LIVE GAME Round 25 vs Roosters

[hank37w]

I know many don't like the way Benji approaches the post match presser because he deflects all of the time. More often than anything, when we lose it is on him and the staff for not producing and when we win it is about player effort. I think his comment today about his assistant coaches acknowledges the pressure that they are facing as a staff, and his assistants in particular.

It would be great to understand what is said within the walls at the CoE as opposed to what Benji projects post match. He has copped plenty of criticism for his coaching and the way he protects the players. While the performances haven't been great I think much of it is unjustified.

Benji (and the support staff) can't coach has been a bit of a cry on here for a while. The game plan and consistency shown in the first 8 games of the season was not plucked from someone's rear end. Clearly Benji and his staff have some ability. As much as I don't like some of the the decisions they have made, the coaching staff has shown real commitment to the playing group by picking and sticking with what they believe is the best 17.

I also wholeheartedly disagree with the way the AD saga was handled; however, Benji made a tough call to swallow a bit of pride and put AD back into the starting lineup as the 7. I expect, because he thought that it was best for the team at the time, same as his call to name AD at 13 in the first instance.

For me, while frustrating, these are clear signs of good leadership.

Based on what I saw yesterday I have no doubt that the players, as a collective, are all in on Benji as the coach. There is still probably a rift within the playing group that needs to be adressed, and at least one player needs to deliver what is best for the team as opposed to what is best for his ego.

Beni still has some learning to do; however, he knows what leadership is. He takes a bullets for the team when needed and shifts praise to where it is needed most. Unless you are inside the four walls of the CoE there is no way on knowing what hard discussions are happening between the players and coaching staff.

Is the position we are in at the moment a true reflection of the ability of the coaching staff? It is hard to say; but, for me at least, there is enough evidence to demonstrate that they do have a clue and that there is a real commitment from the coach and his staff to the playing group. There is evidence that supports our drop in performance is more related to internal friction from "me first" than the coaching staff is hopeless.

At the elite sporting level attitude and cohesion is probably more important than what the coaching staff deliver week in week out. I would love to get and honest answer from Trent Robinson and Justin Holbrook as why they lost on the weekend. I'll bet they will point to player attitude as opposed to any decsions they made in relation to preparation. If they were good leaders they would probably frame it as they were responsible for the preparation of the team. But we all know the reality.

Agree with what you have said.

I took his comment about his assistants as some sort of resistance to pressure that is being put on him to move them on.

Gee, who's that player you have identified with the ego? 🤣 🤣

Personally I would have preferred it if Benji named him in the #13 for his return match, but that's just me.

I thought that giving him the #7 back was pretty weak, but then we don't know what was going on within the team at the time and who was siding with who, so probably a delicate tight rope to cross at the time.

 

[hank37w]

Is averillo a gal kicker

I hope not, we could end up with a Swans type situation. 😁

 

[pawsandclaws1]

I hope Marshall has a good chat to Saukuru. I know he is young but jogging in defence immediately before the Roosters scored their final try is not on. Robinson would expect significantly more from his debutant and younger players, in fact he'd make it mandatory players demonstrate urgency and desperation in defence to not let your team or team mates down. If it is a fitness issue, he needs to get fitter. If it is an attitudinal issue, he needs to speak with Seyfarth and Twal.

 

[TT 01]

Solo looks pretty good 2 games in. I know he has missed a couple of tackles but surprised it took him this long to get a start. With him and Herbert we have great depth to allow the likes of Makasini to develop.

 

[TT 01]

I hope Marshall has a good chat to Saukuru. I know he is young but jogging in defence immediately before the Roosters scored their final try is not on. Robinson would expect significantly more from his debutant and younger players, in fact he'd make it mandatory players demonstrate urgency and desperation in defence to not let your team or team mates down. If it is a fitness issue, he needs to get fitter. If it is an attitudinal issue, he needs to speak with Seyfarth and Twal.

Same with Luai on that play. Did you see he tackled Marky Mark kinda a bit late but then they both got up Mark was straight up and into the play while Luai just walked. Effort there would have stopped the try

 

[Telltails]

Agree with what you have said.

I took his comment about his assistants as some sort of resistance to pressure that is being put on him to move them on.

Gee, who's that player you have identified with the ego? 🤣 🤣

Personally I would have preferred it if Benji named him in the #13 for his return match, but that's just me.

I thought that giving him the #7 back was pretty weak, but then we don't know what was going on within the team at the time and who was siding with who, so probably a delicate tight rope to cross at the time.

Yep it's a little bit different to moving pieces around a chess board which is what fans do on the outside looking in.

 

[jirskyr]

Benji chose the wrong kid to play centre this year. Solo is a far better prospect than Makisini at this stage

Yes and no.

Solo has had the advantage of the old-school approach to being blooded, which is to carve out form in reserve grade and come to firsts with decent conditioning. Fonua Pole did a similar thing, getting on top of the lower grades before being brought in.

Makasini is a totally different prospect. We are paying him way more than Solo and you can't just bury a kid like that in reserve grade and tell him to wait 18 months. A kid like that will not re-sign with the Tigers (don't forget everyone was chasing his signature) if you tell him and his parents that he's gonna spend a year and half in NSW Cup.

Solo's further advantages are that he has no reputation so they haven't yet gone after him. Though after a few bad missed tackles the past 2 weeks, you can be certain that oppositions will start to target him more and more. For example yesterday, simple 1-1 miss on Toia (obviously he's quality so it's not unusual) and when the Roosters wanted points they went to our left-side defence the entire back 20 minutes.

Makasini on the other hand, they went after him physically early and all season. He's clearly been injured.

So definitely Solo is making a decent fist of his promotion and he does not look out of place. But if he debuted Round 1 and oppositions towelled him up every week, it would not necessarily be the same outcome as now.

And moreover it's only 2 weeks played.

 

[pawsandclaws1]

Speaking of centres, I watched the Broncos game against the Raiders and Staggs impressed with his attitude because he was on Ethan Strange at every opportunity. He moved up and hit hard in defence, there was no indecision with his defence.

 

[magpies forever]

Solo looks pretty good 2 games in. I know he has missed a couple of tackles but surprised it took him this long to get a start. With him and Herbert we have great depth to allow the likes of Makasini to develop.

I think there is talent there but sure needs some defensive work. Get him on the training paddock and make him work at defense, and do it time and time again. We know he can attack but his defense needs to come up to NRL standard. He has a future with us if he wants it.

 

[Bellend]

Your dreaming like the rest of us

well was a great dream with a happy ending

 

[wstigers11]

CHARGED: Siua Wong, Victor Radley and Jock Madden all CHARGED from yesterday’s thriller — but all can escape with a fine

Samuela Fainu NOT cited for hip-drop on Mark Nawaqanitawase

 

[tig_prmz]

Apparently something to do with Klein blowing full time too early according to the fox commentary....alll a bit vague

so basically they didnt have time to pack the scrum so they tried to challenged before Klein blew the whistle. The moment they challenge, the clock stops hence giving them time to pack the scrum.

But they were too late to challenge before Klein called time off so all they could challenge was the final whistle.

 

[TrueTiger]

Funny game NRL.

While we all thinking why couldnt we play like we did yesterday against parra and saints....roosters fans are thinking this morning why couldnt they have played like they did against the cowboys, against us

The beauty of sport eh

Nothing like loyalty to the team...against all odds I had $10 on the Tigers at $9.00...
$90.00 for drinks...thanks Wests Tigers.. ❤️👍

 

[Lestronge]

Yes and no.

Solo has had the advantage of the old-school approach to being blooded, which is to carve out form in reserve grade and come to firsts with decent conditioning. Fonua Pole did a similar thing, getting on top of the lower grades before being brought in.

Makasini is a totally different prospect. We are paying him way more than Solo and you can't just bury a kid like that in reserve grade and tell him to wait 18 months. A kid like that will not re-sign with the Tigers (don't forget everyone was chasing his signature) if you tell him and his parents that he's gonna spend a year and half in NSW Cup.

Solo's further advantages are that he has no reputation so they haven't yet gone after him. Though after a few bad missed tackles the past 2 weeks, you can be certain that oppositions will start to target him more and more. For example yesterday, simple 1-1 miss on Toia (obviously he's quality so it's not unusual) and when the Roosters wanted points they went to our left-side defence the entire back 20 minutes.

Makasini on the other hand, they went after him physically early and all season. He's clearly been injured.

So definitely Solo is making a decent fist of his promotion and he does not look out of place. But if he debuted Round 1 and oppositions towelled him up every week, it would not necessarily be the same outcome as now.

And moreover it's only 2 weeks played.

Solo is 3 years older , and literally kisses as many tackles as he makes . And that efficiency stat doesn’t take into account being caught in no mans land .
I’ve said this before but I’m almost certain at least 70% of our fanbase only ever watch when we have the ball . The only things they notice in defence is the absolute howler , or often the guy at the end of a backline that’s had 3 people stuff up inside him to be caught in a 3 on 1 .

 

[Flippedy]

Where has this defense been ?? Wow straight lines, speed, proper tackling from start to finish,

Left it back in round 8, just found it again lol

 

[Winston Churchill]

Its no secret Kleins hate for the Tigers, but far out the obvious was on yesterday.

Bet he got a call from Uncle Nick last night.

The penalty for a dropped play the ball was one of the most blatant on the take calls I've seen since The Grasshopper in the 80s.

As Tigers fans we dont hate Klein enough.

 

[Flippedy]

Luai's mistakes led to two tries.

Once we're free from him, things should tighten up too.

Yeah that was glaring yesterday. The team as a whole played very well and there were a few standouts, but Luai was underwhelming, imo.

 

[jirskyr]

I think many of us owe the WTs a massive apology for writing them off so badly
Who else wants to own it
Sorry boys

No I think they deserved it, they've played very very poorly the past 2 months. Arguably the worst team in the comp. The bottom sides are climbing up the ladder and improving on the back of playing us. Previous 3 rounds we lost to the teams currently coming 12th, 13th and last.

And whilst I am happy with yesterday's win and performance, I have to ask - where the hell was that the past 2 months? How did that defensive starch suddenly reappear? How did Skelton and Junior Toops find their handling skills? You have to wonder the psychological capacity of a team that will leave it too late to chase the wooden spoon side, but sneak home against the almost-Premiers in consecutive weeks.

I always make the point that if you are close at the end of a match you should expect to win near to 50%. For the 2026 matches decided by less than 6 points, even though we are near to last, we are still 3W 5L, so only 1 match off 50%.

For a struggling team like Tigers the real emphasis should be staying close in every match, every week. This is because when you are down on form, big losses are much more likely than big wins, so the important part of regaining form is eliminating the big losses. This gets you into arm-wrestle territory and you will win about half of those. We've only been within 6 points 4 times the past 9 rounds.

We have been stabilising a little this month - we should have beaten the Eels and we left our run too late against Dragons. But they are also two of the worst side in the comp, so being competitive against them is a low bar / minimum standard.

The team deserves criticism. Relative form was pointing to a comfortable Roosters win. Roosters were not hugely undermanned but they did miss Tedesco. Tigers were good yesterday and Roosters were uncharacteristically poor.

Tigers are -142 F/A last 9 rounds, which is poor, and it only includes one real flogging 56-10 to Raiders (arguably also 32-0 against Bulldogs). Average of 12.7 points for and 28.4 points against. So not very competitive and not a huge number of blowouts to skew the metrics.

No Tigers received deserved criticism for a club desperately trying to get somewhere near to Finals footy.

 

[Winston Churchill]

Yeah that was glaring yesterday. The team as a whole played very well and there were a few standouts, but Luai was underwhelming, imo.

Honestly the best thing about 2026 is its Jerrys last year. We have that as a plus for the club.

Brought nothing to the club but high hopes and delivered absolute failure.

 

[Winston Churchill]

I think many of us owe the WTs a massive apology for writing them off so badly
Who else wants to own it
Sorry boys

Youve made some clangers in the past but thats one of the dumbest posts in a long time.