LIVE GAME Round 16 v Raiders

[weststigers]

A positive out of all of this ... we did not concede any points for 55 minutes. Coincidentally Latu came on one a minute after their last try.

I thought our middle defence in the 2nd half was exceptional, hit with vigour & in numbers, Raiders rarely made it out of their half in yardage sets.

Agree mate. Defence was very good after we conceded and our fans act like no other team ever concedes tries. We are going to concede, but it's how we respond. At 16-0, you'd have expected us to fold, but we turned the screws on them and totally dominated.

We lack a little polish at times, but we have also had a patchy halves combo and the Galvin disruption mid-season. Unfortunately, we have to go through that period of adjustment, but Latu looks the goods and I'm positive he is going to be the better half in the long run.

 

[Flippedy]

Mate, Canberra only scored 16. You can't expect to win games scoring 3 tries each week either. It was a game where their defence was very good and we were denied by last ditch efforts on Luai and Bula...even Fainu got real close.

We dominated one of the best teams in the comp yesterday for a full half of footy and who knows what could have been were it nit for a few iffy calls in the first half.

Watching the 2 teams, I wouldn't swap our performance for theirs in a million years.

It was a tight game. We lost. Don't confuse the 5 losses in a row with bad performances. Things to work on sure, but we are always in the game this season bar 2 games. 3 losses in a row by 4 points or less. Getting close.

Getting close, but fast losing confidence. There are only so many games you can be the better team and still lose by a whisker before your confidence becomes shot. It’s demoralising and this team has to face this situation more than most others. Expect a blow out score line to come soon.

 

[innsaneink]

I don’t like the shift to full Polynesian.
You need variety, you need different experiences, backgrounds and world views. You then build a culture based on shared values and goals. I suspect the new cultural shift is being forced on some of the guys rather than embracing something from them as well.
Might be way out of line on this but it’s how I see it currently. They aren’t a cohesive unit all facing the same way.

I remember thinking to.myself several years back.when.luai and turuva were still at penrith i saw vision of them going into training with romey wheeling in the big portable bluettoth speaker ....how id feel.if i was in the team.but wasnt into the the music...i just put it down to me.being an old fart now.
But ive seen it at the sharks and.warriors too...they seem to manage it ok.
I dont think.its as big an issue as some of us think.
I go back a way and i think of my old teams on weekends and school....my sons teams.in league union and cricket....manynmany different types of personalities the kids with the out there haircut and.pink boots to the quieter ones....all arent best friends.
Seyfarth and Bula look like theyd make perfect roomies despite very different backgrounds

 

[Tiger Stripes]

Another game we lost
Sure early on we didn’t get the ref calls (penalty, 40/20, corey offside for 1st try)
But we had more than enough field position and possession to win that game.
We actually dominated the Raiders for most of the game.

We are fighting and having a dig most weeks
There is improvement this year more than any other year we have had for a long time. It’s just frustrating because we just keep finding ways to beat ourselves.

The coach beat us with that bench, and thinking Mason is a tackling genius!

 

[watersider]

Was out at Cambelltown again last night, I've been to 3 of the 4 games there this year...all losses!!!

I hope Richo follows through with his threat to leave that stadium!!...

It's not a fortess for our home games, offers no real advantage to our side, it lacks ANY atmosphere, our players dont react or play as if its a home ground..

.As I walked out of the ground I said to myself "see ya later". hope to never come back to this ground...same applies to Commbank BTW...

I'd like to see all home games at Leichhardt or if we absolutly need the corporate $$$ split 50/50 with Accor and Leichhardt.

Good on you for going to the game. Hope you do come to the next one. Atmosphere at Souths, warriors and Newcastle was excellent and comparable to Leichhardt. I go to both. The losses are sapping and deflating. Last night was bitter cold, bad form, more news of young players leaving the club and a really flat first half with little to cheer for.

Campbelltown is not so much on top of the play and as enclosed as Leichhardt and I absolutely love Leichhardt. But Campbelltown is still a really good venue, so close to the game and the players and it's full of proper rugby league fans. As much as I love Leichhardt, I'd say the difference in atmosphere is that Leichhardt is full of loud heavy drinking blokes having a great time talking to their mates and getting pissed and not watching the game while shouting witty quips about former Balmain players and pointing at Andrew Johns in the commentary box rather than knowing the name of our bench players. Those sort of fans don't travel to Campbelltown. The typical Campbelltown fan seems to me to be the parents with their three or four kids who all play footy and who are watching the game with nerves and trepidation, spending their last dollars on chips for the kids while their kids giggle and play with the footy watching their heroes on the field. Like me, they're not big Rah Rah shouters, the game more nerves than enjoyment. But they turn up and I love it there. Disappointing that more don't see the beauty of the ground. Brookvale, Leichhardt, Campbelltown, Penrith represent the best of the rugby league days.

 

[orange&black]

For the last 5-6 seasons we have been hammered by the Raiders every time we have played them. Those games have generally descended into an embarrassing men vs boys match up.
Last night we matched them physically and were the better team for most of the game. They defended better than us especially around the ruck and controlled the ruck getting away with way too much. We made some costly 1v1 missed tackles and we still struggle with our attack close to the line.
That said, they are a top side with probably the best pack in the NRL and one of the fastest set of backs- they have won, is it 9 straight games? Yet we matched them and weren’t far off beating them.
Realistically considering where we have come from - this indicates a definite improvement!

 

[Tiger Stripes]

Add Toa, Doueihi defence, Sione, Terrell is better than last season.

All fitness and injury free helps their mental game.
But Benji's bench selections and bench rotation leaves a lot to be desired? Questionable?

 

[Tiger_Yoshi]

Unfortunately for you, our tenure there won’t be decided on our win/loss record there. That’s on the players/club to embrace the stadium/area, and not treat the place as a glorified away game they play 4 times a year. It’s not the playing surface, or the hill, or the rock wall who loses the games. That’s on the club to do better.

I get your point...clearly something is just not working for the club at Cambelltown...Apparently there is a huge Polynesian pool of young kids in the area who love NRL.... Looking around the crowd last night I didnt see many there waving their WT flags. I don't know what, maybe moving there full time is what's needed??...but after all these years the area just hasnt embraced the club like it should

 

[Le Tiger]

At 16-0 thought we were about to get pumped.

Our "small" bench actually made the difference and we won the 2nd half comfortably.

Raiders are a genuine top 2 team this year.

Not happy with a loss, but damn happy I have an actual footy team to follow this year for the first time in years.

Hopefully Latu has no minute restrictions next week and we cause an upset at Brookie✌️

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I get your point...clearly something is just not working for the club at Cambelltown...Apparently there is a huge Polynesian pool of young kids in the area who love NRL.... Looking around the crowd last night I didnt see many there waving their WT flags. I don't know what, maybe moving there full time is what's needed??...but after all these years the area just hasnt embraced the club like it should

Has the club embraced the area? It’s the chicken and the egg.

 

[Tiger_Yoshi]

Has the club embraced the area? It’s the chicken and the egg.

They say they have and have poured more into the area thjis year, but so far the results don't back it up....see how it plays out next year....and yeah if they play there in 2026 I'll be back...just hope we start winning!!

 

[Tommy_the_Tiger]

Apart from our D for a costly 10 minute period in the first half I thought we were really good last night; for those being super critical I think we need to step back and remember this is a club coming off 3 wooden spoons and 7 years of pain before that. Proper change isn't going to happen over night, there is a significant improvement there, we outplayed one of the real contenders albeit we didn't get the result.

Takeaways:
-I love AD, but his lack of pace is really costing us.
-Heath Mason. Remember he's 20 year old, there's definitely a footballer there. I see him potentially as our 14 moving forward particularly if we lose TDS.
-Samuela was back closer to his best, once he and Luai begin to gel that will be a really important combination for us.
-Latu, wow really excited about what he can do. A class above already, hopefully they get his body right. Love his contact in D.
-Api, great as always but his body is definitely slowing down. I don't know how much longer he has as a week-to-week 80 minute player.
-Starford, forming into an elite NRL centre. Need to keep.

 

[Tiger_claws]

See you at the next one then, hey? Let's get the numbers up!

Haven’t missed a game there for a long time.

 

[Sco77y]

Dodged a nuclear missile with that

Yeah, not sure what they were thinking exactly. Latu has always looked the better talent to me as far as halves go. Would’ve been a fail to lose him over Galvin. Worked out well for us I think.

 

[Tiger_claws]

Maybe, but is scoring 2 tries with all that possession good enough ?
We cannot realistically expect to win games by scoring only 2 tries each week.
We seem tj focus on our defensive lapses, but not worry about how bad our attack is.
We are well past the halfway mark in the season, our attack should be humming, but it’s getting worse and that’s a major issue.

Exactly what I pointed out. Romey missing his opportunity when he went short on Sams no try and the fact Bula can’t do sweep plays. A fullback needs to nail those. We left 2 tries out there minimum.

 

[Rock Hopper Steve]

All fitness and injury free helps their mental game.
But Benji's bench selections and bench rotation leaves a lot to be desired? Questionable?

Last night it was one could argue that if he had the intention not to use TDS then why not pick Sukkar in the team.
Someone else could have covered to give Api a short breather.

 

[Tiger_claws]

Good on you for going to the game. Hope you do come to the next one. Atmosphere at Souths, warriors and Newcastle was excellent and comparable to Leichhardt. I go to both. The losses are sapping and deflating. Last night was bitter cold, bad form, more news of young players leaving the club and a really flat first half with little to cheer for.

Campbelltown is not so much on top of the play and as enclosed as Leichhardt and I absolutely love Leichhardt. But Campbelltown is still a really good venue, so close to the game and the players and it's full of proper rugby league fans. As much as I love Leichhardt, I'd say the difference in atmosphere is that Leichhardt is full of loud heavy drinking blokes having a great time talking to their mates and getting pissed and not watching the game while shouting witty quips about former Balmain players and pointing at Andrew Johns in the commentary box rather than knowing the name of our bench players. Those sort of fans don't travel to Campbelltown. The typical Campbelltown fan seems to me to be the parents with their three or four kids who all play footy and who are watching the game with nerves and trepidation, spending their last dollars on chips for the kids while their kids giggle and play with the footy watching their heroes on the field. Like me, they're not big Rah Rah shouters, the game more nerves than enjoyment. But they turn up and I love it there. Disappointing that more don't see the beauty of the ground. Brookvale, Leichhardt, Campbelltown, Penrith represent the best of the rugby league days.

I totally get that whole Leichardt is an event for adults and Campbelltown for families thing. I see it like that as well probably don’t share your exact view on Leichardt but I get it. So if thats the case you would think our club would lobby harder for our Leichardt games to be of a night and our Campbelltown games to be family friendly day games but I heard we wanted day games at Leichardt. I don’t miss any home games at Campbelltown and walking into the ground just doesn’t feel like home. You walk into Leichardt, Brookie, Kogarah and you know who’s home it is. Are you a local in the South West? If so do we advertise out there? Are we being seen as connecting with the community? I am not from there and I am really interested to know

 

[Tucker]

I remember thinking to.myself several years back.when.luai and turuva were still at penrith i saw vision of them going into training with romey wheeling in the big portable bluettoth speaker ....how id feel.if i was in the team.but wasnt into the the music...i just put it down to me.being an old fart now.
But ive seen it at the sharks and.warriors too...they seem to manage it ok.
I dont think.its as big an issue as some of us think.
I go back a way and i think of my old teams on weekends and school....my sons teams.in league union and cricket....manynmany different types of personalities the kids with the out there haircut and.pink boots to the quieter ones....all arent best friends.
Seyfarth and Bula look like theyd make perfect roomies despite very different backgrounds

I like the cultures that are based on authenticity rather than being manufactured. Some of my clubland favourites were the Storm, Manly, Dogs and Penrith.
The Storm culture was be the best you can be through hard work and the highest of standards. It was player driven as they never had less than half a dozen proper leaders at any given time. They expected the best out of you and generally got it.
Manly used to have that "us v the world" mentality of if you are with us, its backs to the wall and we take on all comers. They hate us and we hate them back.
Canterbury had the family club and the "Dogs of War". The Dogs of War was a favourite of mine...no nonsense, just hardarses believing you werent as tough as them and that as a group theyd beat your backside into submission.
Penrith were a gang. They came through together, lived locally and were in each others lives. Their story was small town kids taking on the big end of town and dominating them.

Ours should be blue collar related somehow given our history...Canberra is a great example of this. No out and out superstars who dominate headlines...just tough buggers who do their jobs and keep turning up.
I guess ours, which was started by Madge to be fair, is that Wests Tigers are never beaten, never out of the Fn game....now that has not been true until this year but it is starting to emerge as our dominant trait. We can be playing terribly and then out of nowhere, flick a switch and become monsters who are an unstoppable scoring machine. Look at the Cowboys game...that should have been a 50 point hiding. Down 32-6 with 20 minutes remaining?...no problem, we'll score 4 tries in 15 minutes and make a game of it. This is the culture Id love to see us work on. Never say die. Its the motto that made QLD Origin so powerful. We are never beat until the whistle blows. We can win a comp with this attitude and a couple more key personel. We have got to stop bleeding our young talent though. As much as people hate Galvin on here, that kid gave a shit. He wants to win. He tries his guts out. Tallyn is similar. They will be big losses moving forward.

 

[watersider]

I totally get that whole Leichardt is an event for adults and Campbelltown for families thing. I see it like that as well probably don’t share your exact view on Leichardt but I get it. So if thats the case you would think our club would lobby harder for our Leichardt games to be of a night and our Campbelltown games to be family friendly day games but I heard we wanted day games at Leichardt. I don’t miss any home games at Campbelltown and walking into the ground just doesn’t feel like home. You walk into Leichardt, Brookie, Kogarah and you know who’s home it is. Are you a local in the South West? If so do we advertise out there? Are we being seen as connecting with the community? I am not from there and I am really interested to know

Nope, I'm inner west.

 

[TSP]

For the punters out there, you’d know the score line wreaked havoc on the market who predicted we’d receive a solid thrashing within an inch of our lives.

So I suppose that addresses the public expectations, skewed by profit taking.

Those in the know like us, most of us hold the side up to higher standards as we have a better understanding of their capabilities.

Just an observation, not a go at anyone.