LIVE GAME Round 7 versus Brisbane

[Lestronge]

The six-again rule is a joke. It's so subjective and no accountability. The Bulldogs / Parra game had almost zero six agains. They are policing them at will.

The ref on the weekend seriously . Im
Not ref bashing because I thought he was good , but how all of a sudden as soon as Reynolds whinges they don’t give away 6 agains , an we suddenly do ? I mean that’s a crock of shit IMO. Nor is it not a crock of shit that they were the only ones copping it . It’s like the spend time hyper fixating on one team , then change tactics and hyper fixate on the other. .

 

[Tigerdazz2]

Did our on field leaders approach the ref and state this case?
If this was Parra, Moses would have made sure someone got 10 in the bin.

For repeated infringements & slx agains there should be a set limit before a MANDATORY 5 or 6 in the bin sin binning.

 

[Tigerdazz2]

For repeated infringements & slx agains there should be a set limit before a MANDATORY 5 or 6 in the bin sin binning.

I'm mean don't leave it in the hands of the ref, he's probably losing count of how many he as actually handed out with the pace of the game, keeping the tackle count.

 

[tigertragic]

For repeated infringements & slx agains there should be a set limit before a MANDATORY 5 or 6 in the bin sin binning.

There was when Luai was binned last year
Supposedly 3 in a set auto bin
Don’t think it’s been activated since that game

 

[Tiger_Fanatic3]

Does anyone know why we have worn our away strips the last two home games ??

Budget cuts, home jerseys got sold to keep the lights on

 

[happy_tiger]

Payne Haas out for 8 weeks MCL injury

 

[TheEnz]

Payne Haas out for 8 weeks MCL injury

unfortunately our aggressive defense has given the dogs a gift for their game next week. looks like Staggs and Arthurs may be out as well.

 

[Tired Tiger]

I thought Douehi ,Api .Bula and Samuela were fantastic as usual
But Jerome Luai I thought had an "ordinary " game almost like he's not fully recovered from his knee injury and if so he should not have played

AD had an excellent game as a half back ? Not sure what game you were watching.....

 

[jirskyr]

One things for sure, win, lose or draw we are belting teams 🐯💪

Definitely Broncos hurt for that one. I was on the sideline and Jesse Arthars, give him credit, he spent half the match limping because they ironed him out EVERY time he touched the ball. They were also hammering Riki and Piakura, who were pretty quiet, and swarming on Haas so he couldn't get his wind-up (thank you Twal).

Corey Jensen got mobbed but I never rated him anway.

Willison was still pretty effective, took some really tough carries. The bench forwards were also pretty good - Talty and Bukowski on debut.

 

[jirskyr]

Luai is a 5/8 and Madden a half back. Their jobs are not the same and Madden played half while Luai was out.

AD is the one that is neither, certainly not a half. People are so blind to his short comings it's ridiculous.

Luai hasn't been paired with a proper half back the whole time at the club but bleat about him being the problem.

Give Luai a proper half and you will see what he can do....

The issue is however where do you put Doueihi? Benji said he's trained with him at halves all pre-season. Sure you can do what you want but they say Doueihi was training there all offseason and they've since re-signed him.

I personally think Doueihi should currently still stick it out at centres, with Herbert, Big Mak and To'a as cover. If Big Mak is the real deal he should stay on the wing and keep grinding out performances, with Skelton as backup. I wouldn't bother much with L Laulilii any more, he's off to Perth Bears.

Then you have Latu on the bench as a replacement late-stage lock, also as halves and hooker cover.

That's sort of what happened 2nd half last week, when Madden eventually came on Benji had all of Api, Latu, Luai, Madden and Doueihi on at once, with Doueihi mostly playing in the centres. But the ball kept going to Doueihi on the last to kick.

Longer term I actually think you prepare Doueihi to play ball-playing lock. His carries in traffic are good, he's best with a bit of a wind-up and not necessarily looking to pass, he can kick if the halves get caught and he's a big unit for front-on defence. Sliding defence probably not his best attribute. I am sure Doueihi could punch out some big minutes with Twal in that mobile forward-type role, happy to take the hit-up and with an offload.

 

[jirskyr]

That was possibly our most frustrating game of the year and very similar to the Souths game. Like the Rabbitohs, the Broncos defended extremely well but, also, like the Souths game, we weren't able to finish off our opportunities. An ability to convert in the red zone has plagued us for 2 years and much of this has to be put on the halves. Douehi and Luai are both great, individual runners of the football on their day, but they are not able to organise and execute plays close to the try line. On top of this, neither were able to utilise an effective short kicking game which is essential when providing variety and building pressure. Hate to say, I told you so, but it was always a possibility that the team would lose cohesion when Luai came back in and, I still maintain that Madden should have been kept at 7. The team looked so much more structured and balanced. Anyway, it's only one game and there's no reason to panic. There were still lots of positives in the team's performance. To not concede a try in a whole half of football versus the Broncos was impressive and, if wasn't for Maka's unfortunate errors, we probably would have won.

We are too sideways at the line, it's that simple.

Go back to the glory days of Tigers attack 2010-11, the key factor was Lui would straighten, could cop a tackle and wasn't afraid to throw a pass. Benji could often crab and throw cut-outs to the crowd, but he was so renowned for his attack (step, chip, pass, run) that it made defences stagger. Then you had Ellis and Dwyer constantly running holes, same as Rowdy Lawrence. It meant Tigers always had big shape on the line, we didn't constantly turn in back inside for flat-footed forwards.

We really need Sam Fainu and KPP to run those Briton Nikora / Jacob Preston lines, I know it's easy to say and hard to replicate, but just run holes at the line all day. They don't need ball out in front, they need it on the line. Fainu set up a try last week by cutting back and getting his arms for an offload, but it was really the only time he wasn't running directly into traffic.

Obvious issue however is when you start putting your backrowers right into the defensive line every play, they need to over-commit so they aren't blocking defenders. It costs energy to do this. And they will get it wrong, like the Bula no-try on Reynolds.

 

[EllisFan]

The issue is however where do you put Doueihi? Benji said he's trained with him at halves all pre-season. Sure you can do what you want but they say Doueihi was training there all offseason and they've since re-signed him.

I personally think Doueihi should currently still stick it out at centres, with Herbert, Big Mak and To'a as cover. If Big Mak is the real deal he should stay on the wing and keep grinding out performances, with Skelton as backup. I wouldn't bother much with L Laulilii any more, he's off to Perth Bears.

Then you have Latu on the bench as a replacement late-stage lock, also as halves and hooker cover.

That's sort of what happened 2nd half last week, when Madden eventually came on Benji had all of Api, Latu, Luai, Madden and Doueihi on at once, with Doueihi mostly playing in the centres. But the ball kept going to Doueihi on the last to kick.

Longer term I actually think you prepare Doueihi to play ball-playing lock. His carries in traffic are good, he's best with a bit of a wind-up and not necessarily looking to pass, he can kick if the halves get caught and he's a big unit for front-on defence. Sliding defence probably not his best attribute. I am sure Doueihi could punch out some big minutes with Twal in that mobile forward-type role, happy to take the hit-up and with an offload.

AD is a better 14 than Jock & Jock is a better 7 than AD.

For me, Benji just needs to pick the 7 on form all year, it’s a good problem to have if both players buy into it.

 

[jirskyr]

Wasting the captain’s challenge hurt, losing that one hurt. Not going to blame the ref as we had our chances. Not sure why we didn’t at least have a shot at field goal to make it 21 all. We are hurting teams and players are going off the field which is great. Luai had a great game round 1 need more.

Not sure also why nobody thought to pressure Reynolds when he was caught with it on 5, in front of the posts, with 10 to go.

Definitely Reynolds didn't plan to take the shot - they hadn't set up for it, but it wasn't a great set for the Broncos and he is such a quick thinker that he went for it.

Consider that when teams usually line up for FG they get the kicker WAY back 30m+, they rarely push into the 20m zone because it's just too close for the defence. But Tigers weren't awake so Reynolds took the snap.

 

[jirskyr]

It's interesting to change your halfback after such a period of stability and quality from the team. That's a run of form we've not seen since 2019 and we made quite a few changes to accommodate returning players.

I don't know if madden makes the difference but it surely leaves everyone wondering if he would have. Just highlights why it is unwise to switch a winning team.

On the halves, they seemed to both start at first receiver wider of the ruck than madden does and they weren't playing straight or fast, often changing the pace or cutting back, which led to a more improvised style of play. It took longer for them to get the ball and their wider play made our backline slower and more bunched. This gave Brisbane time to push up and pressure our outside backs.

When luai and doueihi combined it was sideways and messy.

When madden plays halfback he seems closer to the ruck in receiving the ball and he also plays straight. This pulls the defensive line towards him and creates space out wide as a consequence, where luai and doueihi setup wider and pulled defenders towards the outside. Madden also passes faster and sets up mainly to also get the ball on the next play. This made us fluid and threatening. I've seen doueihi play this way where he is more direct and simple in his movements, but he's currently in his mode where he gets indecisive and stuck with the ball too much.

The kicking produced a number of turnovers and a try, but it didn't feel like it had the same control and placement of madden.

Madden's play in our run of wins wasn't perfect, we squandered plenty of chances with him, but I think this game proved how much better we looked with him organising us. It was noticeable in the attacking areas, but I also felt we struggled switching momentum effectively in the way a madden long range kick has done for us.

I really think it starts with madden at 7. Our team needs someone steering the team around and simple and consistent style against the more improvised play of our outside backs and forwards. Having both halves also playing that way just doesn't work. You need a better mix, and it's not really about player quality as both Doueihi and luai obviously have their strengths. Doueihi seems a more natural fit in the halves for Madden being a strong running type, but luai could also be a decent pairing with him.

I don't like doueihi in the centres. I know it should work because of his running and strength, but he never handles the reduced space of centre well and lacks that burst of acceleration that the best centres have. His best spot is at 6, and potentially at fullback, so I'd either play him there or not.

I also like the role Latu plays off the bench and I wouldn't put our spare half on the bench. You just have to make the hard decision and pick one and drop the other.

Alternatively, if they persist with doueihi he has to play halfback as a halfback. That is closer to the ruck running straight and on the front foot with a pass first mentality. None of this dinking around.

We need a halfback. Benji's pursuit of Reynolds and recruitment of madden at least highlights he sees this. Big test for Benji to solve this issue and negotiate the personalities.

I agree with most of this, but also to note that Madden wasn't playing the Broncos, he was playing Warriors, Eels and Knights.

Tigers forwards definitely provided the platform again vs Broncos; I think we had the Broncos forwards well covered all night both in defence and go-forward.

But Broncos backline defence is something else, they scramble so well. They actually miss a fair number of tackles (Mam missed 6!) but, for example, Tigers made 19 tackle breaks in the backs but only 3 of those were converted to line breaks. Broncos by contrast made 11 tackle breaks in the backs and turned 3 of those into line breaks.

 

[batboy]

Not sure also why nobody thought to pressure Reynolds when he was caught with it on 5, in front of the posts, with 10 to go.

I thought Api did, Just didn't get to him...

Reynolds schooled us, Hopefully we're better for it?

 

[Tired Tiger]

The issue is however where do you put Doueihi? Benji said he's trained with him at halves all pre-season. Sure you can do what you want but they say Doueihi was training there all offseason and they've since re-signed him.

I personally think Doueihi should currently still stick it out at centres, with Herbert, Big Mak and To'a as cover. If Big Mak is the real deal he should stay on the wing and keep grinding out performances, with Skelton as backup. I wouldn't bother much with L Laulilii any more, he's off to Perth Bears.

Then you have Latu on the bench as a replacement late-stage lock, also as halves and hooker cover.

That's sort of what happened 2nd half last week, when Madden eventually came on Benji had all of Api, Latu, Luai, Madden and Doueihi on at once, with Doueihi mostly playing in the centres. But the ball kept going to Doueihi on the last to kick.

Longer term I actually think you prepare Doueihi to play ball-playing lock. His carries in traffic are good, he's best with a bit of a wind-up and not necessarily looking to pass, he can kick if the halves get caught and he's a big unit for front-on defence. Sliding defence probably not his best attribute. I am sure Doueihi could punch out some big minutes with Twal in that mobile forward-type role, happy to take the hit-up and with an offload.

I agree 100 percent. I don't know what half back training AD did all off season as he plays like a 5/8 and not a half back.

I get frustrated when people stat he should stay in the half back role even though he isn't playing as a half back.

I fully acknowledge he is playing well and should stay in the team but in another position ie centre or lock.

I also find it frustrating people comparing AD and Luai when only AD has had the opportunity to play with a proper half back.

 

[lathami]

Other comment Andrew Voss is so biased against tigers
Questioned Warriors sin bin vs Tigers like he doesn't know the rules
Constantly deriding tigers with so many years since won 4 in a row which he mentioned 10 times I counted on replay .
He constantly talked up poor struggling Broncos and Tigers excessive fan base making it a "cauldron " for poor Bronx
Looks for reason why Tigers trys might be disallowed with no such scrutiny on other team .
He tries to sound impartial but in Tigers games he fails at this .
He annoys the sh* t out of me !

Didn’t he back us up with the api penalty??

 

[Tiger_Fanatic3]

Love the hit by Sam and Api on Arthars

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[Tiger_Fanatic3]

Nice flick by Sam to Api for a try

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[jirskyr]

Terrell doing the ball playing forward thing has to stop. I get he can get an offload away at times but that has to be it. He completely halts our attack and we start looking like a touch team. Love the guy but leave it out TDM.

He made 7 tackle breaks and 2 line breaks FYI last week, equal first of any player on the field for either stat.

I agree I'd like more go-forward in theory but he also made 236m.

>200m, 7 TB, 2 LB, 3 offloads, 34 tackles, 1 missed, 1 error: that's a pretty massive game from a prop. Held up once over the line from a solo run. Really we should have done more with the Red-zone attack.