Our pack is the weakest going around (or one of)

[hadds75]

I posted the same thing a few weeks ago and I write it again today. Our pack is the weakest in the comp. All we have is a bunch of tryers but unfortunately effort only gets you so far. Im not pushing the blame of today onto them but this is now fact. Gibbs, Payten, Flanagan, Fulton, Heighnington - there all the same. Guys who make a huge effort, make a lot of tackles, make a lot of hitups, but theres no real effect.

You want to see forwards, look at the souths side, look at teh guys constantly charging at the line getting over the advantage line. Then look at our forwards constantly running at the defence and most of the time being held comfortably. And its not just the souths pack, who are full of superstars, every side who we play gets over us really, roosters, canberra, penrith, a highly weakened dogs pack.

We arent 1 forward short, we are a few. And as i said, im not trying to single some guys out on todays performance, as some who i named put in alot of effort and have played well at times this year.

 

[stryker]

Been the case for 10 years…..

 

[Vicious]

I posted the same thing a few weeks ago and I write it again today. Our pack is the weakest in the comp. All we have is a bunch of tryers but unfortunately effort only gets you so far. Im not pushing the blame of today onto them but this is now fact. Gibbs, Payten, Flanagan, Fulton, Heighnington - there all the same. Guys who make a huge effort, make a lot of tackles, make a lot of hitups, but theres no real effect.

You want to see forwards, look at the souths side, look at teh guys constantly charging at the line getting over the advantage line. Then look at our forwards constantly running at the defence and most of the time being held comfortably. And its not just the souths pack, who are full of superstars, every side who we play gets over us really, roosters, canberra, penrith, a highly weakened dogs pack.

We arent 1 forward short, we are a few. And as i said, im not trying to single some guys out on todays performance, as some who i named put in alot of effort and have played well at times this year.

You`re spot on. The owrst past about it is that we do have damaging ball runners in the lower grades who could make a bit of difference if given a go. The back row needs a total overhaul, keep Ellis, but players such as Josh Davis and Willie Mataka need to come in and have Simon Dwyer on the bench. Push Heighington into the front row as he isn`t dangerous enough to play in the back row and i`d be pushing Fulton out into the centres in replace of Ayshford if he`s to keep his spot in the side as he isn`t making enough impact to be a backrower either.

 

[mikey]

Been the case for 10 years…..

Have to disagree there. Was a time when we had great forards but no backs. Now it's the opposite. It seems to me that Sheens hasn't moved on from 2005 when we were able to win with light forwards due to the speed of the play the ball.

 

[tiger05]

I disagree. I think we have enougth forwards to put a real good pack on the field each week.

Sheens though needs to bite the bullet and start dropping some of the underperformers. Choose 4 props (2 on the bench) and 5 backrowers (2 on the bench).

13\. Fulton
12\. Heighington
11\. Ellis
10\. Galloway
9\. Farah
8\. Gibbs
14\. Fifita
15\. Payten
16\. Jason Schirnack
17\. Mataka

When there are injuries or players are underperforming replace a prop with a prop and a backrower with a backrower.

 

[red_dogg]

i agree with you, i ate humble pie when i said lote wasnt what we needed…. but now.... the 250k-300k he is on could of bought us a good prop someone to help us get forward so it isnt so dependent on kg

 

[Guest]

The balance in the forwards just isn't there IMO. Galloway when fit goes well and Gibbs is a good foil. No dramas with Ellis in the second row or Heighno at lock. The Tigers need an impact second rower to help out Ellis and they need some size and impact off the bench. Fifita is fine but other than that, the Tigers don't have enough size or impact. Cayless is broken on the sideline, and Tame Tupou is still not back on the field. There is some great size and talent in the NYC but none of them are ready for FG.

 

[Chadman_s_Ghost]

The balance in the forwards just isn't there IMO. Galloway when fit goes well and Gibbs is a good foil. No dramas with Ellis in the second row or Heighno at lock. The Tigers need an impact second rower to help out Ellis and they need some size and impact off the bench. Fifita is fine but other than that, the Tigers don't have enough size or impact. Cayless is broken on the sideline, and Tame Tupou is still not back on the field. There is some great size and talent in the NYC but none of them are ready for FG.

Absolutely spot-on. It is the 'balance' that is wrong- not the players. in fact, most of the Tigers forwards would get a run in most clubs- either starting or on the bench. It's just that, as a collective group, they lack that 'something'.

Galloway is really the only damaging runner in the starting group, with Fifita off the bench similar. Gibbs, Payten, Ellis, Moors- all very similar. Only 2 out of the 4 are required on gameday. Heighington is probably the class of the group- the one that can't be replaced. He's the Tigers Hindmarsh. Fulton & Flanagan are the same player. Only 1 is really required IN THE FORWARDS. (Not against having Flanagan on the bench to cover the backs).

The Tigers lack that Fui Fui type guy- the hard runner that has only 1 purpose- get metres & momentum. Doesn't have to be a 30 tackle a game guy- just run hard. An impact forward, that you can insert into the game to spice it up a bit. And a ballplaying forward- a guy that creates second phase play. Yes- some Tigers forwards can pass- but it's not what they are known for. A guy that can pass before the line is required. (Payten could be that guy I guess..)
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That big dude from the 20's- something or other Masala..looks the goods as the impact forward.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

That would be Ben Murdoch-Masila.

 

[Fast_Eddie]

Every other team runs harder than us.
Look at the oomph in the first 3 tackles other sides have compared to us.
They run hard and take the metres early in the set.
We have a clown that is a coach's pet make a 2.6m dint in the line after running 4 360s and our forwards are then running into defences that are set and waiting to smash them.
Fitzhenry makes the Jason Moodie experiment look like the second coming of Michael Hancock

 

[Chadman_s_Ghost]

That would be Ben Murdoch-Masila.

That would be him- indeed. Too early for him in 1sts- but that is the sort of guy needed.

 

[system]

Problem with Murdoch is that we had an impact forward from the 20's make his debut round 1 and even he is inconsistent. Fifota provided far more in the 20's than Murdoch as well.

Its a big step up running against men and seasoned professionals

 

[hybrid_tiger]

I agree smeg, but at the moment I really don't care. There is no way Murdoch or anyone from the 20s could have played worse than our first graders yesterday.

As always, we lack an impact forward (Fifita aside). Heighington, Fulton, Payten, Flanagan are all decent players but they are all similar sorts of players. They don't have any significant impact. They will defend well, bust their gut, always try hard but they don't provide any significant momentum and none of them are gamebreakers.

I think Ellis has the potential to be one, but we don't use him correctly and he spends his time carting it up the middle like a prop. What a waste of talent.

 

[system]

I posted the side I would like to see and Murdoch came close but wasn't quite in contention yet. I would bring Vunakace in before Murdoch right now. Size is not the biggest issue. it is commitment.

Payten is a great backrower but offensivley is not up to the grunt work.

Gibbs is but because he has to play so many minutes he has to pace himself out too much. In the first few rounds he was able to pick his moments and really tear in but the lighter on we get the more he has to conserve his energy.

The first two to go this week should be Marshall and Farah though. They have been terrible for almost a month now.

 

[Guest]

I posted the side I would like to see and Murdoch came close but wasn't quite in contention yet. I would bring Vunakace in before Murdoch right now. Size is not the biggest issue. it is commitment.

Payten is a great backrower but offensivley is not up to the grunt work.

Gibbs is but because he has to play so many minutes he has to pace himself out too much. In the first few rounds he was able to pick his moments and really tear in but the lighter on we get the more he has to conserve his energy.

The first two to go this week should be Marshall and Farah though. They have been terrible for almost a month now.

Well that's it, there's some great size and talent coming through the lower grades, but match fitness and experience would see them all struggle in FG at the moment.

 

[Geo]

:laughing: Struggle more that the pack did yesterday….seriously...I doubt it....

17\. Mason Tauloa...he's your man...