Round 1 Thoughts

[trentrunciman]

Round 1 v Raiders @ Canberra

This game over the past few seasons has always been a difficult one a yesterday was different why because in years gone by it would have been 30 nil at half time with Raiders on the way to 50 + scoreline only for a few silly errors we let the Raiders off the hook it's early season and we can only improve.

Another point out of the game is what to do
with Moses Mbye ???? everybodies 2nd favourite whipping boy.
He's @ $700k a year player who we have until end of 2022 SOO rep player and can cover every position in the backline I think its time Madge moved him to 13.
Alex Twal is a wholehearted player but I would say he's a better 8 10 11 or 12 this is where Mbye could prove good value and may make him more attractive to other teams if WT'S plan to move him on he's big enough fast enough and can defend.

wow he's on 700k! jeeebus

 

[Goldust]

I was acting pretty smug at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half everyone had left the room because I was back to my usual game day antics.
Such a promising start.we defended so well in that first half whilst making it really hard for ourselves,some how we kept them to one try off a kick!
Our forwards were pretty good in the middle,with and without the ball.
Really let down by Liddle,Garner and Brooks.no other team would let those guys get away with that sort of performance.
I thought we looked pretty dangerous every time we went out to Roberts and Nofo’s edge considering the type of ball they received.
The big positive out of that game for me was Laurie,his positioning was pretty spot on,and not afraid to go hard into a tackle.
We’ll bounce back.......maybe 😂

 

[tig_prmz]

Definitely some improvement needed, but if you break down Canberra's points, they got a bit lucky and we compounded that with silly errors.

The 2 softest defensive efforts were the Ryan James try and the final Rapana try.

Other than that we copped tries from:

1. Deflection off Garner straight to a Raiders player
2. Simonsson catch in the air and pass to a player in full stride - freak try.
3. Ball goes to ground while we are attacking and they streak 80 metres to score.

The issue is we concede field position putting our defence under pressure. A bomb is a lot easier to defend when it's from the 50 compared to inside 20.

The first try was definitely bad luck as the penalty was BS and the kick was a lucky deflection, but the others we put ourselves in that situation and Raiders were good enough to take advantage of it.

 

[hobbo1]

That is a crazy big and talented Raiders team. We aren't in their class.

But we weren't that bad. We won't play teams that huge every week and we won't be as fatigued as a result.

I take a lot of heart in the recruitment. Our best and brightest today were all recruited on Maguire's watch.

NO , Simkin was Madge, the rest were Hartigan. The plodders were Madge.

Rubbish - you are assuming....YOU DO NOT KNOW THAT!

I would suggest it is a combination of both. That's my opinion anyway.

Love ya Russ ?
You remind me of Ted Bullpit ?

 

[weststigers]

Definitely some improvement needed, but if you break down Canberra's points, they got a bit lucky and we compounded that with silly errors.

The 2 softest defensive efforts were the Ryan James try and the final Rapana try.

Other than that we copped tries from:

1. Deflection off Garner straight to a Raiders player
2. Simonsson catch in the air and pass to a player in full stride - freak try.
3. Ball goes to ground while we are attacking and they streak 80 metres to score.


The issue is we concede field position putting our defence under pressure. A bomb is a lot easier to defend when it's from the 50 compared to inside 20.

The first try was definitely bad luck as the penalty was BS and the kick was a lucky deflection, but the others we put ourselves in that situation and Raiders were good enough to take advantage of it.

Agreed, but I did make that point in my post. Self inflicted was the phrase I used.

 

[eyewondertwo]

11 games in a row where the team has conceded 26 plus points.
coach needs to address this issue.
at least there's no complaints about the goal kicking.

 

[Snake]

11 games in a row where the team has conceded 26 plus points.
coach needs to address this issue.
at least there's no complaints about the goal kicking.

As I posted previously Garner needs to be dropped Asap ...it is not the stupidity of the action it was the response LAUGHING about the fact then it leading to a 6 pointer ! Yep real funny mate .There is no cultural change for mine with behaviour like this if Madge does not act it will belong season .

 

[Tim Sheens]

Thoughts are that we didn't live up to the expectations of some, including myself, though per **"Most betting agencies have us +9.5 points start"** from @Tigerbuck63 elsewhere, take Garner's influence away and we probably match or beat the bookies.

 

[DGilly]

I don’t understand why every other team that’s had bad runs in the past (Knights, Eels, Panthers) can just revamp their team and become some of the better teams in the comp, yet we go through player after player, combination after combination and it always turns to crap.

I’m sick of signing average players and pretending like they’ll turn us into a premiership threat when 1 in every 5 of them pans out.

Knights got Klemmer, Frizel, Ponga, Pearce and they become a strong team. We sign a bunch of “young guns” that don’t pan out or leave and mid tier players who do the same.

Same story every year

Ah let's have some perspective here - none of the sides you mentioned here "just revamped" their lineups and became good. It generally doesn't work that simply or quickly.

2020 was the first time the Knights have made the finals in 7 seasons, and they were blown away by Rabbits in the first week. Pearce and Ponga have been with the side since 2018 (Klemmer 2019) and they came 11th in 2018-2019.

Eels also spent 7 years building towards a finals-bound side, and Brad Arthur did not get them there until his 4th season in charge.

Penrith missed the finals 8 out of 9 seasons before Ivan Cleary joined, and Cleary got them to the finals in his third year. They've hung around the finals 5/7 years since that 2014 result.

With that as evidence, you don't become a finals-capable side until you get a good roster going for several years, with strong juniors and preferably with stability for your head coach. Tigers obviously have had a worse finals run than any of those sides, but it's not so much worse. In the 9 years since Tigers last played finals, Eels have been there 3 times and won 3 spoons. Knights have been there twice also with 3 wooden spoons. Panthers have done it 5 times - 5/9 finals appearances is an average result, barely above half.

Maguire needs that same stuff - he needs time, he needs to get his good signings to do their job (not encumbered by bad signings of his predecessors), he needs to get his juniors up to scratch.

Yeah, I know it didn’t happen for them overnight but the point is it happened. In Penrith’s case, they went from missing the finals to a GF in 3 years under Ivan.

We have gone 10 years. Huge difference.

Eels didnt make the finals from 2010-2016 and have made it 3 times since then.

That’s what I call revamping.

 

[TigerWest]

It’s a long season, we’ll all be in hospital by the end😂😂😂

 

[Lauren]

It’s a long season, we’ll all be in hospital by the end😂😂😂

Back to heavy critiquing time.
Immediately after the game, swear I had close to half the team dropped, swapped or shopped around.

 

[Mighty_Tiger]

11 games in a row where the team has conceded 26 plus points.
coach needs to address this issue.
at least there's no complaints about the goal kicking.

As I posted previously Garner needs to be dropped Asap ...it is not the stupidity of the action it was the response LAUGHING about the fact then it leading to a 6 pointer ! Yep real funny mate .There is no cultural change for mine with behaviour like this if Madge does not act it will belong season .

That really irked me.
Him having a laugh after stuffing up.

 

[TCL]

I don’t understand why every other team that’s had bad runs in the past (Knights, Eels, Panthers) can just revamp their team and become some of the better teams in the comp, yet we go through player after player, combination after combination and it always turns to crap.

I’m sick of signing average players and pretending like they’ll turn us into a premiership threat when 1 in every 5 of them pans out.

Knights got Klemmer, Frizel, Ponga, Pearce and they become a strong team. We sign a bunch of “young guns” that don’t pan out or leave and mid tier players who do the same.

Same story every year

Ah let's have some perspective here - none of the sides you mentioned here "just revamped" their lineups and became good. It generally doesn't work that simply or quickly.

2020 was the first time the Knights have made the finals in 7 seasons, and they were blown away by Rabbits in the first week. Pearce and Ponga have been with the side since 2018 (Klemmer 2019) and they came 11th in 2018-2019.

Eels also spent 7 years building towards a finals-bound side, and Brad Arthur did not get them there until his 4th season in charge.

Penrith missed the finals 8 out of 9 seasons before Ivan Cleary joined, and Cleary got them to the finals in his third year. They've hung around the finals 5/7 years since that 2014 result.

With that as evidence, you don't become a finals-capable side until you get a good roster going for several years, with strong juniors and preferably with stability for your head coach. Tigers obviously have had a worse finals run than any of those sides, but it's not so much worse. In the 9 years since Tigers last played finals, Eels have been there 3 times and won 3 spoons. Knights have been there twice also with 3 wooden spoons. Panthers have done it 5 times - 5/9 finals appearances is an average result, barely above half.

Maguire needs that same stuff - he needs time, he needs to get his good signings to do their job (not encumbered by bad signings of his predecessors), he needs to get his juniors up to scratch.



Yeah, I know it didn’t happen for them overnight but the point is it happened. In Penrith’s case, they went from missing the finals to a GF in 3 years under Ivan.

We have gone 10 years. Huge difference.

Eels didnt make the finals from 2010-2016 and have made it 3 times since then.

That’s what I call revamping.

In 2017 out in straight sets, in 2018 they got the spoon, in 2019 the beat the broncos and then exited to a loss to the storm, last year they lost two in a row to exit. But yes they did make the finals and essentially have won 1 game out of 6 in the finals.

 

[The_Patriot]

I don’t know whose idea it was to fill a side with so many players who love the low percentage play, but kudos my friend. Kudos.

If you are calling out the coach after round 1 would you just come out and say it.

No need for the semantics.

Go on record and say you dont rate him.

 

[Aesopian]

I feel scammed.

The club had me hook, line & sinker this off-season.

Hello membership refund department

Bit early for that don't you think? There are no first-round premiers.

Tigers membership should have a 30 day free trial period. I was duped into signing up again under false pretences(new recruits + pre-season form)

The roster may have improved but I don't think the coaching has. Gameplan was awful and Garner should be in reggies until his contract is up. Can't justify him in the team any more. Massive weak link...

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I don’t know whose idea it was to fill a side with so many players who love the low percentage play, but kudos my friend. Kudos.


If you are calling out the coach after round 1 would you just come out and say it.

No need for the semantics.

Go on record and say you dont rate him.

Coach, recruitment officer, CEO. Take your pick. I’m feeling generous.

 

[BAGNF05]

A lot of unnecessary mistakes that just continue to hamper us, all self inflicted, very frustrating to watch. We seem to make silly decisions at the exact wrong time.

shame, as i think we have a good squad this year, but a few duds in important positions that dictate our play - Brooks and Mbye, without a doubt fill that category.

They are called shortcuts, the mentality is, if this comes off it’ll make it easier. Tigers need to learn to take the smart option which means patience, working hard and waiting for the results. Even the Noffa try was dumb luck. We need hungrier, smarter players.

 

[hobbo1]

I feel scammed.

The club had me hook, line & sinker this off-season.

Hello membership refund department

Bit early for that don't you think? There are no first-round premiers.

Tigers membership should have a 30 day free trial period. I was duped into signing up again under false pretences(new recruits + pre-season form)

The roster may have improved but I don't think the coaching has. Gameplan was awful and Garner should be in reggies until his contract is up. Can't justify him in the team any more. Massive weak link...

Go to dept of fair trading mate
They’ll probably put you in the que ?

 

[Madge]

I'm not overly concerned with the performance. I guess it is easier to say that having not watched it live and just watched the replay, our judgement may be clouded with emotion.

The first half was solid and we matched it with a team that has been at the top of the ladder for a couple of years now. The areas that need fixing are manageable and aren't necessarily areas of concern;

1. The errors: self-explanatory really.
2. The attack: by the looks of it - not sticking to the game plan. It was obvious in the manly trial what the game plan was. Get rolling through the middle with a power game and give early ball to the edges.
3. The spine: with the exception of Daine Laurie, our spine did not work well together and I think that comes down to individual performances. Liddle and Brooks we know have higher ceilings and have played better so I am willing to give them some time to grow over the next couple of weeks. I like the idea of involving Simpkin on the bench, it will be better for the team. Doueihi coming in at 6 is a no brainer.

Other than that, our defense was solid - our edges did well, which is where the area of concern was. The goal line defense in addition held it together, other than that soft try to Ryan James. I don't know what Mikaele and Tamou were thinking leaving Laurie trying to tackle him on his own.

Only changes id make when available are Simpkin for Talau (CC as cover for BJ/JTJ), Musgrove for Mikaele and Blore for Garner.

On a side note, Kepaoa has put on some serious size he was not that big, also looks to be carrying a knee niggle, seemed a yard off the pace. Might have Talau there instead of him if its affecting his game.

Stay strong Tigers fans, the whole year is still ahead of us. If it helps, we've won round 1 the last how many years and haven't made the finals, so who knows hehe.

 

[rihannafan1]

I'm not overly concerned with the performance. I guess it is easier to say that having not watched it live and just watched the replay, our judgement may be clouded with emotion.

The first half was solid and we matched it with a team that has been at the top of the ladder for a couple of years now. The areas that need fixing are manageable and aren't necessarily areas of concern;

1. The errors: self-explanatory really.
2. The attack: by the looks of it - not sticking to the game plan. It was obvious in the manly trial what the game plan was. Get rolling through the middle with a power game and give early ball to the edges.
3. The spine: with the exception of Daine Laurie, our spine did not work well together and I think that comes down to individual performances. Liddle and Brooks we know have higher ceilings and have played better so I am willing to give them some time to grow over the next couple of weeks. I like the idea of involving Simpkin on the bench, it will be better for the team. Doueihi coming in at 6 is a no brainer.

Other than that, our defense was solid - our edges did well, which is where the area of concern was. The goal line defense in addition held it together, other than that soft try to Ryan James. I don't know what Mikaele and Tamou were thinking leaving Laurie trying to tackle him on his own.

Only changes id make when available are Simpkin for Talau (CC as cover for BJ/JTJ), Musgrove for Mikaele and Blore for Garner.

On a side note, Kepaoa has put on some serious size he was not that big, also looks to be carrying a knee niggle, seemed a yard off the pace. Might have Talau there instead of him if its affecting his game.

Stay strong Tigers fans, the whole year is still ahead of us. If it helps, we've won round 1 the last how many years and haven't made the finals, so who knows hehe.

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