innsaneink
Well-known member
Pretty historic day i think 90 odd years since wests last played there
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Quite astonishing really. After leading 18-15 after 55 minutes and looking the dominant team at the time, we decided to start the off-season early and lost 50-18.
Comments to come while they are fresh in my mind ...
Comments to come while they are fresh in my mind ...
tigahhh
Well-known member
howwwwww 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Middle defence was as soft as butter and not much better on our edges.
A couple of strong ball carries from Max Taotua was a highlight, but not much else to get excited about.
Tucker
Well-known member
We really need to clean this club out.
That’s as bad of a loss as you can get - 6 tries in 25 minutes when you were on top 🤣🤣🤣
Useless bastards.
That’s as bad of a loss as you can get - 6 tries in 25 minutes when you were on top 🤣🤣🤣
Useless bastards.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
It was hard to pick our best players as most were guilty of poor discipline, some poor defence or poor decisions. I say 'most' not all.
Thought Alex Lobb was very good and solid on the right wing, his aerial work is quite amazing and was part of the reason we hit the lead.
Brent Naden once again is a NSW Cup star. He went off when we were in front at 18-16 and then returned when it was game over.
Pheonix Godinet was exceptional at right backrow when he came one. His strength & ability to break tackles for his size atm for an 18yo is uncanny. Was solid in defence too.
I reckon Elijah Mataale for his Cup debut was very good in the middle too - strong carries & generally strong in D except one tackle when Roosters giant Vaa took him about 5m. But he has size & presence.
Luke Laulilii was also good at fullback despite a stint in the sin bin early. Very good backing up through the middle, showed some ball skills, safe at the back and made some good tackles but a few barge-over tries late his effort looked poor but others were worse.
Saukuru was really strong in his carries at left backrow, just a few poor attempts late where he needs to show a bit more effort & desire in putting his body on the line to prevent tries close to the line.
Also Max Taotua did his job very well at right centre with strong carries from the backfield and also a nice tackle-busting run when he shrugged off Junior Tupou gave us a glimpse of what is to come for this 20yo.
Tristan Hope was rocks'n diamonds. Some big plays mixed with some poor decisions. Hopefully another pre-season in the NRL squad will be of great benefit to these lapses.
Jaxson Rahme was his usual workman like self, looked good just a poor effort from marker late missing a tackle which led to a try.
On the negative front ...
Kit Laulilii made some huge powerful runs and made me think Moses Leota Jr but like many there are two parts of the game, attack & DEFENCE. Whilst generally ok, still fell off a tackle early for a Roosters line break and then should have done more on the line for 1 or 2 ties late by Roosters big men.
Worse than Kit was Peter Taateo. Yes very good in his runs and leg speed but his lateral defence is a big problem and a big reason we were down early in the game.
My final critique is Krystian Mapapalangi. Didn't show much with the ball, a couple of errors trying to force an outcome and was found out a few times in defence - one time Trey Peni beat him 1-on-1 leading to a line break & try. Seems to be a liability in defence at centre which is disappointing as I had high hopes for him.
Looking ahead, some very promising signs by the 18-21yos in this team even Kit who is on an upward trajectory and also Brent Naden & Alex Lobb.
Shout out to Charlie Staines in his final game for the club. He was a solid contributor.
Thought Alex Lobb was very good and solid on the right wing, his aerial work is quite amazing and was part of the reason we hit the lead.
Brent Naden once again is a NSW Cup star. He went off when we were in front at 18-16 and then returned when it was game over.
Pheonix Godinet was exceptional at right backrow when he came one. His strength & ability to break tackles for his size atm for an 18yo is uncanny. Was solid in defence too.
I reckon Elijah Mataale for his Cup debut was very good in the middle too - strong carries & generally strong in D except one tackle when Roosters giant Vaa took him about 5m. But he has size & presence.
Luke Laulilii was also good at fullback despite a stint in the sin bin early. Very good backing up through the middle, showed some ball skills, safe at the back and made some good tackles but a few barge-over tries late his effort looked poor but others were worse.
Saukuru was really strong in his carries at left backrow, just a few poor attempts late where he needs to show a bit more effort & desire in putting his body on the line to prevent tries close to the line.
Also Max Taotua did his job very well at right centre with strong carries from the backfield and also a nice tackle-busting run when he shrugged off Junior Tupou gave us a glimpse of what is to come for this 20yo.
Tristan Hope was rocks'n diamonds. Some big plays mixed with some poor decisions. Hopefully another pre-season in the NRL squad will be of great benefit to these lapses.
Jaxson Rahme was his usual workman like self, looked good just a poor effort from marker late missing a tackle which led to a try.
On the negative front ...
Kit Laulilii made some huge powerful runs and made me think Moses Leota Jr but like many there are two parts of the game, attack & DEFENCE. Whilst generally ok, still fell off a tackle early for a Roosters line break and then should have done more on the line for 1 or 2 ties late by Roosters big men.
Worse than Kit was Peter Taateo. Yes very good in his runs and leg speed but his lateral defence is a big problem and a big reason we were down early in the game.
My final critique is Krystian Mapapalangi. Didn't show much with the ball, a couple of errors trying to force an outcome and was found out a few times in defence - one time Trey Peni beat him 1-on-1 leading to a line break & try. Seems to be a liability in defence at centre which is disappointing as I had high hopes for him.
Looking ahead, some very promising signs by the 18-21yos in this team even Kit who is on an upward trajectory and also Brent Naden & Alex Lobb.
Shout out to Charlie Staines in his final game for the club. He was a solid contributor.
34 unanswered points in 28 minutes. That's equivalent to being beaten 97 - nil in an 80 minute game. Clearly some of these players, if not most, are not KOE level let alone being aspiring NRL players. They must be moved on.
But, the next 6 months will tell us how serious this club is about competing at the top echelons of the NRL, NRLW and NSWRL competitions.
They will be serious if they
- sack Aaron Payne
- sack Brett Kimmorley
- review the performances of our four Matts and Ball coaches and replace if necessary
- add 4 quality NRL players to the top side (3 forwards and 1 back)
- recruit quality to the NRLW side (might need 6 new players)
- replace our NRL assistant coaches with perhaps the exception of Morris (not sure about him) and break the connection with the 2005 side. Benji needs quality assistance, not yes men.
I'm sure there's more to do but IMHO this would be a good start.
But, the next 6 months will tell us how serious this club is about competing at the top echelons of the NRL, NRLW and NSWRL competitions.
They will be serious if they
- sack Aaron Payne
- sack Brett Kimmorley
- review the performances of our four Matts and Ball coaches and replace if necessary
- add 4 quality NRL players to the top side (3 forwards and 1 back)
- recruit quality to the NRLW side (might need 6 new players)
- replace our NRL assistant coaches with perhaps the exception of Morris (not sure about him) and break the connection with the 2005 side. Benji needs quality assistance, not yes men.
I'm sure there's more to do but IMHO this would be a good start.
Why is there a narrative from some here that because Benjie has surrounded himself with people he trusts are yes men?. Being former team mates who i think he would demand/expect open honest conversation from/with
Yes people rarely get anywhere in life or contribute anything worthwhile in a work or social environment
Benjie may not have his recipe right being so green in the coaching ranks ,but he's not an egotistical fool
Wrong thread i'll see myself out
Yes people rarely get anywhere in life or contribute anything worthwhile in a work or social environment
Benjie may not have his recipe right being so green in the coaching ranks ,but he's not an egotistical fool
Wrong thread i'll see myself out
Not sure, but lets hope he surrounds himself with someone who explains that it’s generally a good idea to kick and contest the ball on the 5th tackle.
Tiger_Yoshi
Well-known member
We need to
Clean out the KOE squad starting with the coach
Clean out the KOE squad starting with the coach
tigahhh
Well-known member
ikr absolute fools
They were the second worst defensively in the comp and 3rd worst in attack. Too inconsistent and they just don't have the squad to compete. Our whole NRL bench should be in reserve grade and also we need a cleanout of reserve grade, most of 90% of them are not NRL quality or backup quality.
Our Cup side just had 50 points put on them by a mid table team the Roosters
Defence like that says we are really lacking in depth
Kind of glad they are called the Magpies which is a club I've never supported and still don't! ( don't support any team called Balmain either )
Defence like that says we are really lacking in depth
Kind of glad they are called the Magpies which is a club I've never supported and still don't! ( don't support any team called Balmain either )
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Sometimes when a team gets their confidence up like the Roosters in the last 15 mins, passes stick, forwards charge & the roll-on is hard to stop.
Today it was evident we were a young team without much leadership especially when Naden went off at 18-16 up. This is when our middles (Taateo, Kit, Rahme) & hooker/halves (Hope, Falls, debutant Iverson Matai) let us down. We lost the middle badly in this period & our lack of defensive mindset could not turn it around.
Last time we played them Royce Hunt steamrolled & crunched their middles and a player of his size & aggression was severely missed today.
The 2 players who disappointed me most today (aside from Kurt Falls who is arguably the worst defender in NSW Cup) were Taateo & Mapapalangi. Both should be knocking the door down to play NRL but both don’t bring strong defensive effort or attitude. Huge alarm bells for me if they are retained on a T&T. Imo their Roosters opponents owned them today.
WesternSuburbsBoy
Well-known member
Liles has been retained for next year.
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Great news WSB 👍
Kurt Falls certainly did this year ,fall that is. Just does my head in how we all of a sudden click as a team
All grades included ,next minute just go back to double D dumb and roll over worming about on the ground wanting a belly tickle
I am sure I have seen similar comments before. I will support any team which is clearly the reserve grade team of the Wests Tigers, regardless of what they are called. I am certainly not glad when our reserve grade team lose.
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