Our recent performances deserve praise

[citizen_cub]

People can keep referring to the Souths game all they like, but let me tell you one thing, it isn't easy backing up 5 days later from such a demoralising loss and then recording a win. Then backing it up with two further wins.

Sure, that game against Newcastle was far from convincing but going up there with a short turnaround and scrutinising headlines all of that week, couldn't have been easy.

The defence has really stepped up and the even when it may have been a little below par, our scramble defence has made up for it. As Gus Gould says, defence is about application and attitude, not about the size of the team. And the last few weeks, our pack have really backed up that theory.

Other teams are also complaining about how they've had 'horror' injury runs, but the tigers have been missing as much key players as anyone in the comp. Missing our first choice half-back, centre and front rower. Taking a half back out of your team can have damaging effects, this was shown when the Roosters recently lost Mitchell Pearce. They played horribly and beat a team playing even more horribly on the day that being the tigers.

Now we've got ourselves in a position where we only have to win 5 games to make the eight, unlike every other year where we've been performing badly at the halfway mark and have to rely on big winning streaks towards the end of the season.

 

[tiger05]

Every win is a good win imo however I don't think we are really firing yet.

The win against the dogs was real good however as we grinded that win out and we were up against it on more than one occassion.

Imo we still have holes in our team though. Ryan was really good against the dogs but I'd like to see McKinnon get a go there. Lui has been reasonably good but has a way to go. Benji and Robbie have been up and down.

Our forwards though are looking the goods. Against that though will Sheens pick a good size pack every week. He could real easily pick Fulton, Flanagan and Fitzy when they are all fit.

Injuries, Benji's & Robbie's form and Sheens selections are still a concern and will be for a while yet.

 

[Peaches]

Before the Warriors match I don't think the team had played an 80 minute performance. The last 2 weeks have been very good. Hopefully it continues after the bye.

 

[X-Pac]

um we are only just beating teams below us,and we never usually have problems with out of form teams
the teams in form are the ones we need to beat

 

[KingOvKingz09]

um we are only just beating teams below us,and we never usually have problems with out of form teams
the teams in form are the ones we need to beat

Knights were in form they had just come off a win…. Warriors were ontop of us when we vs. them... and we dont have problems with out of form teams ?... tell us that when we were beaten by the dogs after they lost 3 in a row...

 

[Jazza]

um we are only just beating teams below us,and we never usually have problems with out of form teams
the teams in form are the ones we need to beat

I cant agree with you there mate.
If anything we tend to step up against the stronger teams and fall down when we're expected to win.
You just got to look at how well we have done against Melbourne and the Bulldogs the last 3 or 4 years (Longer with the Bulldogs) and then look at how we have lost matches in the past seasons to Penrith, Parra, Warriors and Souths. Add to that our loss against Newcastle who were coming last in 07 and we lost to the Roosters this year who havent been great as well.

 

[system]

The Souths game will be in my mind all season. You don't forget or stop referencing a game like that in your mind.

We are beating what is put in front of us for now and that is all we can do

 

[citizen_cub]

um we are only just beating teams below us,and we never usually have problems with out of form teams
the teams in form are the ones we need to beat

Yes, but it's the fact that we've bounced back from a 40 point loss and then gone on to record 3 straight wins. That whole week leading up to the Knights match there were embarrassing headlines, people calling up radio shows and calling for Sheens to be axed, people on forums were abusing players and some were even ripping up memberships and merchandise… i.e. Fergie. It must have been difficult for the players to concentrate on the job ahead and even feel motivated to play that's how much scrutiny and abuse they had copped.

I wouldn't say the Knights and Warriors were out of form when we played them. Both had come off a win, one winning against a team who put 50 on us the previous week.

 

[jirskyr]

um we are only just beating teams below us,and we never usually have problems with out of form teams
the teams in form are the ones we need to beat

I cant agree with you there mate.
If anything we tend to step up against the stronger teams and fall down when we're expected to win.
You just got to look at how well we have done against Melbourne and the Bulldogs the last 3 or 4 years (Longer with the Bulldogs) and then look at how we have lost matches in the past seasons to Penrith, Parra, Warriors and Souths. Add to that our loss against Newcastle who were coming last in 07 and we lost to the Roosters this year who havent been great as well.

A mate of mine spent the entire Doggies game telling me how we weren't a wet weather team and that we'd lose the grinding type match it was evolving into.

And in fact we improved our discipline over the course of the match, worked methodically for the FG and then sealed it with a little more attack at the death. Really couldn't have handled that game better, it wasn't as if the Bulldogs were poor. We forced the few mistakes they made, and their kicking was superior to ours.

They even said it in their press conference - despite realistically being the more threatening side, they couldn't close out in the final 10\. Our problem historically has been that close out, so it was a great win, like the Newcastle game.

 

[southerntiger]

um we are only just beating teams below us,and we never usually have problems with out of form teams
the teams in form are the ones we need to beat

I cant agree with you there mate.
If anything we tend to step up against the stronger teams and fall down when we're expected to win.
You just got to look at how well we have done against Melbourne and the Bulldogs the last 3 or 4 years (Longer with the Bulldogs) and then look at how we have lost matches in the past seasons to Penrith, Parra, Warriors and Souths. Add to that our loss against Newcastle who were coming last in 07 and we lost to the Roosters this year who havent been great as well.

Absolutely agree with this. We have missed the finals in the past because of our failure to beat teams we should have beat.

I am still worried that we might be ruing the two Roosters losses at the end of the year.