LIVE GAME Round 27 vs. Eels

[Droppy05]

That’s my point lol.

But he went on the record to say re-signing Madge was his worst mistake in charge of the club.

You need a scapegoat and that could'nt be him, had to be the coach.

 

[TSP]

madge had lost the dressing room . There was soo many eye rolls in that documentary , i thought the players heads were about to implode . Madge was not the answer . Neither was sheens and benji has been given the hardest road possible to succeed. for this alone we should habve more patience .

Maybe.

Realistically, we will have to be patient as the club powers remain behind him.

In those circumstances I think he needs better help and we need to import players instead of an over- reliance on the youth policy, because it’s too risky.

I don’t buy the argument we need a squad packed with juniors to be successful as a lot of clubs who are doing well have no such policy.

We aren’t ready to build a Penrith type vertical integration model.

Hazarding a guess, we still have ample funds to try to entice emerging forwards at other clubs.

 

[weststigers]

madge had lost the dressing room . There was soo many eye rolls in that documentary , i thought the players heads were about to implode . Madge was not the answer . Neither was sheens and benji has been given the hardest road possible to succeed. for this alone we should habve more patience .

That's how I see things too.

I still remember the blank look on the players faces when he was trying to fire them up at half time. Embarrassing.

Benji is taking the club over at its lowest point. I've already seen enough with him and Richo to know that the correct decisions are being made for the future.

He may or not be the "right" coach, but nobody is saying that our club and recruitment decisions don't make any sense like previous administrations.

On Madge and Sheens, sadly it seems like their hands were tied by the board to a degree which probably contributed to their failure to a degree.

 

[Lestronge]

You need a scapegoat and that could'nt be him, had to be the coach.

Thats revisionist history. We lost most of the games that year , and half the club had checked out on madge the season before .
Madges style doesnt work. unless you have a cutlure that transitions the players through the generations. ie. lazarus to kimmorley , to scott hill, to stephen kearney , to Greg inglis, to cam smith , to billy slater , to cooper cronk, to the bromwich brothers , to kaufusi , to munster, to hughes to welch , to grant . its player driven which is why the panthers are soo successful.
now the foundations have been set and standards , theoretically the players should have an unoffical heirarcy , that should dictate that.
youre all kinds of screwed if your coach is the one driving standards . Like i said thart style doesnt work unless the players bought in, they didnt and we spiralled .

 

[Droppy05]

Maybe.

Realistically, we will have to be patient as the club powers remain behind him.

In those circumstances I think he needs better help and we need to import players instead of an over- reliance on the youth policy, because it’s too risky.

I don’t buy the argument we need a squad packed with juniors to be successful as a lot of clubs who are doing well have no such policy.

I agree we need to import players to get off the bottom of table. Only problem is that the senior players were the ones that issues with the rookie coach. I can't see that being solved with him still in charge. We need someone with first grade experience or a long first grade apprenticeship.

 

[Lestronge]

Maybe.

Realistically, we will have to be patient as the club powers remain behind him.

In those circumstances I think he needs better help and we need to import players instead of an over- reliance on the youth policy, because it’s too risky.

I don’t buy the argument we need a squad packed with juniors to be successful as a lot of clubs who are doing well have no such policy.

We aren’t ready to build a Penrith type vertical integration model.

Hazarding a guess, we still have ample funds to try to entice emerging forwards at other clubs.

they all do though ? melbourne buy all thier juniors and stick them at sunshine coast , and buiuld together . so do the roosters , pretty much the same model .
they buy them early , keep them together and build through that .
thats what theyre talking about . the players coming through have a kinship to drive standards and ultimately success . you will never get that with mercenaries .
even the dolphins used the history of that club to galvanise theier nrl playing squad . no doubt in mind the building from the ground up message would have been what attracted the players there .
galvanising a playing group is the mission. and the omly way we will ever successfullly achieve that , is through the juniors coming through the grades and doing it together .

 

[Lestronge]

That's how I see things too.

I still remember the blank look on the players faces when he was trying to fire them up at half time. Embarrassing.

Benji is taking the club over at its lowest point. I've already seen enough with him and Richo to know that the correct decisions are being made for the future.

He may or not be the "right" coach, but nobody is saying that our club and recruitment decisions don't make any sense like previous administrations.

On Madge and Sheens, sadly it seems like their hands were tied by the board to a degree which probably contributed to their failure to a degree.

exactly. do i think benji will win us a flag? no i dont ! but do i think in 10 years his legacy as the greatest tiger ever will be a lay down misere. yea i do . i think we will all be gushing about it. but i also think he will be in commentary for fox when that happens .

 

[TSP]

I agree we need to import players to get off the bottom of table. Only problem is that the senior players were the ones that issues with the rookie coach. I can't see that being solved with him still in charge. We need someone with first grade experience or a long first grade apprenticeship.

You’re preaching to the converted, except Richo, HB etc are all behind him. So it’s unrealistic to expect him not to be around.

Plus we’ve got one of the best players in the world specially coming to play under him.

All we can do is strap him up and give him needles ( in a coaching sense) and send him out there.

We’ve bet so heavily on him that people are afraid to lose face, so to dump him, there has to be a non footy reason in place that everyone can swallow. It’s not straightforward. It’s our own fault of course!

And don’t forget, he’s not costing us anything. A sponsor has been paying his wages.

So I suspect another full season.

If he starts winning games, the problem is solved.

I wanted Des and then stopped all direct communication with Lee when Tim appointed himself because it was too irregular an appointment in the face of 16 candidates.

We could have let Benji go, but the new powers that be saw a future with him.

The jury is out I guess.

But I expected more this year tbh.

Not everyone agrees, fair enough.

 

[Droppy05]

You’re preaching to the converted, except Richo, HB etc are all behind him. So it’s unrealistic to expect him not to be around.

Plus we’ve got one of the best players in the world specially coming to play under him.

All we can do is strap him up and give him needles ( in a coaching sense) and send him out there.

We’ve bet so heavily on him that people are afraid to lose face, so there has to be a non footy reason in place that everyone can swallow

And don’t forget, he’s not costing us anything. A sponsor has been paying his wages.

So I suspect another full season.

If he starts winning games, the problem is solved.

I wanted Des and then stopped all direct communication with Lee when Tim appointed himself because it was too irregular an appointment in the face of 16 candidates.

We could have let Benji go, but the new powers that be saw a future with him.

You are probably right. I did not know about wages being paid by a sponsor. Makes sense if that is the case. First 7 rounds will determine his fate for 2025 IMO.

 

[TSP]

To his credit, he won us a couple of extra games and at least got us to spoon bowl.
Not the highest of accolades, but better than the previous year. That was mayhem.

You are probably right. I did not know about wages being paid by a sponsor. Makes sense if that is the case. First 7 rounds will determine his fate for 2025 IMO.

The sponsor: it was in the paper and I know through work contacts. There’s nothing dodgy about it. It helps the club financially so I support it.

I think we gave Tim about 7 rounds, before Justin commenced his secretive talks with Fulton, they hid from Tim.

One moment Tim had the full support of the board and then we kept dropping the ball and he was on the outer.

I suspect he was beyond angry. He’d been sold a pup. But a lucrative one for his retirement and Lee and co gave his wife a job. That was outrageous I thought.

I think Madge knew he was history the moment news of the second coming was announced.

 

[Droppy05]

To his credit, he won us a couple of extra games and at least got us to spoon bowl.
Not the highest of accolades, but better than the previous year. That was mayhem.

The sponsor: it was in the paper and I know through work contacts. There’s nothing dodgy about it. It helps the club financially so I support it.

I think we gave Tim about 7 rounds, before Justin commenced his secretive talks with Fulton, they hid from Tim.

One moment Tim had the full support of the board and then we kept dropping the ball and he was on the outer.

I suspect he was beyond angry. He’d been sold a pup. But a lucrative one for his retirement and Lee gave his wife a job. That was outrageous I thought.

Not in his legal office?

 

[TSP]

Not in his legal office?

No, she got a paid position at the club.

I think it was in admin.

I don’t know all of the circumstances, but like Benji, she didn’t have to compete for her job.

That’s been another criticism of Benji, he wasn’t subjected to a proper recruitment process. So if you hear a Richo talk about these things, the market and the value of competition, he’s not quite a full convert.

I’m not criticising him, I support him, but he holds contrary thoughts sometimes. I guess he feels he has to.

I gave it some thought and it could be that one major reason for Benjis continuing tenure through the hb take over was influenced by wanting to keep the sponsor happy. It’s one of our big sponsors. I don’t know that for sure, total speculation but maybe.

Deals and rugby league go together like a horse and carriage.

Have a great night.

 

[innsaneink]

Every time we sack a coach it takes a season or two before the incoming coach gets the team he wants.
If we sack coaches because we are 1wun 6 losses after round seven, or 3/9 after round 12...no coach worth his salt will come here with that type of job insecurity hanging over him, all we'll get is novice inexperienced rookies just like Marshall.
He mentioned at the presser he's not coaching to keep his job, he's coaching to make the team and players better... After being asked about a quick fix... He's not too worried about winning now as he's looking at the big picture which is success for an extended period... That's all well and good but success starved members and fans might disagree.
In the same presser he admitted there was no game plan for the Parra game "my fault"... And told players to just play footy.
Was this because it was the last game of the year?
Did he have no ideas on how to try and compete against Parra?
When does making the players and team better begin... Because that's his long term vision but it appears he didn't include round 27 spoon bowl 2024 in that vision.
Maybe he should've advised the 18k or whatever the crowd figure was in the week leading up to spoonbowl that there's no game plan which in professional NRL will equate to conceding 60 odd points.
Does it start next year?
Did it start sometime this year?
If so... Why the week off?
Giving your players no instructions.. No game plans, none of your experience of 17 years or whatever it is of NRL & international footy.
In my opinion he gave up before we even stepped into the ring.

Thanks for that coach!

Yes.... season '24 was gone by round 7.or 8 but we had a little something to cheer and hope for 23 weeks later, something that could've given us all a small smile for even just a minute after a year of tears anger and frustration... But coach decided to have the final week off.

Thanks coach 👍

 

[TIGERS]

It's another spoon but I'd rather us do it this way than finishing 9th time after time.It's not like we have been relegated. Not going for the quick fix means not having one.

 

[jadtiger]

Every time we sack a coach it takes a season or two before the incoming coach gets the team he wants.
If we sack coaches because we are 1wun 6 losses after round seven, or 3/9 after round 12...no coach worth his salt will come here with that type of job insecurity hanging over him, all we'll get is novice inexperienced rookies just like Marshall.
He mentioned at the presser he's not coaching to keep his job, he's coaching to make the team and players better... After being asked about a quick fix... He's not too worried about winning now as he's looking at the big picture which is success for an extended period... That's all well and good but success starved members and fans might disagree.
In the same presser he admitted there was no game plan for the Parra game "my fault"... And told players to just play footy.
Was this because it was the last game of the year?
Did he have no ideas on how to try and compete against Parra?
When does making the players and team better begin... Because that's his long term vision but it appears he didn't include round 27 spoon bowl 2024 in that vision.
Maybe he should've advised the 18k or whatever the crowd figure was in the week leading up to spoonbowl that there's no game plan which in professional NRL will equate to conceding 60 odd points.
Does it start next year?
Did it start sometime this year?
If so... Why the week off?
Giving your players no instructions.. No game plans, none of your experience of 17 years or whatever it is of NRL & international footy.
In my opinion he gave up before we even stepped into the ring.

Thanks for that coach!

Yes.... season '24 was gone by round 7.or 8 but we had a little something to cheer and hope for 23 weeks later, something that could've given us all a small smile for even just a minute after a year of tears anger and frustration... But coach decided to have the final week off.

Thanks coach 👍

Well thought out comments and hopefully Benji realises his mistakes from this year and learns from them

 

[Tucker]

Every time we sack a coach it takes a season or two before the incoming coach gets the team he wants.
If we sack coaches because we are 1wun 6 losses after round seven, or 3/9 after round 12...no coach worth his salt will come here with that type of job insecurity hanging over him, all we'll get is novice inexperienced rookies just like Marshall.
He mentioned at the presser he's not coaching to keep his job, he's coaching to make the team and players better... After being asked about a quick fix... He's not too worried about winning now as he's looking at the big picture which is success for an extended period... That's all well and good but success starved members and fans might disagree.
In the same presser he admitted there was no game plan for the Parra game "my fault"... And told players to just play footy.
Was this because it was the last game of the year?
Did he have no ideas on how to try and compete against Parra?
When does making the players and team better begin... Because that's his long term vision but it appears he didn't include round 27 spoon bowl 2024 in that vision.
Maybe he should've advised the 18k or whatever the crowd figure was in the week leading up to spoonbowl that there's no game plan which in professional NRL will equate to conceding 60 odd points.
Does it start next year?
Did it start sometime this year?
If so... Why the week off?
Giving your players no instructions.. No game plans, none of your experience of 17 years or whatever it is of NRL & international footy.
In my opinion he gave up before we even stepped into the ring.

Thanks for that coach!

Yes.... season '24 was gone by round 7.or 8 but we had a little something to cheer and hope for 23 weeks later, something that could've given us all a small smile for even just a minute after a year of tears anger and frustration... But coach decided to have the final week off.

Thanks coach 👍

Exactly right Ink. They promoted the hell out of this game and to not even try was very disappointing. Gutho said winning that game meant everything to Parra.
The other question is….what did they do at training for the two weeks they had to prepare for that game? Parra could only dedicate 6 days to it and scored 11 tries.

 

[Red88_Tiger]

That's how I see things too.

I still remember the blank look on the players faces when he was trying to fire them up at half time. Embarrassing.

Benji is taking the club over at its lowest point. I've already seen enough with him and Richo to know that the correct decisions are being made for the future.

He may or not be the "right" coach, but nobody is saying that our club and recruitment decisions don't make any sense like previous administrations.

On Madge and Sheens, sadly it seems like their hands were tied by the board to a degree which probably contributed to their failure to a degree.

Recruitment was the issue with previous imo
If you don’t have to win over the coach in the signing process respect of the coach is easier lost.

The current process is the only way to go. The players know that there’s only 2 people to win over (richo being a guiding hand atm but I’d expect benji to solely be the one further he progresses)

 

[Tucker]

It's another spoon but I'd rather us do it this way than finishing 9th time after time.It's not like we have been relegated. Not going for the quick fix means not having one.

Coming ninth means you’ve had a go but dropped one game you should have won.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Coming ninth means you’ve had a go but dropped one game you should have won.

I’d take 9th over 17th every day of the week. Why would you rather see your team win 6 games a year, instead of 12?

 

[old_man_tiger]

Every time we sack a coach it takes a season or two before the incoming coach gets the team he wants.
If we sack coaches because we are 1wun 6 losses after round seven, or 3/9 after round 12...no coach worth his salt will come here with that type of job insecurity hanging over him, all we'll get is novice inexperienced rookies just like Marshall.
He mentioned at the presser he's not coaching to keep his job, he's coaching to make the team and players better... After being asked about a quick fix... He's not too worried about winning now as he's looking at the big picture which is success for an extended period... That's all well and good but success starved members and fans might disagree.
In the same presser he admitted there was no game plan for the Parra game "my fault"... And told players to just play footy.
Was this because it was the last game of the year?
Did he have no ideas on how to try and compete against Parra?
When does making the players and team better begin... Because that's his long term vision but it appears he didn't include round 27 spoon bowl 2024 in that vision.
Maybe he should've advised the 18k or whatever the crowd figure was in the week leading up to spoonbowl that there's no game plan which in professional NRL will equate to conceding 60 odd points.
Does it start next year?
Did it start sometime this year?
If so... Why the week off?
Giving your players no instructions.. No game plans, none of your experience of 17 years or whatever it is of NRL & international footy.
In my opinion he gave up before we even stepped into the ring.

Thanks for that coach!

Yes.... season '24 was gone by round 7.or 8 but we had a little something to cheer and hope for 23 weeks later, something that could've given us all a small smile for even just a minute after a year of tears anger and frustration... But coach decided to have the final week off.

Thanks coach 👍

Great summary ink
Benji as a coach reminds me of Mal Meninga as a politician, but Mal hadrhe good grace to quit