Maguire urges Tigers to play the imitation game

[TheDaBoss]

Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire has told his players they need to aspire to be like Sydney Roosters after the premiers turned on a masterclass to deliver a 42-12 thumping at the SCG.

The loss was the Tigers second heavy defeat in their past three matches after losing 51-6 to Parramatta in Round 6 and leaves them outside the top eight after a good start to the season under Maguire.

Yet the Tigers matched it with the Roosters for periods of Saturday night’s clash and only two tries in the last six minutes of the first half enabled the home team to go to the interval leading 18-6.


A Robbie Farah try in the 45th minute gave the Tigers an opportunity to fight their way back into the game but the premiers stepped it up a gear to run out comfortable winners.

“We’re in moments and we fall out them quickly,” Maguire said. “Teams like the Roosters and where they are playing at the moment, they stay at it for long periods of time and they know their game very well. That is something we have got to learn.


Match Highlights: Roosters v Wests Tigers
“We got back to 18-12 and then obviously they kick through and they come up with a play. For us we are disappointed really, we are a better team than we showed. I though the effort was there but it is now us learning to play at that level for long periods of time.”

Maguire described the Roosters as the benchmark and said they were at a different level to most teams in everything they do, on and off the field.

As a premiership-winning coach with South Sydney in 2014, Maguire knows what is required and wants to push his players to achieve higher standards.

“It’s the way you practice and everything you do, how you look after yourself off the field to turning up at training and competing at that high level,” he said.


Matterson scores from the scrum
“No doubt their training levels are at a very high level, that is how you get to those spaces and obviously it’s something we need to continue to work towards.


“I can’t fault how our boys are training but we have got to find ways to improve each individual’s game and that adds to the team’s value.”

The Tigers were without five-eighth Benji Marshall after deciding not to take a risk on his injured hamstring and Maguire wasn’t sure if he would be fit for next weekend’s Magic Round clash with Penrith at Suncorp Stadium


Step 1- Have a unlimeted salary cap

Step 2- Become toddies favourites

Step 3- with the unlimited salary cap, sign heaps of quality players

Step 4- Befriend the refs

Step 5 - Win the comp

Step 6- repeat

 

[Sco77y]

Ha, definitely on a different level off the field, a higher level of salary cap space and illegal TPAs. Impossible to replicate what they do though.. You could count our class players on one hand even if you’ve lost a couple of fingers.

 

[innsaneink]

Dream on

 

[WeHaveCheeKam]

@Sco77y

Matterson......that is all.

 

[Kev]

Our blokes had a go last night. They threw a fair bit at the Roosters and it was varied. In the end though, it was two pieces of great individual work that netted points. Their defence just took care of anything we came up with.

This side could honestly be entered in the world cup and they would make the semis. The level of class cannot be matched by any side in the comp. We would have beaten half the sides in the comp with our game last night but against them, lucky to get within 30. It makes the season less interesting when one side is so dominant.

 

[TheDaBoss]

Twal, Thomo, and matterson


3 players that are consistent week in week out

 

[Wests_Tony]

I totally agree Kev. Despite the scoreline, they continued to try hard and they will have more wins this season.

Realistically though, this game went predictably. Just look at the comparative rosters. While the Tigers have a salary cap problem, it's one that the Roosters seem to be able to magically bypass, despite their superstar roster.

 

[Spud_Murphy]

They are only going to get better as the season rolls on, I think even sides like Melbourne, Souths and Cronulla will struggle to hold them. Barring long term injury to several key players, they will definitely be going back to back this season. Congratulations Roosters you've finally been able to buy your dream of NRL dominance.

We have absolutely no hope of emulating them, Madge is off his chops! How can you possibly emulate a star studded team when you don't have anywhere near the amount of star players in your line up? Our guys just can't do the things most of their guys can do on the field. It's like asking the under 8's team to commit and play as well as the under18's side - it's not gonna happen. We didn't play badly like we did against Parra, we actually gave it a good shot and the result? ....a 30 point drubbing! That's how close we really are Madge.

 

[Telltails]

Until we can consistently match the run metres of our opposing teams we will struggle and at times suffer a blow out like last night.
We have a couple of individuals that hold their own every week in that area and then there are the rest.
The stats show it consistently, and it is evident while watching.
Couple that with slow backs, and a full back who is shaky under bombs and we are vulnerable all over the park.

 

[joe]

A very good assessment of the result, I do not necessarily agree with steps1-6

 

[happy_tiger]

Yes we need to aim to be as successful as the Roosters ...but we need to find our own way of achieving that ....we don't have the playing roster to do it the Roosters way

 

[Sco77y]

@WeHaveCheeKam He’s the first that comes to mind. I’d throw Twal in there too though.

 

[happy_tiger]

Madge is probably looking for a long lost relation who plays NRL to coach next season already

 

[cqtiger]

The way I see it we won’t be a top 4 team for at least a decade. It will take that long to improve the team enough, year on year.

To put things in perspective, the Roosters have had a very competitive team for many years, they won quite a few minor premierships. What did it take for them to be premiers? A very talented roster of players, some exciting young players - then add Cronk and Tedesco.

We haven’t got close to a really talented roster. Don’t get me wrong, we will win at least half our games - that leaves us mid table, we need a couple more good signings to be a top 8 team consistently. There’s 3 or 4 years gone already.

Where are our talented juniors? The best we’ve signed from other teams.

 

[Harvey]

Have a look at the Roosters and Melbourne (2 clubs with no juniors) blueprint to see how you build success.

You pick the eyes out of every other teams junior talent (there is no salary cap) through offering various inducements. You bring the best and the brightest into your program at the ages where players truly start to develop towards and NRL career.

You cast aside those that are overrated or don't have the attitude to make it. You sign those that look to have potential to long term cheap contracts. Play the talent in 2nd grade to determine their progress. Before you let them near first grade make sure that you extend the deal again on cheap contracts so that you have a supporting cast locked in long term.

When your supporting cast does not have a particular role in the team covered, go out and pinch the best players from other clubs.

When the supporting cast starts asking for more money, let them go and bring through that junior you stole 7 years ago (who is still has 3 years left on a $100-150k per year deal) to fill that gap.

 

[supercoach]

Madge can do all the coaching in the world, but things like speed and real skill are things your born with. Okay sure everyone can improve with hard work, but we need more than hard work, we need to somehow get about four big contracts off our books and replace them with players who have a upside

 

[momo_amp_medo]

Here is my Sunday roast!

Well we do have a good coach.

Also there is some talent in our roster and some of these players will, I hope ... start to click by the end of the season.
For me Matterson, Twal, Aloiai, Marsters, Mikaele, Brooks, Garner, Eisenhuth, Clark, McIntyre, Liddle, Momirovski, Jennings and Mbye are the foundations for our long term success. You never know Gamble and Smith may surprise me and make it into that group.

Also I have some faith in the some of our development players that should bring some variety to our NRL playing group towards the back end of this season.

You can say what you like about constant failures of our teams but for mine .... stability on coaching and player front will bring improvement. Mass revision of our roster which is what many are advocating is not a solution .... it would just bring us to the beginning point again.

For next few years players who are on back end of their careers such as Matulino, Packer, Reynolds, Lawrence, McQueen and Thompson will (for whatever reason) remain on our roster and that may be a good or bad thing. When playing well and injury free they will continue to bring experience and support necessary for the younger playing group. However they will find that the demands of the current pace of the game and injuries may find them out.

What we need is to recruit few more players with potential, experience, skill, athleticism and most importantly winning “never say die” mentality. And there will be at least half a dozen spots available at the end of the season. We need players with experience, attitude and skill like Townsend, Feki, Prior (Sharks) Manu, Radley, Keary, Friend and Cordner (Roosters) Gutherson and Ferguson (Eels) Repana, Hudson, Tapine and Croker (Raiders) etc.

We also need a leader because for all the positive off the field qualities our current captain has .... he does not match that with on field performance we should expect from a team capitan.

 

[jirskyr]

@momo_amp_medo
Good commentary.

We also need, frankly, to produce some more quality juniors and bring them through. That used to be a strength for Tigers, but they were almost all attacking players, such that our attack was terrific and our defence not.

Who is the last really good junior to come through? Marsters is doing alright, Twal has come on and we pinched him from Eels. Mikaele has potential and has been managed well.

But the last proper talent to come in was Tedesco and he's been Top 3 best fullbacks for several years now. And Roosters bought him off us.

Whether or not that's coaching instability or lack of success or lack of money/TPAs/enticements, the last top-level quality footballer we produced was just bought up by someone else.

But we haven't a choice. I haven't seen Tigers compete legitimately on elite player contracts for decades. The only time we sign anyone of elite standing is when we bring them from UK - everyone else is bargain purchasing. When we do identify a bargain player and he comes good, like Marty Taupau, the price rockets and we get outbid again.

So that's it. We buy a bunch of solid bargins and hope they all upswing at the same time and then hope some quality juniors come in at the same time, before they are poached from us.

The idea that we'd have any chance of ever bidding and winning for a guy like Latrell is laughable.

 

[happy_tiger]

Put simply we are still like the little Dutch boy with the fingers in the dam wall , hoping he is from backwards redneck area of NSW with 12 or more fingers to block up those holes

 

[Tiges19]

Tigers need to sign manu from the roosters asap