@jc99 said in [Signing Suggestions & Rumours](/post/1327287) said:
This forum cares way too much about players personalities... as long as they work hard at training and work hard on the field let's take them. We can't afford to run background checks on players and only sign charity workers.... McGuire is a grub but he would be a solid pickup and footy is what matters
I'm very proud of the fact our club hasn't ever been seen as purveyers of grubby play.
To the point that even the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Finger" or Tim Simona stuff never left a stigma upon our great clubs name in the same way Storm cheated the cap or Easts Rorters continually seem so flushed for choice or Sharks being found over the cap every year either side of their premiership.
Our integrity is intact.
We are proud.
We signed bone-heads before, the most recent having been dropped last week.
Was it last year McGuire got done for eye-gouging?
Let us not even entertain the thought of having someone of so little repute at our club.
If we limp... we limp like men!
Other big teams (especially forwards) dont respect us
we play nice
we don't play finals
Im sick of limping out of finals contention
I think most teams do respect us, we are quite known for producing the unexpected
Havn't been in contention for a while sure but we make most teams sweat regardless
Incorrect. No one respects us at all. We're generally considered a laughing stock to most clubs and players.
You know this for sure, right? You know what most clubs and players generally think about Tigers, you've taken a survey?
have you? It's not an emotional thing here.
Everyone rests players against us, we play teams back into form, we had prayer circles, our forward struggle to make 100m a game, we cant score points and now have a record for more than 26 points scored against us in consecutive weeks.
Seriously its been a mess over the years, slowly getting better though. Potentially we may be underestimated soon, but not yet.
No I haven't done a survey, but I am not making claims to know what players think. It's just a stupid and pointless claim that "most clubs and players" think or do anything.
You claim resting players, playing teams back into form... there's no data for that, just sweeping generalisations.
The one legitimate thing you've said is the bad defensive record >26 points in consecutive weeks. No debating that, and I believe that is the primary difference between where we are now and finals football. All the rest of it - the wingers, Brooks' performance, Doueihi as a long-term 5/8th option, our hookers... I think they are all very secondary to a complete inability to defend under pressure.
But, again, not making any stupid and pointless claims about what other teams "think".
Lol it's what they say and do - on record. On radio. On the net. In the papers. Before and after games. It's their words and actions, not mine. It's the coaches, players, recruits. Latrell said he didn't want to be the big player at a club or something like that. Coaches regularly down play our efforts. Look at Moses rolling over the sideline. No respect. That hurts.
Im not hiding behind a false accusation that a survey is necessary, I just read. A lot.
But whatever put those rose coloured glasses on and believe we are a powerhouse, feared and respected by all for missing the finals, sacking club legends, front office disasters, salary cap management etc.... 9th place is a good result right?
It's the coaches fault, the halfbacks fault, we don't have wingers, our 5/8 is bad, no one would buy our hooker, we cant defend, cant make a last tackle play, cant buy a repeat set. Crumble under pressure etc.
But wait, why would you respect a team like that? Even some on the forum don't seem to at times.
Problem is most people are losing patience at history repeating. Again and again and again.
As I said, it's changing, just slowly. But, it is changing. More deadwood gone at the end of this year - another step forward. One step towards respect. Finals this year would be another. Might even jag a win.
If we get it right a lack or respect turns to underestimation. hopefully in September.
I'll just take my sweeping generalisations and brush them under the rug. Seems too be better if we just think its all ok.
Personally, Im sick of it. Hopefully the players are as well. Because according to Kent if you cant make it as the Tigers, who would buy you?
I appreciate your passion, I really do, but yes they are sweeping generalisations. I am sure you read a lot, so do I. Actually, yes, data is required to make such large claims.
The initial comment that I responded to was
>no one respects us at all, we are generally considered a laughing stock to most clubs and players".
To make such a statement is to assume to know what clubs and players "generally" think, which is of course nonsense. At best, one could say "I have an impression that other clubs don't respect us". Still lacking in data but at the very least nobody can argue that you have developed an "impression" of something without claiming it to be factual.
Your latest comments "What THEY say and do", "words and actions" - that's just a generalised impression. How many players actually on record as disrespecting Tigers, thinking Tigers are a joke? Of all the players, how many? How many teams actually put in less effort in the weeks they play Tigers, or assume it is a "W" no matter what? How many teams skip video sessions, skip training sessions, rest players, "think about next week" when it's a Tigers match? How many teams are traveling so well in 2021 as to not be particularly bothered with the lower-ranked sides?
Tigers should defeat Cowboys this week and yet there are Tigers fans worried about a "danger game". Why is it that Tigers have danger games but other clubs apparently don't? Why do Tigers need to respect all other sides but other clubs don't apparently need to respect Tigers? Surely, at the very least, clubs like Newcastle, Bulldogs, Cowboys, Broncos, Manly, Warriors (that's 40% of the clubs) take Tigers seriously. I am also sure I hear, with mundane regularity, talk from very many players and coaches about "respecting every side every week" and "never being complacent".
I'm sure as hell Parramatta players and fans took Tigers VERY seriously when we scored back-to-back tries on Monday and got within 2 points. I can only speak to the Parra supporters around me who suddenly became very nervous with their teams inability to put the Tigers away, but I am going to assume it rippled around the stadium.
I don't want people to misunderstand me either; I'm not rose-coloured glasses, I'm not claiming that Tigers are going fine or the club hasn't had a horrendous run of non-success. I'm not satisfied as a supporter. But also, I recognise how complicated and slow progress can be (that's not to say nobody else recognises this, it's just how I approach being a fan). I can only be patient, that's one of three options available to me: be patient, be/go mad, or quit. I get it, some fans choose to quit and I can understand that. Some fans choose to withdraw funds from the club - that part I can't understand; voting with your wallet does nothing to promote success. Some fans don't quit but spend the time feeling mad, and I get it.
But I've said it before, I used to support Balmain and in my 35 years of watching rugby league, the Tigers have only ever made the finals 7 times, 3 Grand Finals, 1 premiership. My Dad is 67 this year, he's only ever seen two Tigers premierships his whole life. I accepted a long time ago that I support a club that hasn't gone anywhere near a dynasty, so the best I can do is just hope for the best.
@BAGNF05 made some daft comment down this thread about being a "realist", but let's all be serious, there's arguably nothing more realistic than acknowledging that Wests Tigers are not a successful club and not getting bogged down in external noise from other clubs or players.
On a separate note, I also find it psychologically interesting that some fans fixate on what other clubs think. It really shouldn't matter. Not only can you not easily measure what "other people think", it really shouldn't matter to the output of a football team. Wins matter. Scores matter. Opinions don't really matter. I don't care about Paul Kent or Cooper Cronk or RCG or Brad Arthur. They can't win football games for Wests Tigers.
In fact, I think it can be well argued that being overly concerned with outside opinions is a key risk for failure. If you believe an opponent doesn't respect you, do you fire up and perform better, or do you capitulate too easily under the pre-conceived idea that your opponents think you are a joke? Is that itself just a form of projection? Is the truth actually that you think you are a joke, and you project that belief onto your opponents? Are Tigers players actually wracked with a lack of self-belief?
