Media Reports

[Guest]

ROOSTERS BEAT WESTS TIGERS 44-32 IN NRL
By Wayne Cousins
Sunday, 21 March 2010

Wests Tigers suffered a disappointing 44-32 loss to the Sydney Roosters today at the Sydney Football Stadium in round two of the Telstra Premiership.

Wests Tigers lost prop Bryce Gibbs through a hamstring injury. Junior Moors came off the interchange bench, meaning rising prop Andrew Fifita made his NRL debut.

Geoff Daniela, in his club debut for Wests Tigers, started off the interchange bench with Daniel Fitzhenry starting in replace of the suspended Beau Ryan.

In a late shock as the team ran out, Liam Fulton pulled out through illness with Jason Schirnack making his NRL debut off the bench.

Wests Tigers enjoyed the wealth of posession in the opening five minutes with the team looking good early in attack.

A short pass from dummy half by hooker and captain Robbie Farah saw five-eighth Benji Marshall crash through a defender to score under the posts. Marshall converted the try for a 6-0 lead after 11 minutes.

Wests Tigers winger Lote Tuqiri scored his second try in two games when he raced 70 metres to score. The try came after forward Junior Moors blocked a grubber kick for Farah to pick up and offload to Englishman Mark Flanagan.

Flanagan showed good pace and skills in the clear before offloading to Tuqiri who raced away to score near the posts. Marshall converted the try for a 12-0 lead after 14 minutes.

The Roosters opened their account through second-rower Mitchell Aubusson after a break by half-back Mitchell Pearce. It came on the back of a drop ball which was picked up by full-back Todd Carney who offloaded to Pearce.

Carney failed to convert the try from out wide for a 12-4 scoreline after 26 minutes.

Wests Tigers prop Jason Cayless gave away a dumb penalty for a flop in the next set of six.

The Roosters capatilised two plays later when Carney gave a short ball to put second-rower Aidan Guerra over out wide for a 12-8 scoreline.

Carney converted the try for a 12-10 scoreline after 29 minutes.

The Roosters took the lead when five-eighth Braith Anasta sent a pass to centre Phil Graham who pushed through the tackle of opposite centre Blake Ayshford to score in the corner. Carney failed to convert the try for a 14-12 scoreline after 33 minutes.

The Roosters had a touch of luck about their next try when centre Phil Graham followed through on his own grubber kick to score after full-back Tim Moltzen fumbled the ball in trying to pick it up off his line. It came after Wests Tigers allowed the Roosters to offload on the last tackle before Anasta put up a crossfield kick.

Carney converted the try for a 20-12 lead after 37 minutes.

Wests Tigers had one last chance to score in the dying seconds of the half when Marshall ran acrossfield on the last tackle. He found Farah and Ayshford in support before Fitzhenry was tackled with the ball just metres short of the line to leave the Roosters with a 20-12 lead at half-time.

2nd Half
The Roosters stretched their lead to 24-12 when Guerra brushed off the attempted tackles of Keith Galloway, Flanagan and Moltzen to score his second try. Carney converted the try for a 26-12 lead after 48 minutes.

It became 30-12 when Mitchell Aubusson fended off the attempted tackles of Farah and centre Chris Lawrence to find support to send Pearce over for a try. Carney converted the try for a 32-12 lead after 52 minutes. The try came after the Roosters picked up a loose pass from Marshall to Moltzen on half-way on the last tackle.

Carney was again involved in the action when he sent a pass to Graham to send winger Anthony Minichiello over in the corner. Carney rubbed further salt into the wound by converting from the sideline for a 38-12 scoreline.

Ayshford got the scoreline back to 38-16 when a drop ball by Carney saw Galloway pick the ball up to offload to Flanagan for Ayshford to score in the corner with 18 minutes remaining. Marshall failed to convert the try from the corner.

Pearce scored his second try when prop Lopina Paea brushed past Farah and Cayless to run downfield before sending the half-back over under the posts. Carney converted the try for a 44-16 lead after 66 minutes.

Just two minutes earlier, Wests Tigers had half a chance of scoring when Marshall regathered his own chip kick to offload to debutant Jason Schirnack who dropped the ball cold 20 metres out from the Roosters line.

Schirnack made up for two minutes later when he ran into a gap to score next to the posts. Marshall converted the try for a 44-22 scoreline with 11 minutes remaining.

An inside ball by lock Chris Heighington put Moltzen into a gap before he turned the ball back inside to send Marshall over for his second try. Marshall failed to convert the try from close range for a 44-26 scoreline after 75 minutes.

Fifita capped off a solid first grade debut when he used his brute strength to beat three defenders to score near the posts. Marshall converted the try for a 44-32 scoreline after 78 minutes.

Wests Tigers will now prepare for the round three blockbuster against Parramatta Eels at the Sydney Football Stadium next Friday night, March 26.

 

[Guest]

Sydney Roosters beat Wests Tigers in 14-try feast

* By David Beniuk
* From: AAP
* March 21, 2010 5:05PM

Source: The Daily Telegraph
NRL Round 2: Roosters v Tigers
\
\
* SYDNEY ROOSTERS 44 WESTS TIGERS 32

THE Sydney Roosters' stunning turnaround has continued with a commanding 44-32 victory over a flat Wests Tigers in the NRL clash at the Sydney Football Stadium.

In sapping mid-30s temperatures which were always going to test defences, it was the Roosters who came home the strongest after they were down 12-0 after just 13 minutes.

A blitz of four unanswered tries late in the first half helped the home side to a 20-12 halftime lead before they piled on another four second half four-pointers in front of 19,021 fans.

Halfback Mitchell, touted as a possible NSW captain by former Blues coach Ricky Stuart today, centre Phil Graham and second-rower Aidan Guerra each bagged doubles while Todd Carney, who had an influence on at least four Roosters tries, booted six from eight.

The 2009 wooden-spooners have now notched back-to-back big wins over two of the sides with big expectations on them this season, following last weekend's 36-10 thrashing of South Sydney.

The Tigers might have stayed in it as the sides returned for the second half but errors from Robert Lui and Benji Marshall gifted the Roosters the territory for Guerra's 46th-minute try and Pearce's in the 51st and the game was as good as over at 32-12.

Anthony Minichiello added to the misery in the 58th minute before Blake Ayshford got one back for the Tigers in the 62nd after a rare Carney error.

Pearce got his second in the 65th when big Lopini Paea ran through a feeble Robbie Farah tackle before consolation tries to Jason Schirnack in the 69th, Marshall in the 74th and Andrew Fifita in the 77th flattered the Tigers on the scoreboard.

The Tigers had come home with the wet sail in Monday's win over Manly but the physicality of that game and the short turnaround seemed to take its toll this afternoon.

Their fans were at least treated to another highlight from former Wallaby Lote Tuqiri, who sprinted 70m down the left touchline in the 13th minute to score a memorable try.

Tigers second-rower Gareth Ellis could come under scrutiny from the match review committee for what looked like a trip in the lead-up to the Roosters' third try.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

i dont read media reports when we lose - i have a problem i think - can someone help me?

 

[Guest]

'Sleep' lapses will produce nightmares
By Christian Nicolussi From: The Daily Telegraph March 22, 2010 12:00AM

TWELVE minutes was all it took yesterday for the Roosters to prove why the Wests Tigers will struggle to pose a serious NRL premiership threat if they continue to take snoozes in defence.

The Tigers raced out to a 12-0 lead at the SFS only to fall asleep while tackling and suddenly realised that Mitch Aubusson, Aidan Guerra and Phil Graham had snuck under their guard and set up the victory for the Roosters.

The flamboyant Tigers did it against Manly only six days earlier but were lucky enough to roar home. They launched a late charge yesterday, but the damage had already been done and this time there was too much ground to make up.

Superstar five-eighth Benji Marshall says the Tigers have no problems bagging tries - he picked up a double yesterday - but the worrying trend of leaking points quickly as they dozed in defence was a concern.

"It's a hard thing to nail down when you're out there on the field," Marshall said. "We had another lapse today where they went back to back, and those things can break a team's spirit. Once you score your confidence lifts again. It's not a big thing and we can fix it for next week."

Coach Tim Sheens said that his side was caught out on the right-hand side and Robert Lui was forced to do a lot of tackling with an injured ankle.

He sent Gareth Ellis in to lend a hand, but the Englishman suffered a calf injury.

"Younger blokes can second-guess themselves in defence and when they got beat they hesitated the next time and got beat again," Sheens said.

"When you make mistakes you have to try and complete the next set and finish with a good kick instead of getting fancy and playing your way out of it - you have to grind."

 

[Guest]

Sheens has a problem: Tigers short on ticker when the going gets tough PHIL GOULD
March 22, 2010

THE ANALYST

Wests Tigers need to toughen up. The talent of their individual players is unquestioned.

Their skill and flair rivals that of any team in the NRL competition.

With ball in hand they are creative and extremely dangerous from anywhere on the field. However - and it is a very big however - they do not possess the necessary grit or mental toughness I would expect from a professional football team.

Football is more than tricky passes, sneaky kicks, trick shots and entertaining the crowd. For a start, you have to spend half of every game without the ball, so you need to learn to enjoy your time in defence and make it work for you.

The Tigers have developed this annoying habit of only wanting to compete when the going is easy. When the run of play or luck goes against them, they leak points like a park team, and only become interested again when they get the ball back in good field position and can go back to attacking football.

Yesterday they dominated possession in the early stages and ran the Roosters ragged with some wonderful attacking football. They led 12-0 after 20 minutes and the score could've been so much more had they not met some determined Roosters' defence.

As is the case with most games, flow of possession changes and as soon as the Tigers were called upon to do some tackling they lost interest in the game. In the next 40 minutes they conceded 38 unanswered points and the match was over. The most unbelievable part of this period was the fact they did not improve one iota following a half-time chat with coach Tim Sheens.

At this point they only trailed by eight and most anticipated their poor end to the first half would inspire a stirring second-half revival. When they returned from the dressing rooms they were worse.

They were bunched in attack. They ran sideways with the ball, offering up easy tackles for the hungry Roosters' defence. In defence they applied no pressure whatsoever.

A sign a team has lost touch with the contest is when it does not harass opposition kickers on their tackle-five options. Sheens only needs to replay vision of Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce running 10 metres uncontested before getting away a long clearing kick.

Even allowing for uncomfortably hot weather at the SFS yesterday, too many Tigers gave up on each other when the blowtorch was applied.

They allowed the score to get away from them before rallying with a few late tries. The final result will show they were beaten 44-32\. Had they shown some grit and hung in during the tough periods, they only had to save a couple of tries to give themselves a chance of victory.

However, I don't want to take any credit away from the performance of the Roosters.

They showed great resolve to keep themselves in the match when the Tigers were running hot. When they got the chance to play some attacking football of their own they were not only clinical, they were devastatingly ruthless.

Their forwards toiled away admirably in the steamy conditions - none better than back-rower Nate Myles, who looks fitter and hungrier.

I like the look of new boy Aiden Guerra. He scored two tries running off passes from playmakers Todd Carney and Braith Anasta. He has great anticipation, an awareness of where to run and brilliant timing when coming on to the ball.

The Roosters' attack is well organised and well directed by Pearce. They can attack both sides of field. The best part of their offence is they are scoring tries through creativity in their passing game and not just relying on the kick-and-hope mentality of recent years.

Their defence is enthusiastic and well schooled. They will be hard to beat in any game they play.

The Tigers, on the other hand, are only hard to beat when they have the ball. That's not enough to make it in this competition.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Hard to argue with that from Gould, once again he is spot on.

 

[system]

We seem to begin this snooze when Cayless comes on the field.

Moors looked terrible when paired with Cayless but looked effective when starting with Galloway. Big Andrew's first stint was not great and stifled by Cayless's poor metres and soft hitups as it made him an easier target for gang tackles on the next hitup.

That and the deplorable performance of two of our playmakers (not the guy with the rolled ankle either) and the cork impeding Ellis and yesterday happened. I could excuse Mondays lapses due to the fact both teams had them and it was a brutal contest. Yesterday though is hopefully a wake up call of sorts

 

[quintus]

We are hopeless at defending our own line. It appears that everyone just does their own thing and hope for the best. This has been a problem (weakness) in our game for years.

 

[MGB]

Gould as per usual is spot on. Our first interchange generally leads to a leaking of points also.

 

[REHAB]

A part of gus article i found interesting was this…

As is the case with most games, flow of possession changes and as soon as the Tigers were called upon to do some tackling they lost interest in the game. In the next 40 minutes they conceded 38 unanswered points and the match was over. The most unbelievable part of this period was the fact they did not improve one iota following a half-time chat with coach Tim Sheens.

I would like to no what Tim Sheens did have to say at half time. Either he had nothing to say to improve the situation or the players are not listening to him. If thats the case and continues, something has to change.

 

[stryker]

A part of gus article i found interesting was this…

As is the case with most games, flow of possession changes and as soon as the Tigers were called upon to do some tackling they lost interest in the game. In the next 40 minutes they conceded 38 unanswered points and the match was over. The most unbelievable part of this period was the fact they did not improve one iota following a half-time chat with coach Tim Sheens.

I would like to no what Tim Sheens did have to say at half time. Either he had nothing to say to improve the situation or the players are not listening to him. If thats the case and continues, something has to change.

Sheens doesnt have an answer for this mate….if he did the problem would not have lasted this long.

What the hell did they do in the off season???

 

[tigeress]

I agree totally with the Gould report re the Tigers performance. Who is their defensive coach ! He should be replaced immediately, he has had several years to teach the Tigers some good defence, but this certainly didn't happen in yesterdays match. Flanagan and Fitita were the only players on the field who showed some grit, and Lote of course, the rest "weren't there". There's a long way to go yet, but lets hope this is not a repeat of the last few seasons.

 

[Guest]

POOR DECISIONS PROVE COSTLY
By Wayne Cousins
Sunday, 21 March 2010

Wests Tigers Coach Tim Sheens feels poor decisions by key players and the weight of possession against his side proved costly in the 44-32 loss to the Sydney Roosters.

In a match played in very humid conditions that saw two drinks breaks used, Sheens admitted the conditions made it tough as did the flow of penalties.

“It is hard to defend against the penalty count. Both sides found that. When one side got a little bit of ball, the other side paid the price,’’ Sheens said.

“The game went with the possession. We didn’t give away a penalty for the first 15-20 minutes and then the ball went the other way.

“We were 12-0 and going well with the ball. The first five to six rounds when you are finding your feet, if the possession count goes your way and particularly in blocks, back-to-back penalties and back-to- back tries which gives you some momentum, it is very, very hard to get your feet back in the ground and go forward again.

“The other side gets a lift. It was pretty hard going there today and losing a player just before kick-off and other things like that, again no excuses but it did put a little dent in us.”

Sheens admitted a number of key players made some poor decisions throughout.

“There were a few things that shouldn’t have happened. There were some mistakes made by the outside backs and some poor decision making,” he said.

“It wasn’t as though they ran straight through us. A couple of occasions we got burned as the game went on.

“Decisions made by key players at the back and on the edges are so very important and if you don’t defend as a group and you make mistakes, then the side pays for it. And that’s what happened.

“I am not going to point fingers at anyone. We feel the side as a whole could have played better. No one gave up. The score line reflected that a bit

“We have got to work harder at getting into the grind of the game. When we do make a mistake, make sure the next set is a completed set and a good kick chase. It is as simple as that. Every coach will tell you it is about doing it.

“We can score the points but we need to work hard, particularly on our edges to make sure we don’t give up those soft tries and the tries from kicks which we have got to defuse more.

“I like to think we are not going to put that performance together again. We gave up 44 points. That’s not good particularly for a first grade side.”

Captain Robbie Farah said the team must address its problem of conceding successive tries in a short period of time.

“We started well but as soon as they got the ball, we clocked off,’’ Farah said.

“Four tries in 10 minutes seems to be a bit of a thing with us now in terms of back to back tries. It is something we need to fix.”

 

[alien]

<big>Roosters prop Ryles goes 'ga-ga' in heat</big>
By David Beniuk AAP Mon, 22 Mar 2010 06:34:00

It was 35 degrees at kick-off, and Sydney Roosters coach Brian Smith said the heat had sent prop Jason Ryles "ga-ga".

Smith said Ryles had suffered a bout of sun-stroke during Sunday afternoon's 44-32 win over the Wests Tigers at the Sydney Football Stadium.

"I thought Rylesy had a touch of sun-stroke there at one stage, he was really crook," Smith said.

"He was just ga-ga, he was legless.

"He stood up and he did the wobbles.

"He was right again within five or 10 minutes once he got some water into him and cooled down but that was very hot."

Ryles put his 18th-minute problem down to a back injury, saying his stint in the south of France playing league in summer had prepared him for Sydney's early autumn heatwave.

"Smithy's probably just taking the piss out of me because I'm playing ordinary," he said.

"It was exactly like that (in France), it was awful so I was going over there thinking I'd be playing in the cold then all of a sudden summer hit and it was 30 degrees when you're playing, it was yuck."

Roosters captain Braith Anasta said the conditions had made it tough.

"I'm still finding my legs so I was struggling a bit out there," he said.

"It was pretty hot, tough conditions."

Tigers coach Tim Sheens said the conditions had influenced the decision to rule out sick second-rower Liam Fulton.

Sheens said Fulton had been ill all week but had got as far as Sunday's warm-up before being replaced by Englishman Mark Flanagan in the run-on side.

"He took ill so we just couldn't risk playing him in the conditions," Sheens said.

"The doc ruled him out during the warm-up, he got crook during the warm-up."

"It was a pretty hot game, conditions were pretty average and there were a few mistakes and it's hard to defend against the penalty count."

The Tigers could be without halfback Robert Lui (ankle) and forward Gareth Ellis (leg cork) for next week's clash with Parramatta but are hoping to have Bryce Gibbs, Todd Payten and Fulton back, while suspended winger Beau Ryan will also return.