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Tim Sheens could be forgiven for studying the blueprint to Wests Tigers' 2005 premiership winning campaign on a daily basis - but the coach is desperately hoping history doesn't repeat over the next two weeks.
Sheens' young side came from the clouds to snatch the joint-venture club's only premiership five long years ago.
But while the '05 campaign is best remembered for the Tigers' late-season charge from the bottom half of the ladder and Benji Marshall's famous flick pass to Pat Richards in the grand final, the veteran coach has not forgotten the consecutive losses they suffered at the end the regular season.
And with clashes against Melbourne and the second-placed Gold Coast still ahead of them, Sheens knows there is a danger of losing all momentum in the final two rounds.
"We're where we were in '05," Sheens, who is normally reluctant to discuss the club's only premiership, said on Thursday.
"I think we've got 32 points which is where we finished (in '05) and we lost our last two games in '05\. We were lucky to pick up the momentum again in the first semi but you can't count on that."
Although Sheens raised the topic himself, he was quick to shy away from comparisons with the '05 campaign when questioned further.
"Talk of '05 is a long way off, I mean, it's nowhere near the same side and we've got a lot of work to do to get anywhere near a grand final," he said.
"What we want to do though with our next two games is finish in better shape than we did back then, and maintain a little bit of momentum."
"We just want to obviously finish well at our home ground Leichhardt this week and lay a platform for some shot at it in the semis."
Asked whether he expects a highly motivated or highly disinterested Melbourne to turn up at Leichhardt on Sunday afternoon, Sheens says it's up to his players to set the tone from the opening whistle.
"Melbourne have got a lot of pride and I think it'll be the Melbourne that we allow to turn up really," he said.
"If we're not on our game and they sense it, well, if they don't have to play hard to win it's going to be a bonus for them, so we've got to turn up to play."
"They've got nearly their best side on the park and there's too many rep players in there, too much talent … and they know each other's game so well and they're on the same wavelength, particularly their key players - so you can't not be there defensively."
"But I don't know and I'm not really interested in what they're thinking. I'm just trying to keep my guys focused on what we need to do."
Meanwhile, Sheens applauded Benji Marshall's public declaration to cut out 'the fancy stuff' during the finals, but urged his players to stick with the attacking style that has served them well so far this season.
"We'll play what got us here and that is playing some football," Sheens declared.
"That doesn't mean we're going to play what I call circus football and throw it left right and centre just for the sake of it ... or flick pass it."
"There's an element of what Benji's saying that's correct but we're not going to do get there and say 'well we won't drop the ball therefore we're just going to run one out'."
"That's not going to work for us."
[Source](http://sportal.com.au/league-news-display/sheens-wants-big-finish-97445)
Sheens' young side came from the clouds to snatch the joint-venture club's only premiership five long years ago.
But while the '05 campaign is best remembered for the Tigers' late-season charge from the bottom half of the ladder and Benji Marshall's famous flick pass to Pat Richards in the grand final, the veteran coach has not forgotten the consecutive losses they suffered at the end the regular season.
And with clashes against Melbourne and the second-placed Gold Coast still ahead of them, Sheens knows there is a danger of losing all momentum in the final two rounds.
"We're where we were in '05," Sheens, who is normally reluctant to discuss the club's only premiership, said on Thursday.
"I think we've got 32 points which is where we finished (in '05) and we lost our last two games in '05\. We were lucky to pick up the momentum again in the first semi but you can't count on that."
Although Sheens raised the topic himself, he was quick to shy away from comparisons with the '05 campaign when questioned further.
"Talk of '05 is a long way off, I mean, it's nowhere near the same side and we've got a lot of work to do to get anywhere near a grand final," he said.
"What we want to do though with our next two games is finish in better shape than we did back then, and maintain a little bit of momentum."
"We just want to obviously finish well at our home ground Leichhardt this week and lay a platform for some shot at it in the semis."
Asked whether he expects a highly motivated or highly disinterested Melbourne to turn up at Leichhardt on Sunday afternoon, Sheens says it's up to his players to set the tone from the opening whistle.
"Melbourne have got a lot of pride and I think it'll be the Melbourne that we allow to turn up really," he said.
"If we're not on our game and they sense it, well, if they don't have to play hard to win it's going to be a bonus for them, so we've got to turn up to play."
"They've got nearly their best side on the park and there's too many rep players in there, too much talent … and they know each other's game so well and they're on the same wavelength, particularly their key players - so you can't not be there defensively."
"But I don't know and I'm not really interested in what they're thinking. I'm just trying to keep my guys focused on what we need to do."
Meanwhile, Sheens applauded Benji Marshall's public declaration to cut out 'the fancy stuff' during the finals, but urged his players to stick with the attacking style that has served them well so far this season.
"We'll play what got us here and that is playing some football," Sheens declared.
"That doesn't mean we're going to play what I call circus football and throw it left right and centre just for the sake of it ... or flick pass it."
"There's an element of what Benji's saying that's correct but we're not going to do get there and say 'well we won't drop the ball therefore we're just going to run one out'."
"That's not going to work for us."
[Source](http://sportal.com.au/league-news-display/sheens-wants-big-finish-97445)
