Round 1 Thoughts

[Needaname]

The raiders were a much different defensive side to what we played in the trial. But I’m not sure if anyone noticed, the game plan was pretty similar to how we beat Manly. It’s just the raiders were having none of it.
A couple of points from what the raiders did, using experience of big matches etc.
Hudson Young was a terror. Or terrior. He was a pest. Making our left side work all game. On Brooks like a hot knife through butter. He also was voted man of the match. His play style of being irritating and roughing us up wasn’t pulled up by the referees. He had a license to do anything. I’m pretty sure I saw an attempted eye gouge on Lucy at one stage.
Hodgson had Liddles number all game. I don’t think liddle was terrible. He got through the game making a mountain of tackles, with match fitness his passing and running awareness will improve. I’m expecting him to stay as an 80min hooker. But Hodgson took him on as a personal battle. In his face all the time, the one time he ran Hodgson was in his face in seconds. That’s the way we need to be.
Our defence was better but we are still reacting not attacking with our defence.
Our ruck defence was great. Our pressure game on the opposition spine was still poor, that’s the area we need to really improve and in my opinion was the point of difference in the match.
More game time as a unit and we will be a lot better. Most other teams will open up in places on the field more so than the raiders did.

 

[ATown]

I'd like to see more offloads in the forwards and second phase play which brings Brooks, Laurie and Liddle into the game. We looked predictable yesterday without the second phase.

Agreed. If Twal can’t add an offload to his game I see no future for him at lock. I like Twal but he’s starting to look very plod like.

 

[JC99]

Forum favourite Alex Seyfarth with a very impressive performance in reserve grade yesterday 

 

[TigerWest]

How many weeks did Musgrove get? Was it 2 or 3 weeks? We could use him now?

 

[TigerWest]

Forum favourite Alex Seyfarth with a very impressive performance in reserve grade yesterday 

It was interesting that they kept him, they must of known what he is capable of, he’s only 21, so he has time on his side?

 

[Madge]

How many weeks did Musgrove get? Was it 2 or 3 weeks? We could use him now?

Available for round 3 selection.

 

[TigerWest]

How many weeks did Musgrove get? Was it 2 or 3 weeks? We could use him now?

Available for round 3 selection.

Cheers, so the Knights game, will be an interesting tussle with there big boppers.

 

[JC99]

Forum favourite Alex Seyfarth with a very impressive performance in reserve grade yesterday 

It was interesting that they kept him, they must of known what he is capable of, he’s only 21, so he has time on his side?

He's young and has always played well in junior teams. Doesn't hurt for us to keep him around and see how he goes, if he keeps playing like that in reserves he will stay around even longer. Looked good in the trials too

 

[Russell]

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 ?

'cept I don't have a stinking "Kingswood."

 

[jadtiger]

Forum favourite Alex Seyfarth with a very impressive performance in reserve grade yesterday 

It was interesting that they kept him, they must of known what he is capable of, he’s only 21, so he has time on his side?

Which is why i dont write off young blokes as they need time more than anything else.He may not develop but you dont know unless you persevere for a few years

 

[TYGA]

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.

Pretty much agree with all of this.

 

[jirskyr]

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.

I don't really believe there's much difference between 10 years or 7 years finals absence. Sure there's a literal difference, but it's bad all-around.

When you dig into it, these particular teams are generally not doing much when they get to the finals, apart from Penrith 2020, so it remains to be seen if "making the finals" is a benchmark of turning your fortunes around.

Tigers jag one extra win here or there and we are talking a 5 or 6 year finals absence.

 

[Tiger_Fanatic3]

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.

Yes well said mate 💯
Stronger together. ✊🐯


 

[Ultimate Warrior]

Brooks is still extremely wet behind the ears. And i dont see this changing at all , not now or in the furture. This is just how he is and how he will be.
Its gone on for far too long and we've all given him the benefit of the doubt , some more than others.
The sooner we see the back of him along with Garner and Mbye , the better we'll be.

He’s not wet behind the ears. The guy is just lame. Sign Reynolds

 

[JC99]

Highlights of our reserve grade yesterday. Jake Simpkin involved in absolutely everything, scoring one and setting up our other two

[Highlights Here](https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2021/03/14/the-knock-on-effect-nsw-cup-highlights-raiders-v-magpies-round-1/)

 

[TigerBlood93]

What'everyones thoughts on talaus game today ?

I thought the halves didn’t know how to use him, but every time he was involved something happened. Hopefully he’s given more opportunities to run at broken defence

 

[Spartan117]

I'm so disappointed.

Thought the end result would be a little closer.

Like most here, my expectations weren't met and it encourages me that we let ourselves down more than lost to a far superior team. This can be fixed.

Roosters game is gonna be harder.

We will be better

 

[carltonleach]

What'everyones thoughts on talaus game today ?

I thought the halves didn’t know how to use him, but every time he was involved something happened. Hopefully he’s given more opportunities to run at broken defence

Completely agree mate ay I think he could be very dangerous

 

[carltonleach]

Highlights of our reserve grade yesterday. Jake Simpkin involved in absolutely everything, scoring one and setting up our other two

[Highlights Here](https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2021/03/14/the-knock-on-effect-nsw-cup-highlights-raiders-v-magpies-round-1/)

He seems to be able to find the right player and his distribution looked clean. I like hes willing to go himself close to the line u dont see it as often as u used too

 

[Roar_Power]

Highlights of our reserve grade yesterday. Jake Simpkin involved in absolutely everything, scoring one and setting up our other two

[Highlights Here](https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2021/03/14/the-knock-on-effect-nsw-cup-highlights-raiders-v-magpies-round-1/)

He looked good didn't he....but geez how many soft tries did the magpies let in...