**<big>Fancy Dan Tigers show they have toughness for semi-final cauldron</big>\
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<big>Ricky Stuar</big>t From: The Sunday Telegraph August 07, 2011 12:00AM**
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/fancy-dan-tigers-show-they-have-toughness-for-semi-final-cauldron/story-e6frext9-1226109800031
I ALWAYS believed the Wests Tigers leaked too many points to be serious premiership contenders - right up until Friday night.
Their effort against St George Illawarra has me convinced we have seen our first semi-final game of the season and this premiership is starting to open up.
Last week, I said I thought only three sides - Melbourne, Manly and St George Illawarra - could win the premiership. That was based on those three teams being the most complete defensively.
Now we can add the Wests Tigers to the mix.
Both sides had plenty to prove heading into the game.
The Dragons had lost six of their previous eight, including their previous two after being in position where they should have closed them out.
Wests came in with three wins in a row after some indifferent form, so Friday night was either going to underline their great win against Manly the week before or reveal them as a team still very much hot and cold.
So, with plenty at stake, I liked what I saw before the game. In the Dragons' dressing room, Wayne Bennett pulled his forwards aside. No doubt, he was putting the question to them, reminding them what they had to do. After some serious lapses, this was the night to get their heads back on.
The Tigers looked relaxed and ready, which is when they play their best footy.
And what happened next was some of the best football we have seen all year.
Even though it was only 2-0 at halftime, don't let that fool you. It was semi-final tough. It was intense. It was two teams committed to winning the game, and they were doing that through the defence.
Channel Nine boss David Gyngell has made it clear that he loves footy and his network will be right in it when the television rights come up, and Friday night showed why.
It was terrific television, going right up until the last minute when the losing team had more than one chance to steal it.
I know I'm biased, but that's what rugby league delivers more than any other sport I see on TV.
And the standard was set early. Wests Tigers took it to the Dragons and the premiers rolled up their sleeves, ready for a dogfight.
The way the Tigers got up in the face of the St George Illawarra attack and paddled out in defence - which is what I describe as holding their line and drifting with the ball as it goes by them - was one of the better defensive efforts of the season.
Now that they have shown they are capable of doing it, they have to show they are capable of doing it consistently.
That's all that lies between them and a serious crack at the premiership because there's no question that the Tigers
can attack.
This year we've seen them behind 20-8 and 26-12 and come back to win.
But scoring points doesn't win you semi-finals.
Eliminating points does.
Defences are so good in the finals that you can't afford to give away easy points like the Tigers have done too often in the past and still expect to come back and win.
At some point your defence has to make a stand.
And the Tigers did that on Friday night.
Of the their four wins on the trot, I'd say this is the one coach Tim Sheens would be most happy with, because it said so much about where they can and want to be be come the finals.
The Tigers have a happy knack of coming good about this time of the season and finding some momentum
that carries them through
the finals.
This year, they look to be well placed to repeat that.
I wouldn't be too concerned - yet - if I were the Dragons.
While some people have been saying they are in a slump, they are far from that.
Their commitment to defence and some of their efforts showed they are still capable of playing good football, which teams in slumps don't do.
But there are some areas they need to fix, and if it isn't causing Wayne Bennett a worry yet, it soon will be.
I'd still like to see Jamie Soward and Darius Boyd get more involved, particularly on the Dragons' right edge, where the defence isn't as condensed for the Dragons as it is for other sides, given their potent left side.
It looks like they have four more weeks to work it out.
\
<big>Ricky Stuar</big>t From: The Sunday Telegraph August 07, 2011 12:00AM**
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/fancy-dan-tigers-show-they-have-toughness-for-semi-final-cauldron/story-e6frext9-1226109800031
I ALWAYS believed the Wests Tigers leaked too many points to be serious premiership contenders - right up until Friday night.
Their effort against St George Illawarra has me convinced we have seen our first semi-final game of the season and this premiership is starting to open up.
Last week, I said I thought only three sides - Melbourne, Manly and St George Illawarra - could win the premiership. That was based on those three teams being the most complete defensively.
Now we can add the Wests Tigers to the mix.
Both sides had plenty to prove heading into the game.
The Dragons had lost six of their previous eight, including their previous two after being in position where they should have closed them out.
Wests came in with three wins in a row after some indifferent form, so Friday night was either going to underline their great win against Manly the week before or reveal them as a team still very much hot and cold.
So, with plenty at stake, I liked what I saw before the game. In the Dragons' dressing room, Wayne Bennett pulled his forwards aside. No doubt, he was putting the question to them, reminding them what they had to do. After some serious lapses, this was the night to get their heads back on.
The Tigers looked relaxed and ready, which is when they play their best footy.
And what happened next was some of the best football we have seen all year.
Even though it was only 2-0 at halftime, don't let that fool you. It was semi-final tough. It was intense. It was two teams committed to winning the game, and they were doing that through the defence.
Channel Nine boss David Gyngell has made it clear that he loves footy and his network will be right in it when the television rights come up, and Friday night showed why.
It was terrific television, going right up until the last minute when the losing team had more than one chance to steal it.
I know I'm biased, but that's what rugby league delivers more than any other sport I see on TV.
And the standard was set early. Wests Tigers took it to the Dragons and the premiers rolled up their sleeves, ready for a dogfight.
The way the Tigers got up in the face of the St George Illawarra attack and paddled out in defence - which is what I describe as holding their line and drifting with the ball as it goes by them - was one of the better defensive efforts of the season.
Now that they have shown they are capable of doing it, they have to show they are capable of doing it consistently.
That's all that lies between them and a serious crack at the premiership because there's no question that the Tigers
can attack.
This year we've seen them behind 20-8 and 26-12 and come back to win.
But scoring points doesn't win you semi-finals.
Eliminating points does.
Defences are so good in the finals that you can't afford to give away easy points like the Tigers have done too often in the past and still expect to come back and win.
At some point your defence has to make a stand.
And the Tigers did that on Friday night.
Of the their four wins on the trot, I'd say this is the one coach Tim Sheens would be most happy with, because it said so much about where they can and want to be be come the finals.
The Tigers have a happy knack of coming good about this time of the season and finding some momentum
that carries them through
the finals.
This year, they look to be well placed to repeat that.
I wouldn't be too concerned - yet - if I were the Dragons.
While some people have been saying they are in a slump, they are far from that.
Their commitment to defence and some of their efforts showed they are still capable of playing good football, which teams in slumps don't do.
But there are some areas they need to fix, and if it isn't causing Wayne Bennett a worry yet, it soon will be.
I'd still like to see Jamie Soward and Darius Boyd get more involved, particularly on the Dragons' right edge, where the defence isn't as condensed for the Dragons as it is for other sides, given their potent left side.
It looks like they have four more weeks to work it out.
