LIVE GAME Round 11 v Rabbitohs

Live Game Discussion
pawsandclaws1 said:
Seyfarth, Doueihi and Twal are squad members. They play their role and fill out the squad at modest cost which will allow WTs to buy players such as KPP. We don't have the quality in attack yet but Richardson and Marshall are working on it. I question why Galvin was not on the interchange instead of Naden, with Mason starting at 6.
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I’ve seen nothing from KPP this year to show he’s even an upgrade on Seyfarth. We should be going in on Fifita. If we’re gonna suck anyway, we must as well go big and take a chance.
 
ATown said:
I’ve seen nothing from KPP this year to show he’s even an upgrade on Seyfarth. We should be going in on Fifita. If we’re gonna suck anyway, we must as well go big and take a chance.
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We must be watching a different player. Against the Eels his defence was outstanding making a number of crucial tackles on both Brown (right on the try line) and the fullback when Cogger missed him. He also shut down Moses three times including one heavy hit which angered him. The Knights' halves are not great and don't take advantage of Pearce Paul's mobility, strength and outstanding ball playing. I believe he is a very good player.
 
jirskyr said:
It's interesting how different people take season 2025 so far.

Right now we are 5W 6L. Rabbits just went to 6W 5L after tonight, so the match was a 50/50 and the result showed that. We haven't yet won or lost more than 2 games in a row. Manly are currently 6th (5W 5L) and that's only because they've had a bye and we have not. Storm are 4th but they've only had 1 more win than us (6W 4L). Dragons and Roosters have less wins than us (4W 6L) but have banked their bye points.

We appear fairly consistently middle-pack after almost half the season. Apart from the Storm touch-up we've been mostly competitive every week, but also the Broncos and Eels games got away from us.

1 more win and we equal the # wins from 2024. We are already ahead of the # wins for 2022 and 2023 (4W).

So from the consideration of a team coming off triple wooden spoons, there is visible change in the ability, fight and mentality of the team. They are still a bit fragile but it's worlds ahead of what we've seen in recent years. Tigers weren't great tonight but it was also a much more competent outing than the absolutely flogging handed out by the Storm. Galvin holds the ball with 3 minutes to go and we win, and we commend the strong end-game fitness and fightback.

We are unaffected by Origin 1 (at least), we have a bye and then Cowboys and Penrith which are both winnable.

If Tigers stay competitive every week we will probably end up around 50% wins, because this is what happens when you are an average but reasonably competitive side. We could hope to win 10-12 matches.

Now for me, compared to 2022-2024 it's a real improvement. I understand the strong disappointment and the ease with which fans feel dread and pessimism. But that sentiment is attached to some hope or expectation that the worst team in the comp will turn it around in 1 season and play finals footy 2025.

Of course the season is on the line at the mid-way point. Of course we need to get better, pull ourselves back up, get back the W. I would not have expected a Tigers 2025 side to be 8W 3L after 11 matches. But we are thereabouts, it's not hopeless.

So I find it both understandable but also a bit weird that now, right at this moment, some fans are up in arms, throwing out their membership and borderline giving up. Calling the season as "going down the toilet". I actually think we are quite competitive, just not clinical enough.

Actually, I am somewhat surprised how competitive we are given we are still quite clunky, i.e. there is a lot of upside if this team actually finds their straps. That last 15 against Souths was all Tigers in the running, I am not used to seeing the team make 80m on several consecutive sets, and it's just a real shame they left that run so late and Galvin could not ice the win, as we managed against Sharks.
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Fair comment and I agree the side is marginally better than last year. The big concern is it marginally better because the squad is slightly stronger. It is not better because we have seen improvements in structures, set plays or
(after the last month) attitude. Consequently, I've no confidence the team will improve unless we can recruit another half dozen upgrades. They're not on the market and not likely to be attracted to our club so I don't see that happening.
Finally even if the market was saturated I'm still not sure we could recruit smart enough. For all the wraps given to the recruits it is really only May who has lifted our performance. I wouldn't say the others have been failures but they certainly haven't been recruitment wins thus far either. Add that May fell into our laps late, more so than was actively recruited it does raise further concerns about our ability to recruit.

As for the current record I think it is really only the Sharks and Dolphins game we can be pleased with.
We werent the better team against Dragons (another weak club) despite getting the win. The win against eels was when they were horribly out of sorts, likewise Knights.
Souths last night were missing 5 of their starting 13, including half their spine, and still looked the better side most the game.
Still plenty of time for an uptick in performing and prove we are a middle of the pack team. I just don't see it being likely. Currently we look more like what we have seen the last few years.
 
Didn't get to watch the game live and read all of the commentry here before watching the replay. I guess knowing the score before watching I was not as invested. While we didn't play well it was not as bad as I thought after reading the posts.

There were a couple of inconsistent decisions from the guy with the whistle on forward passes and if walking through the ruck after a break is a professional foul for one player not sure why Mitchell wasn't in the bin prior. Also thought it strange that Luai was called out of the play that facilitated Sullivan's break and led to a try. Possibley not square - but if that was the case it was again inconsistency. Don't get me wrong - the referee didn't cost us the game - we did.

Galvin and Seyfarth have clearly been identified as a weakness in defence and that is being exploited. Sukkar showed enough for mine to start over Seyfarth in the next hit out. Galvin needs to go back to Reggies and work on his game if we decide to keep him- way too sideways and his rash decsion making with the ball in hand and off the boot is costing us points. Trying to score off every play is for the last ten minutes when we are behind.

Given the amount of posession and field position Souths had in the first half we hung in well enough to give ourselves a chance. The way the rain and wind picked up in the second half it was always going to be a tough ask. If Galvin had held the ball I'm sure people would be talking about grit, determination and a gutsy win - but he didn't so the focus is on the negatives.

Now is the time to regroup and set ourselves for the next short run of games. Too early to rule a line through the season; but we need to work on straightening the attack, our kicking game and our edge defence.
 
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jirskyr said:
It's interesting how different people take season 2025 so far.

Right now we are 5W 6L. Rabbits just went to 6W 5L after tonight, so the match was a 50/50 and the result showed that. We haven't yet won or lost more than 2 games in a row. Manly are currently 6th (5W 5L) and that's only because they've had a bye and we have not. Storm are 4th but they've only had 1 more win than us (6W 4L). Dragons and Roosters have less wins than us (4W 6L) but have banked their bye points.

We appear fairly consistently middle-pack after almost half the season. Apart from the Storm touch-up we've been mostly competitive every week, but also the Broncos and Eels games got away from us.

1 more win and we equal the # wins from 2024. We are already ahead of the # wins for 2022 and 2023 (4W).

So from the consideration of a team coming off triple wooden spoons, there is visible change in the ability, fight and mentality of the team. They are still a bit fragile but it's worlds ahead of what we've seen in recent years. Tigers weren't great tonight but it was also a much more competent outing than the absolutely flogging handed out by the Storm. Galvin holds the ball with 3 minutes to go and we win, and we commend the strong end-game fitness and fightback.

We are unaffected by Origin 1 (at least), we have a bye and then Cowboys and Penrith which are both winnable.

If Tigers stay competitive every week we will probably end up around 50% wins, because this is what happens when you are an average but reasonably competitive side. We could hope to win 10-12 matches.

Now for me, compared to 2022-2024 it's a real improvement. I understand the strong disappointment and the ease with which fans feel dread and pessimism. But that sentiment is attached to some hope or expectation that the worst team in the comp will turn it around in 1 season and play finals footy 2025.

Of course the season is on the line at the mid-way point. Of course we need to get better, pull ourselves back up, get back the W. I would not have expected a Tigers 2025 side to be 8W 3L after 11 matches. But we are thereabouts, it's not hopeless.

So I find it both understandable but also a bit weird that now, right at this moment, some fans are up in arms, throwing out their membership and borderline giving up. Calling the season as "going down the toilet". I actually think we are quite competitive, just not clinical enough.

Actually, I am somewhat surprised how competitive we are given we are still quite clunky, i.e. there is a lot of upside if this team actually finds their straps. That last 15 against Souths was all Tigers in the running, I am not used to seeing the team make 80m on several consecutive sets, and it's just a real shame they left that run so late and Galvin could not ice the win, as we managed against Sharks.
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I am happy with 9 Wins for the season just 4 more wins from 13 games and we have had a great year


Hopefully we can pick up a good number 11 for next year release Galvin the club doesn't need the media circus

And with any luck another prop of NRL standard
 
Tiger-ferret said:
Has probably been discussed but I missed why tds was dropped? I’m confused with why Naden was on the bench.
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Benji indicated that with Api playing longer minutes it was to give him time in Cup to get some match fitness. So with TDS in reggies and Pole out injured, Bird was going to be playing more minutes dedicated to the middle. I assume that as NAden can play most postions in the backline he got the nod.
 
Jolls said:
Benji indicated that with Api playing longer minutes it was to give him time in Cup to get some match fitness. So with TDS in reggies and Pole out injured, Bird was going to be playing more minutes dedicated to the middle. I assume that as NAden can play most postions in the backline he got the nod.
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Yeah that makes sense cheers
 
gregjm87 said:
Fair comment and I agree the side is marginally better than last year. The big concern is it marginally better because the squad is slightly stronger. It is not better because we have seen improvements in structures, set plays or
(after the last month) attitude. Consequently, I've no confidence the team will improve unless we can recruit another half dozen upgrades. They're not on the market and not likely to be attracted to our club so I don't see that happening.
Finally even if the market was saturated I'm still not sure we could recruit smart enough. For all the wraps given to the recruits it is really only May who has lifted our performance. I wouldn't say the others have been failures but they certainly haven't been recruitment wins thus far either. Add that May fell into our laps late, more so than was actively recruited it does raise further concerns about our ability to recruit.

As for the current record I think it is really only the Sharks and Dolphins game we can be pleased with.
We werent the better team against Dragons (another weak club) despite getting the win. The win against eels was when they were horribly out of sorts, likewise Knights.
Souths last night were missing 5 of their starting 13, including half their spine, and still looked the better side most the game.
Still plenty of time for an uptick in performing and prove we are a middle of the pack team. I just don't see it being likely. Currently we look more like what we have seen the last few years.
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We aren't marginally better, we are much better than last year. Yes a lot of that is down to recruitment, of course it is, we had the roster of a continuous wooden spooner.

You also don't give the side enough credit, how can you not be pleased with the Dragons, Eels or Knights wins? That's not fair on the players, to say those sides were rubbish when they happened to play us and the W don't count.

That is in fact exactly the point - when you are a struggling club you HAVE TO beat the other weaker sides, otherwise you come last. That's the secret sauce of going from bottom to middle, climbing over the other bottom teams. We got the wooden spoon in previous seasons because we could not beat Parra or St George and those match-ups ended up being the difference between 2nd last or last.

Generally in 2025 we are outclassing the weaker teams. Souths are a fairly average side but they have beaten Broncos, Roosters and Penrith, something we will struggle to do. Souths are gritty and they still have elite match winners like Latrell, which we don't have.
 
NCC_Tiger said:
Some people aren't happy even after a win. Can't please all.
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Just to be clear I'm not arguing to be happy or satisfied, I'm just making the point that 50% wins is alright and I'm surprised that people want to tear it up right now, after 1 bad loss and 1 almost win.

I mean, sure, there's plenty of reason to hand back your memberships after watching Tigers from 2012 through 2024, but personally this season has probably started better than anything we've offered the past 5 years, it's trending in a positive direction and you can see the team wants to win, wants to put that effort in, defends OK most weeks. This is not the point where the season goes down the toilet or I hand my membership back.
 
pawsandclaws1 said:
We must be watching a different player. Against the Eels his defence was outstanding making a number of crucial tackles on both Brown (right on the try line) and the fullback when Cogger missed him. He also shut down Moses three times including one heavy hit which angered him. The Knights' halves are not great and don't take advantage of Pearce Paul's mobility, strength and outstanding ball playing. I believe he is a very good player.
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I liked what I saw last year, I just think he’s stagnated this year. That could be due to the Knights putrid attack. I haven’t checked stats or anything, but it seems to my eye his tackle busting and offloading has fallen away big time. Admittedly I haven’t kept as close an eye on his defence, but that sounds promising.
 
jirskyr said:
Just to be clear I'm not arguing to be happy or satisfied, I'm just making the point that 50% wins is alright and I'm surprised that people want to tear it up right now, after 1 bad loss and 1 almost win.

I mean, sure, there's plenty of reason to hand back your memberships after watching Tigers from 2012 through 2024, but personally this season has probably started better than anything we've offered the past 5 years, it's trending in a positive direction and you can see the team wants to win, wants to put that effort in, defends OK most weeks. This is not the point where the season goes down the toilet or I hand my membership back.
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Every new season there is a recency bias. Each spoon year we have been very competitive for the first half of the season, with the wheels falling off in the 2nd half.

We have conceded similar ppg after round 10 this year to the last 2 years, despite all the back slapping about our improved defence, we have the 3rd worst defence in the league for crying out loud. We also have the 4th worst attack.

We have had a very kind draw. Half our games have been against the teams tying for last. The cracks that have been papered over by Terrell Mays minutes and desperate defence are beginning to open up. Hate being doom and gloom but there are massive causes for concern currently. To deny it is head in the sand stuff. The season isnt in the toilet, but if performances don't improve it will be in about 4 games time.
 
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jirskyr said:
We aren't marginally better, we are much better than last year. Yes a lot of that is down to recruitment, of course it is, we had the roster of a continuous wooden spooner.

You also don't give the side enough credit, how can you not be pleased with the Dragons, Eels or Knights wins? That's not fair on the players, to say those sides were rubbish when they happened to play us and the W don't count.

That is in fact exactly the point - when you are a struggling club you HAVE TO beat the other weaker sides, otherwise you come last. That's the secret sauce of going from bottom to middle, climbing over the other bottom teams. We got the wooden spoon in previous seasons because we could not beat Parra or St George and those match-ups ended up being the difference between 2nd last or last.

Generally in 2025 we are outclassing the weaker teams. Souths are a fairly average side but they have beaten Broncos, Roosters and Penrith, something we will struggle to do. Souths are gritty and they still have elite match winners like Latrell, which we don't have.
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Will have to agree to disagree that we are much better. I don't think our side has improved as much as Knights for instance have regressed.
I'm not pleased with those wins because I thought we played horribly in those games. I would like our side to play well, not just less awful than the opposition.
The reason I note it is only due to recruitment is it suggests our coaching staff aren't improving the individuals in the team nor the game planning each week. If this doesn't change it means there is limitations on the future development of the side.
 
gregjm87 said:
Will have to agree to disagree that we are much better. I don't think our side has improved as much as Knights for instance have regressed.
I'm not pleased with those wins because I thought we played horribly in those games. I would like our side to play well, not just less awful than the opposition.
The reason I note it is only due to recruitment is it suggests our coaching staff aren't improving the individuals in the team nor the game planning each week. If this doesn't change it means there is limitations on the future development of the side.
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I think individually there are some players who are performing better - Bula, To'a and Twal for example. This hasnt translated to an improved attack or defence though. The structures, discipline and decision making is still poor and no better than previous years.
 
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