LIVE GAME Round 20 v Titans

[Vicious]

Now that the dust has settled on what was a poor game from both sides I have taken a look at the replay and tried to identify what we can take away and build on.

Compressed defence. I raised this in relation to our loss v Warriors and NSW’s loss in game three of SOO. Unfortunately, we were on the receiving end of the lesson. We played a compressed defence early in the game as we were concerned that the Titans were going to send a lot of traffic down the middle.

If we are going to play that style we need to have better line speed to cut down time for the halves. Jayden Campbell had way too much time to execute. Had we had a compressed defence, with line speed, we may have been able to prevent a couple of tries due to pressure.

Campbell is not in the same conversation as the Cleary when it comes to “talent”; however, he was able to sum up the defensive situation and pull it apart. One harbour bridge cutout pass and one kick in behind was all it took to make us change our defensive pattern. On the plus side for the Titans both also led to tries.

This was the perfect demonstration of how to deal with that type of defensive pressure. Clearly someone in the Titans outfit has a footy brain. On the positive side for us we adapted our defensive strategy on the run and were able to stay in the game. Our defence overall needs work and will no doubt be the subject of numerous reps this week.

Fight: Despite playing poorly we fought to stay in the game. This happened throughout the game but to fight back from 16–20 down with five minutes remaining showed composure. Skelton’s long-range try and AD’s field goal on full‑time demonstrated that we no longer throw in the towel and have practiced clutch scenarios. I was definitely concerned that we had blown the FG opportunity, but, it was executed with minimal fuss and was well disguised. Much better teams than us are so structured in their setup that the opposition counters it.

Sharper attacking shape: There too isn’t much to write home about here; however, you could see development. We executed a few blocks and double blocks, Latu was sweeping and Tiny demonstrated what difference a strike centre makes to the side. Given the new halves’ combination, AD playing 13 for the first time and players playing out of position it wasn’t too bad. Charlie had a shocker, his hands are usually pretty good. There were a few poor passes in traffic that probably would either stick or not be thrown with a settled backline – so positive signs. A more cohesive second half had us building field position and sustaining sets. The ability to build the pressure got us home in the end.

Resilience. With minutes slipping away we maintained discipline and delivered when it counted.

Adam Doueihi at 13. I have copped some flack on here in relation to my takes on AD. Given this was game 1 for AD at 13 it is something worth exploring further. Just shy of 60mins on the park, 12 runs for 76m, 21 PCM. 1 line break assist, 1 line break and 7 hitups. His PTB speed was on average with the rest of the pack, demonstrating how lenient the officiating was in this area. On the other side if the pill 32 tackles, 3 missed, 1 ineffective (89%) so not bad for the first time in the middle. His general play kicks were average – but being in the middle he provides options. Kicking in general play remains something he needs to work hard on.

I was concerned that he would not take the dirty hit-ups, and for the most part he didn’t but that was not his role either. I think he needs to be a little more involved in this area, but he was clearly gassed with the extra workload. Not having to make the hard defensive decisions and having a big body make him a useful addition to the pack and he could develop over time. As a half, he is a backup, as a centre he is OK but too slow, as a lock – he may just get there.

Coaching. Benji’s move of AD to the middle demonstrates that AD was only holding his centre spot until we could find someone that could shift the needle. Tiny at centre highlighted how deficient we were in that area. While he has made plenty of mistakes Benji has demonstrated resolve and a clear commitment to sustained development rather than short-term appeasement. Despite the results he has continued to reinforce unity in the paying group.

The result yesterday, while not pretty or convincing, demonstrated that the team is developing a culture that is resilient. They are definitely playing for each other and him as a coach, even though execution is below par. His public defence of his methods and gradual assertiveness mean the onus has to switch from just falling short, or just getting over the line, to delivering consistent results. For now, he appears to be safe in his role and the run home may validate his approach. Time will tell, but I doubt that he will be given much leniency in 2026.

Summary

We were able to dig a win out of a poor performance – that shows that the team is resolute and composed even when faced with adversity. There is a lot of work to do on execution, kicking and early aggression, but the move to bring AD into the middle could yield dividends and with the return of Bula and settling halves combination. Benji has the support of the playing group and has not waivered from his development approach. I trust that it starts to pay dividends at this end of the season and we finish on an upward trend.

Do you think a Luai and Fainu halves combination will work and be a success long term ?
I’ve got concerns, both very good players individually, but it just doesn’t seem to be a fluent combination although still early days.

 

[Tom Shines]

As you say the performance against Melbourne was clearly our worst this season.
Why has Latu’s attacking fluency dropped so much since the Roosters game is a big concern ?
All our playmakers seem to struggle in our red zone, there has to be a reason behind it ?

Both him and Luai prefer to play the left edge .., one of them needs to embrace the other side ..:

I’m expecting Taylan to further improve and be someone who will get the defence a bit jumpy in the red zone …

 

[Jolls]

Do you think a Luai and Fainu halves combination will work and be a success long term ?
I’ve got concerns, both very good players individually, but it just doesn’t seem to be a fluent combination although still early days.

I think it is too early to tell. What I do see on the field is Luai barking directions and getting players involved. So he will control the game, which does not appear to be on of Latu's strengths. There were a coupel of times where LAtu was out of postion, moved late or showed indecision. That is a clear sign of early development issues - I think it is only week two or three for that combination. What we did see this weekend though were some more conventional block plays so we are starting to know where to run to take advantage of the less structured play of Luai and Latu.

Someone raised it earlier, and I will try to dig out the study, but there is a clear correlation between performance and established halves pairings. Bed ths down over the next few weeks, especially if we can put together a couple of good wins, throw in an off season and I think we will have a good base for 26.

I made mention in the off season that I though we needed Bird to come in and play a Wade Graham typer role to unlock Luai - and when he was playing 13 from the bench with Hunt adding some go forward we looked OK. We went away from that through injuries and the like and we have come back to having AD play that role over the last week and a half.

Depending on how AD looks in the mirror will depend on what we need to do next. If he look in the mirror and sees himself as a half and wants to extend here for 12 months to have a crack at one of the new teams I would hold onto him as depth only. My preference would then be to buy in an Adam Elliot type of NRL ball playing. If he looks in the mirror and really wants to transition to 13 - he could make a go of it and he may be worth taking a punt on - there is a lot of development still required though.

So in short - I think it is a workable combination that could become very good. What I think it needs to make it excellent is a ball palying lock that gives them that little bit more room to work their magic.

 

[Lestronge]

Where do you get this 2 and a half years from.

I know I'm old and time gets away on you, but 2 and a half years, really.

He was injured with an acl for a year prior to his last stuff up. I mean you can play semantics and say he played 8 games in between … but to me that’s not enough time to get your sea legs .
Like when AD did repeated ACLs . He played a couple of games in between them but to me I say that’s one bulk period of time .

 

[Vicious]

I think it is too early to tell. What I do see on the field is Luai barking directions and getting players involved. So he will control the game, which does not appear to be on of Latu's strengths. There were a coupel of times where LAtu was out of postion, moved late or showed indecision. That is a clear sign of early development issues - I think it is only week two or three for that combination. What we did see this weekend though were some more conventional block plays so we are starting to know where to run to take advantage of the less structured play of Luai and Latu.

Someone raised it earlier, and I will try to dig out the study, but there is a clear correlation between performance and established halves pairings. Bed ths down over the next few weeks, especially if we can put together a couple of good wins, throw in an off season and I think we will have a good base for 26.

I made mention in the off season that I though we needed Bird to come in and play a Wade Graham typer role to unlock Luai - and when he was playing 13 from the bench with Hunt adding some go forward we looked OK. We went away from that through injuries and the like and we have come back to having AD play that role over the last week and a half.

Depending on how AD looks in the mirror will depend on what we need to do next. If he look in the mirror and sees himself as a half and wants to extend here for 12 months to have a crack at one of the new teams I would hold onto him as depth only. My preference would then be to buy in an Adam Elliot type of NRL ball playing. If he looks in the mirror and really wants to transition to 13 - he could make a go of it and he may be worth taking a punt on - there is a lot of development still required though.

So in short - I think it is a workable combination that could become very good. What I think it needs to make it excellent is a ball palying lock that gives them that little bit more room to work their magic.

I agree 💯
The Luai and Taylan May looks very promising in the left, but I am concerned Luai and Fainu just may not be a suitable halves pairing.

 

[happy_tiger]

As you say the performance against Melbourne was clearly our worst this season.
Why has Latu’s attacking fluency dropped so much since the Roosters game is a big concern ?
All our playmakers seem to struggle in our red zone, there has to be a reason behind it ?

I think our forwards get in the way too much in the opposition 20 ...many times they aren't straightening the attack and running hard

 

[Jolls]

I agree 💯
The Luai and Taylan May looks very promising in the left, but I am concerned Luai and Fainu just may not be a suitable halves pairing.

I'm not overly concerend as they are both quite taleted. They just need time to develop. Bit like good wine I guess!

 

[Oldman]

Shocking right edge defence as usual, and what is with Toa playing fullback in attack? It’s useless. Toa is a passenger out there.

And again as I’ve said countless times Pole can’t tackle, absolutely liability.

Haven’t watched the game yet,
But doesn’t surprise me on your comment about Pole defence or lack of it.

 

[Flippedy]

The problem here is from the time Sheens reappointed himself he made it very clear any player signed was what Benji wanted i.e when Benji took over there wouldn't be the usual excuses about it not being his squad. Benji has been there long enough to have his finger prints all over it, both as assistant and head coach.
My major concern is yes I think the team is better than last year, it has to be with the players that were purchased, but has the team performance as a whole improved since............say round 10? Because for me, that is a resounding no, I don't think they have improved as the year has gone on and I put that down to coaching, whether it be Benji or his assistants, he is the boss and the buck stops with him.
Hopefully they go on a run in these last 6 weeks and prove me wrong, its what we all want.

Yeah straight to the grand final, let’s go boys! 🐅

 

[LeichhardtTiger]

Both him and Luai prefer to play the left edge .., one of them needs to embrace the other side ..:

I’m expecting Taylan to further improve and be someone who will get the defence a bit jumpy in the red zone …

Throw in Makasini, who is also a left-sided player and there's the dilemma moving forward. It really highlights the clunkiness of our attack in recent games. As much as I hated his drama queen actions, when Galvout was playing on the right, Turuva and Toa were scoring plenty of TRYs.

 

[weststigers]

Do you think a Luai and Fainu halves combination will work and be a success long term ?
I’ve got concerns, both very good players individually, but it just doesn’t seem to be a fluent combination although still early days.

This is what bothers me about this forum. The combination has been there for 3 weeks and qe question the long term viability. For an old bloke you have zero patience.

 

[Jolls]

With the euphoria of a last gasp win well behind us, no one should be happy with a performance where the team had to scrap a win in the final 15 seconds against the current last-placed side that scored more tries, and on the home deck too.

For some of the names in the team, including premiership players, the May brothers, and some young potential, collectively this is a below average team.

This team lacks attention to detail, and is consistently ill-disciplined. I was at the members training session a couple of weeks ago (leading into Warriors game) and errors were allowed to play on, and the poor ruck play that plagues this team in games was allowed to fester. It all seemed rushed, and that's how they play on game day. I'm no coach, but I would think training is where habits are drilled into players and the team. Instead, poor habits around the ruck and in general play were ignored.

The set-up for the field goal v Titans was all over the place, and I'd like the stats on short drop outs and short kick-offs too because they seem to consistently lose them. They look like they haven't practice for these game scenarios which, although might be rare in the case of the former, and may happen 2 or 3 times a game with the latter, they can have big ramifications to the result of the game. No one seems to know their role in any of these situations, and communications look non-existent.

You are spot on in relation to standards - those errors you walk passed are the standards you set. it seems odd at that level - I wonder if it was let go for continuity at the members day or if it is the standard we set.

I recall a coach when I first got called up into A grade the team was off the back of a win in a close but high scoring game. I didn't played in that game but had paricipate in the reinforcement of defensive standards. That involved a defensive set for every point we had scored against us the week prior. Backs v forwards and then forwards v backs. If we dropped off in a set it wasn't counted. Don't recall doing too much else that Tuesday night - but that really reinforced in my mind what was paramount that weekend.

In realtion to the FG setup, I thought the same until it was executed. Everyone knew where the ball had to go and it was just done. If you watch some of the "better teams" play their setup for the kick is so telegraphed there is little wonder why they get charged down. So I'm not sure if thwe were all over the place or had a mindset of taking the attacking opportunites on offer, Luai wasn't too far short of a four pointer, and then executing.

We certainly don't come across as well drilled - but there are times when we do something to a very high standard - that doesn't happen without doing the reps. We had some good shape at times on the weekend and followed that up in the red zone with Latu not understanding where to be and hesitating. My gut feel is that we aren't translating effort into execution - bloody hell I hope it starts to click soon though.

 

[Oldman]

Instead of playing an adult set of driving the team towards the posts to set up for a field goal, he fartarsed about trying to break the line and score a try to be the hero.
Professionals secure the win and the field goal set was the correct play. Luai had zero to do with us setting up and kicking the winner.

Hey Tuck
Did you see the warriors game,
Set up perfect for the field goal and missed from straight in front and then missed a penalty shot straight in front.
Sometimes the less time you have to think about the kick the better the outcome 👍

 

[Oldman]

I'm not overly concerend as they are both quite taleted. They just need time to develop. Bit like good wine I guess!

Agree
Luai and Fainu will look much better if and when they are playing behind a forward pack that gets over the advantage line and creates fast play the balls.
Hopefully, Hopefully next year

 

[Needaname]

Both him and Luai prefer to play the left edge .., one of them needs to embrace the other side ..:

I’m expecting Taylan to further improve and be someone who will get the defence a bit jumpy in the red zone …

I reckon we should seriously consider bringing Sam Fainu back on the right side to partnership with his brother. Luai can make better use of Seyfarth / Sukkar and could absolutely excel with KPP as his go to next season.

 

[Oldman]

Nothing like the 8th on a Sunday arvo.



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Brings back memories of how great it felt shuffling (Walking) out of the 8th to your car miles away listening to all the talk how good the Tige’s played.
tiger Tiger Tigers 🥊

 

[Oldman]

I reckon we should seriously consider bringing Sam Fainu back on the right side to partnership with his brother. Luai can make better use of Seyfarth / Sukkar and could absolutely excel with KPP as his go to next season.

KKP plays right side at Newcastle and Sam left side for us, and seriously both of our half’s should be able to work with either of those two no matter what side of the field they are on.
Having those two playing 80 minutes on an edge should improve our structure immensely next year.
Hopefully Richo can find a good tough front rower and lock over the offseason to start with May & Api and we possibly could have a good forward pack.

 

[Needaname]

KKP plays right side at Newcastle and Sam left side for us, and seriously both of our half’s should be able to work with either of those two no matter what side of the field they are on.
Having those two playing 80 minutes on an edge should improve our structure immensely next year.
Hopefully Richo can find a good tough front rower and lock over the offseason to start with May & Api and we possibly could have a good forward pack.

They do currently, Sam debuted on the right for manly filling in for an injured Olakuatu, likewise with KPP starting on the left before Lucas made it his own. They aren’t immune to the opposite side of the field but in Latu’s case being a predominantly left side player with a right foot kick it would make the transition a bit more comfortable for him and Sam for that matter.

 

[jirskyr]

Warriors were crap today and unbelievably lucky to win. Played like beasts against us with virtually no errors, today they were terrible.

Very hard to beat at home Warriors, not so good travelling.

 

[rihannafan1]

He’s currently on 1.2mil what makes you think he’ll take a 700k pay cut

I can't say I understand his trains of thought.

He'll take whatever people will pay. Don't reckon he'd get more than 650k on his current performances and yes, 500k seems cheap.