Match Previews

[Guest]

Preview: Wests Tigers v Panthers
14/3/2013 10:16 AM
Matthew Manukia - Sportal

While the Tigers are doing their best to reassure fans there is no need to panic just yet, the sheer number of errors they made against Newcastle suggests there was more to blame than just cobwebs or early season rust.

HEAD TO HEAD: Played 23 - Panthers 14, Tigers 9

LAST TIME: Tigers 26 def Panthers 18, Round 19, 2012 at Campbelltown Stadium

MISSING IN ACTION:
Mick Potter made no changes to the line-up that failed miserably against the Knights on Monday. The best news that came out of the 42-10 hiding was that there were no serious injuries. Second-rower Braith Anasta required stitches to a nasty gash above his eye but is set to battle on.

Meanwhile, Ivan Cleary will be relatively unbothered by injuries when making his selections this week. Centre Wes Naiqama did leave the field with a hip complaint during Sunday's win over the Raiders but is expected to be available.

FORM:
While the Tigers are doing their best to reassure fans there is no need to panic just yet, the sheer number of errors they made against Newcastle suggests there was more to blame than just cobwebs or early season rust.

Handling errors (10) and penalties (10) handed Newcastle a whopping 63 percent of possession, which forced the Tigers to make 148 more tackles. That would have been less harmful if they didn't miss 36 of them.

Lacking energy, organisation and shape on defence, things are looking grim for Potter and his men, who will desperately want to make amends for the heaviest loss of round one.

The Panthers proved they are ready for life without Michael Jennings, Luke Lewis and Michael Gordon by running in five tries against Canberra.

Recruits Sika Manu and James Segeyaro both scored tries, while Dean Whare and Naiqama also made strong debuts.

Each time they crossed the chalk Luke Walsh was on hand to put the icing on the cake. He also added a penalty goal to his perfect kicking record on the night.

WE THINK:
A 22-point win should probably earn any team the favourites tag in their following match-up.

But although it would appear the Panthers despatched their opponents in a canter, it took until the final quarter for them to break a shaky Raiders side, that completed 68 percent of its sets and made 13 errors.

It was not always pretty and Cleary will hope to rectify the 19 missed tackles, nine errors and six penalties conceded.

While it appeared the Tigers sorely lacked desire and passion, no side wants to see all their hard work in the off-season amount to an embarrassing loss in round one.

Therefore, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt and put it down to technical errors.

They were good enough to land the first blow when Adam Blair crashed over but will need to make sure they don't take the foot off the throat next time they get ahead.

Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah are still two of the most influential players in the NRL and should be able to get the Tigers fired up to bounce back strongly. Wests Tigers by 10.

 

[Guest]

Tigers v Panthers preview

Greg Prichard, NRL.com Thu, Mar 14, 2013 - 10:57 AM

Tigers v Panthers
Campbelltown Stadium
Sunday, 3pm

Wests Tigers are going to have to improve dramatically on their first-round loss to Newcastle if they are to beat Penrith in the battle of the big cats. The Tigers will start favourites in this match, based mainly on the fact they are playing at home, but it won't be as simple as that. They were awful against the Knights, whose big, tough forward pack dominated that game and laid the foundation for a 42-10 win at Hunter Stadium on Monday night, and they face another big, tough pack here.

Penrith made an unexpectedly strong start to the season with a 32-10 win over Canberra at Centrebet Stadium on Sunday. The Raiders, after star backs Josh Dugan and Jarrod Croker were passed fit to play, started favourites in the match, but never looked like winning after the Panthers had scored a crucial try just before halftime to go to the break with a 12-6 lead. And it was the Penrith forward pack that led the way.

The Knights dominated possession against the Tigers, finishing with a lopsided 63% of it. They made 1457 metres, compared to just 812 for the Tigers, and completed 34 of 40 sets as opposed to 18 of 27\. The Panthers had 55 per cent of the ball against the Raiders, made 1462 metres against 1042 and completed 33 of 40 sets compared to 23 of 34\. These are the glaring statistics the Tigers have to try to turn around in a week.

They are capable of doing that, and whenever they have Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah in the side they remain a threat, but their discipline is going to have to improve enormously. They made too many errors and gave away too many silly penalties against Newcastle. Penrith will play the percentages and try to take advantage of errors from the opposition. The Panthers have the constant threat of either Kevin Kingston or James Segeyaro out of dummy-half, and will use it.

Penrith's team has been drastically remodelled from last year, with a lot of new signings, and judging by their first-round performance coach Ivan Cleary has done a great job in establishing cohesion during the off-season. Sika Manu and Lewis Brown, two of the new men, have been paired in the second row and both played well against Canberra. Up front, big men Sam McKendry and Tim Grant command respect.
The Tigers face a big challenge to match the Panthers physically. Representative prop Keith Galloway will lead the way, but he will need more support than he got against the Knights. It's obviously way too early in the season to describe any game as a "must-win", but the pressure is certainly on the Tigers to stand up after an awful performance to open the season. The Panthers, meanwhile, will concentrate on working hard and pressuring the opposition as the basis of their plan.

Watch Out Wests Tigers: Penrith's back three of fullback Dean Whare and wingers Josh Mansour and David Simmons isn't the most fashionable around, but they made 412 metres between them in 43 runs in the win over Canberra. That is going to give them the confidence to go looking for the chance to run the ball against a Tigers outfit that is under pressure to lift its game defensively.

Watch Out Panthers: It would be unusual if Benji Marshall had two ineffective games in a row. It wasn't a situation made for him against Newcastle, considering the Tigers had so little ball, but he was still quiet. Expect him to bounce back against the Panthers, get his hands on the ball a lot and put the opposition in two minds.

Plays To Watch: The Tigers need a bit of that 'wild man' stuff from Adam Blair to spur them on. He is at his best when he charges, full-on, into the defence, attracting multiple defenders and backing it up with a quick play-the-ball for his teammates to try to take advantage of a hole in the defence. Penrith won't go away from the plan that worked in Round 1, when Kingston and Segeyaro worked the opposition over from dummy-half. The Panthers will look to consolidate, rather than suddenly bank on razzle-dazzle.

Key Match-Up: Jacob Miller v Luke Walsh. The oldie (Walsh) versus the newie at halfback. Walsh's kicking game – his greatest strength – was spot on against the Raiders, including a faultless display of goal-kicking. The game against the Knights wasn't a great opportunity for the inexperienced Miller, considering the Tigers didn't get their hands on the ball much, but he still needs to start doing more (just 20 receives last week).

Where It Will Be Won: It won't matter that Marshall and Robbie Farah are two attacking geniuses if the Tigers can't do a lot better in the forward battle than they did against the Knights. The Panthers will sense an opportunity to get on top through the forwards in this game, and if they do that then Walsh will put the cream on the cake with his kicking game.

The History: Played 23; Panthers 14, Tigers 9\. Penrith boast a tremendous record against the Tigers and have won four of their past seven games at Campbelltown. However, they have struggled in recent times with the Tigers winning their past five clashes and scoring a total of 151 points in those games.

Match Officials: Referees – Matt Cecchin & Luke Phillips; Sideline Officials – Steve Carrall & Ricky MacFarlane; Video Referees – Jason Robinson & Sean Hampstead.

Televised: Channel Nine – Delayed, 4pm. Fox Sports – Delayed, 6pm.

The Way We See It: The Tigers will have been stung by the size of their embarrassing loss to the Knights. The Panthers, meanwhile, have to prove they can do it on a week-in, week-out basis. The Tigers should lift here, and playing at home we're going to tip them to win a close battle. Wests Tigers by four points.

 

[westTAHger]

it will be a very close match.
one can only suggest that ego's and pride have been hurt at wests-tigers this week..
wests-tigers by 1 point.

 

[jirskyr]

I really can't believe the punters are favouring us, they must only have watched the highlights (aka lowlights) from Monday night.

 

[Guest]

Courtesy of the official Wests Tigers website:

NRL Match Preview: Trust in each other a major key
Wayne Cousins

Saturday 16 March 2013 11:43 AM
NRL Match Preview: Trust in each other a major key

Wests Tigers Coach Mick Potter and Captain Robbie Farah agree it is a matter of trust.
To believe in the principles set and not to fall into the trap of bad habits.

It is the message Wests Tigers supporters can take some comfort in out of Monday night’s disappointing opening round loss to Newcastle.

With a short turnaround to tomorrow’s home game against Penrith at Campbelltown Sports Stadium, the team has had just two field sessions to rectify things.

It is why the first training session on Thursday was as intense as some of the players have seen.

“The boys really got stuck in to each other. It is important after a performance like the one we turned in that you get straight back into it,’’ said Farah, who missed the session with a broken nose but trained this morning.

“It was about having a good preparation and focusing on Sunday and putting last week out of our minds.”

Potter said the Thursday session featured solely on defence. The ball was back in play this morning.

“We focused on some of our deficiencies from the game and building that ability to withstand pressure. Some of our key points and principles in defence fell away,’’ Potter said.

“We need to address those and we did that. They have to trust each other. We saw what happened last Monday.

“If we want to build pressure on the other team, we just need to change slightly. We’ve got some fantastic players and they have got some really good things about them but we have just got to tip the balance and be a little more conservative and being a bit more resilient.”

For Farah and his team-mates, the 3pm kick-off on Sunday can’t come quickly enough.

“It (Monday) was very uncharacteristic for what we want to be this year. The old habits crept in. It will take time with a new coach and adapting to him coming in. Hopefully it will happen sooner than later,’’ the proud skipper said.

“When things go wrong as they did early in the game on Monday night, we started to panic a bit and came up with some errors that I guess were the Wests Tigers of old.

“It was disappointing for us after four months of a tough slog in the pre-season. It was shattering to start the way we did. We came into the year with a lot of expectation

“But it was only round one and there is still a long way to go. No one will remember round one if we get a win up tomorrow.”

Wests Tigers remain as per the side named on Tuesday for the clash against the Panthers.

 

[tig_prmz]

sounds like farah actually has a lot of trust in potter (or maybe he is good at selling, or im naive)

"wests tigers of old" hmm..

also what does this mean

…but we have just got to tip the balance and be a little more conservative and being a bit more resilient.”