Pretty upsetting game, not because we are definitely out of the finals (I never gave us a chance) but because we had that game bagged then some old habits crept back in.
Last 1-2 months I've really started to believe in the Tigers again. They are definitely a different side in many ways to what we've seen for the past few years. Old Tigers teams used to be flash and no guts, this team is lots of guts without so much flash.
There's been this pattern now for weeks where Tigers grind back into the game and often get on top. Not necessarily to win but being quite competitive all year apart from a handful of bad results. And specifically recently, they've just been more pleasing to watch - more grit, more effort, more solid defending.
Two slow starts in a row now; including last week we didn't hit and stick very well for about 10 minutes, then found our way into the match. However unlike against Manly, Cowboys were fairly disciplined and when they needed points, they had strike weapons who could burn us. We don't really have the same, we don't have a Dearden or Drinkwater who can do that flashy solo setup, we rely on continued efforts and continued tempo.
Bloody Dearden was everywhere, every cover tackle was made by him, even when we scored it was always him chasing, pouncing on every loose ball, and he gets rewarded being around the traffic so much. We don't really have a guy like Dearden who is in it 100% for the whole match, he appears to fit 100 minutes of football into the regulation 80.
So unfortunately I fell into the trap of "believing", I was quite convinced with the 12-point lead we'd go on with it, very unusual feeling, but they've been doing it for a few weeks now. I had this feeling we'd score again and go on to win by 12 or 18 points. Cowboys looked done, looked desperate.
Then BAM, old school 2023 Tigers, one bad dropped ball and suddenly they've letting in 3 converted tries in 6 minutes. What a letdown. Naden was horrible, sorry mate we just can't handle having you any more, I'd rather have had some young bloke learning the trade and making mistakes, rather than a fairly experienced bloke missing key tackles and being targeted in every set.
But not just him, we are still super lean on the bench. Can't be serious if we have a 20-minute prop, Latu, Murray who seems a nice fellow but bang average, and one of Sukkar or Seyfarth who try hard but lack for the top-tier skills.
So when Cowboys needed points they were able to find it and we got very brittle.
