Another positive article..
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APRIL 3 2017 - 6:50PM
Ivan Cleary positive after individual meetings with Wests Tigers' 'big four'
Michael Chammas
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Ivan Cleary was only an hour into his tenure at the Wests Tigers before he sat down with each member of the so called big four to gauge just how much they wanted to remain at the club.
The Tigers trumpeted a three-and-a half-year deal for Cleary on Monday afternoon, but there will be no more pivotal period during his reign than the the next month, in which he must make crucial decisions regarding the future of James Tedesco, Aaron Woods, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks.
Will they stay? Will they go? Does Cleary even want them around?
They are all questions without answers at the moment, but you can rest assured the new coach will want them answered in a hurry as he begins the mammoth task of resurrecting the club's fortunes.
"The club has made it perfectly clear that they want these boys to stay," Cleary said at Wests Ashfield Leagues Club on Monday afternoon.
"From my point of view, from the outside looking in, that would be a fairly normal thing to do. The reality is it doesn't matter who you are and where you fit into the roster, it has always got to be at the right value. Some figures just came out at the weekend about the cap as well so all these things have to be taken into account.
"Without going into detail with each of those guys, what we want to do is get some certainty around the roster and make sure every player - no matter how much money he gets or where he fits into the team – is committed to the future of this club."
While Cleary described his conversations with the players on Monday morning as "positive", the future of the "big four" remains in limbo.
There have been a number of issues over the past two years that has impacted on their happiness at the Tigers, something that became obvious to their new coach after their brief meeting on Monday.
"I got the impression it hasn't been easy for them," Cleary said. "Nothing more than that. It's been difficult and have been in the spotlight big time. That's the nature of being high-profile and you're unsigned – it doesn't matter who you are. That's what goes with it.
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"The reality is it is what it is right now. There is only one way to stop it and that is that they either sign for the Tigers or they don't. Unfortunately the way it has all unfolded, looking from the outside in, this has been cultivated over a five- or six-week period.
"As you guys well know, all that does is get bigger and bigger and bigger, and the pressure increases. Again, one thing hopefully my appointment today leads to some certainty. The next step the more of that we can get the better. Getting players signed away and getting your roster sorted as quickly as you can, that allows more certainty."
THE PROBLEMS THAT NEED FIXING
The Wests Tigers have the worst defensive record in the competition to start the season, and there have been few signs of improvement over the opening five rounds of the season.
A soft underbelly, compounded by a relentless need to roll the dice on every tackle, has seen the Tigers plummet to the bottom of the NRL ladder.
Cleary has watched every game and has already earmarked what he believes is the Tigers' major concern.
"Probably the biggest thing I have seen is that they just have periods when they drop out of the game," Cleary said.
"There is not a lot of rhythm in how they're playing. There are good periods – they start each game well. They're probably not dealing with setbacks well. When momentum shifts, they're struggling to absorb that and turn it around.
"I am convinced each man is trying as hard as they can but sometimes it's not collective. Why that is, I don't know. But you can be sure that if environmentally there are some distractions and uncertainty, that's going to be hard to bring all that together."
WHY THE WESTS TIGERS ARE RIGHT FOR CLEARY
Cleary was always going to be the next coach to land a gig when one became available. So the question had to be asked: was this the right job or just a job?
"It's a balance," Cleary said. "It crossed my mind. You don't want to set yourself up for failure. I definitely don't think I'm doing that here. Having said that, there might be some hard days ahead.
"But in terms of balance, you just don't know when a job is going to come up either. All I can say is this one did come up and I liked what I saw. They did too luckily, and now we're here.
WHY THE TIGERS CAN STILL MAKE THE SEMIS
While Cleary admits there is a chance the club may need to go backwards to go forwards, he isn't willing to write off the club's chances of an unlikely charge to the finals.
"I absolutely haven't discounted making the semis," he said.
"What I have learnt over the years is that not many people remember the first quarter of the year by the end of the year. From an external point, if you look at the way the side is playing at the moment it doesn't look great. There is a real lack of confidence there.
"Again, the way you prepare, the current environment hasn't been great for successful performances on the field. If there is some uncertainty, distractions and whatever else, under pressure you're going to get found out on the weekend. Hopefully we can tidy up a little bit of that. I will know more when I really get in the guts of it."
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/ivan-cleary-positive-after-individual-meetings-with-wests-tigers-big-four-20170403-gvci22.html
