esan Marsters, Tui Lolohea, Kevin Naiqama, and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak at the end of 2019.

He went to market and brought in Joey Leilua, Luciano Leilua, Zane Musgrove, Adam Doueihi, Shawn Blore, and others (see full roster movements below).

He also needed everyone at the club to get with his program... “on the bus” as his predecessor Cleary would say.

So Ryan Matterson, talented as he was, was granted permission to leave when he seemingly couldn’t conform to the coach’s style.

A year later Josh Aloiai followed Matterson’s cue and left Concord on rather bitter terms to join Manly.

Players like Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr, and Blayke Brailey were pursued by the club, only to slip away from Maguire’s grasp.

Young gun hooker Harry Grant spent 2020 at Concord on a swap deal from Melbourne, but the Tigers also failed to entice him to remain in Sydney.

So Maguire has had to take a different approach to recruitment.

This year he added experienced forward James Tamou, who captained Penrith to last year’s grand final.

James Roberts was thrown an NRL lifeline by the club and made his debut in Round 1. He’s had a rollercoaster career but his best is still very good, and Maguire may be the man to unearth that potential.

Joe Ofahengaue was unwanted at Brisbane and he, too, found a home at Concord. He’s still an Origin forward on his day.

Young talents Daine Laurie and Stefano Utoikamanu have come on board, poached from western rivals the Panthers and Eels respectively.

Still, the Tigers roster certainly lacks that star power.

As Ikin and Rothfield said, which players would make the final cut in Trent Robinson’s Roosters?

The salary cap is looking a little neater than it did when Maguire arrived, and the coach does have a certain pulling power with some players.

But he’s going to have to get the best out of what he’s got right now, if the club wants to become a major player in the NRL market again.

FULL ROSTER BREAKDOWN

The players who have left, and arrived, since 2018

2019

Players out: Robbie Rochow, Sauaso Sue, Tyson Gamble, Tim Grant, Pita Godinet

Players in: Robert Jennings, Ryan Matterson, Thomas Mikaele, Paul Momirovski, Oliver Clark, Tommy Talau

2020

Players out: Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, Ben Matulino, Matt McIlwrick, Tui Lolohea, Esan Marsters, Kevin Naiqama, Mahe Fonua, Robbie Farah, Ryan Matterson, Paul Momirovski

Players in: Luciano Leilua, Zane Musgrove, Billy Walters, Adam Doueihi, Joseph Leilua, Alex Seyfarth, Harry Grant, Sam McIntyre, Reece Hoffman, Shawn Blore, Asu Kepaoa

2021

Players out: Corey Thompson, Chris Lawrence, Matt Eisenhuth, Elijah Taylor, Josh Aloiai, Josh Reynolds, Chris McQueen, Harry Grant

Players in: Daine Laurie, Joe Ofahengaue, James Roberts, James Tamou, Stefano Utoikamanu

C.B.A.R

Here's the abridged version:

Fox League thinks we're poo.

Thx mate ...
We are ..
The end

 

[Swordy]

Culture changes take time. They don't happen in 12 or 24 months.

For those saying get rid of the coach because nothing has happened in the last 2 years......What is it about the past 10 years have you not understood?

Multiple coach changes just further embeds a 'lunatic running the asylum' culture. Only an idiot does the same thing time and again and expects a different outcome.

The lunatics are moving on, being pushed out or being dragged into line. It takes more than 5 minutes. Do you want a strong club or more of the same?

 

[Lauren]

We aren't exactly a high performing or high achieving club, but as far as I can see we've seen some efficiency and effectiveness from club management. We've addressed and righted most of our core issues, however the scope/breadth (or whatever term is more befitting) of them means seeing the results is still an ongoing process.
But I believe we've already seen some small triumphs, and that is with our recruitment and retention - which has been our biggest problem area.
As for Madge, I believe the club has found a coach capable of turning the team around but fans...and it seems journos and so-called experts..are impatiently expecting instant results. Maybe there needs to be some small adjustments made, as some supporters are now questioning team leadership and whether player roles and responsibilities are articulated clearly(both individually and collectively).
All in all other than our on field performance, everything else has been forward-moving IMO.

Besides the team severely lacking confidence and not working successfully together or backing each other right now, the only thing I feel that the club/team needs to do is get to the bottom of why players aren't thriving in this pressure cooker environment.