The good, the decent and the bad

[Tacky]

_An extended 3, 2, 1 for the trial with some thoughts from tonight._

**The Good:**
Robbie Rochow: _Big minutes. Good defence. High Workrate._
Corey Thompson: _Really nice step. Decent speed. Some really good runs. Scored a try._
Josh Aloiai: _Destructive. Long minutes._

**The Decent:**
Kevin Naiqama: _Very solid. No mistakes. Stayed solid all throughout the game._
Pita Godinet: _Scored a try. Nice dummy half runs._
Michael Chee-Kam: _Very solid. Some nice runs. Long minutes._
Josh Reynolds: _Some nice touches. High Workrate. Created some good stuff. Nice kicking game._

**The Bad:**
Ben Matunlino: _A couple of errors. Not much impact on the defence. Slow play-the-balls._
Luke Brooks: _Not controlling the game. Some poor kicks._
Mahe Fonua: _Runs not incredibly effective. Missed tackles._

 

[happy_tiger]

Tim Grant was good as well

 

[Geo]

3\. Thompson
2\. Aloiai
1\. Lawrence

Grant was good also and Marsters in patches..that right side D with Reynolds rushing up and Esan and Nofoaluma doing there own thing is still a massive worry..get on the same page at least lads..

 

[barra]

I'm just very concerned when a Rochow type player looks 'Good'.

He's a toiler and for him to stand out means there's very little quality happening around him.

 

[goldcoast_tiger]

Thompson may have made it very difficult to leave him out next week.
Could we see Lolo to 6 and Thompson keeping the full back spot

 

[hodgo]

I really disagree with alot of other peoples views it seems.

I thought Big ben and packer did well in their first hit out. Along with Aloai they bent the line regularly and rarely let a shark push them over the advantage line.

Marsters and nofo struggled defensively. Thompson was great however with limited creativity in the halves i feel lolo needs to be there.

MWZ is good but dont seem him having a huge impact personally i would like Thompson on that wing with lol at the back.

I dont think you can have a backrow with rochow, rowdy and ET. And while Rochow has played well i think we will struggle if all three are in the team.

While i will never knock someone that throws on the Tigers jersey and tries hard i struggle to appreciate Grant. Yes he runs hard but he has poor lateral movment and always makes some really poor choices.

I have never been a fan of Kev but he has been really solid in both trials and for fiji.

But my biggest concern is definitely hooker. Killa struggles with passing consistently and i have liked what i have seen from pita but neither excite me. I hope our young fella is back soon.

Overall i thought we played well in the second half and personally i think both the sharks and roosters will be the top teams this year.

 

[hodgo]

Oh and brooks cant kick in general play way to flat thats a simple truth. however his touch finder is greatly improved and he looks dangerous when he runs.

 

[Guest]

A couple of players stood out, namely Aloiai, Thompson and Rochow. Godinet has to start at 9 for round 1, his service and spark out of dummyhalf was noticeably better than McIlwrick and Reynolds…

Matulino had a couple of decent runs and tackles but he and Packer clearly needed the run. Eisenhuth was busy prior to his head knock and Chee-Kam was good when he came on, had some good runs. Our backline attack was non-existent though, Brooks and Reynolds really didn't offer Naiqama/Marsters any decent ball and Nofo and MWZ only got the ball when returning kicks or doing the dirty yards at our own end.

We desperately need more structure and depth in attack, but we definitely lack speed compared to recent years.

 

[Snake]

Thompson may have made it very difficult to leave him out next week.
Could we see Lolo to 6 and Thompson keeping the full back spot

Forget LoLo for after watching him play in the ISP he is way of the pace.

 

[guyofthetiger]

Thompson may have made it very difficult to leave him out next week.
Could we see Lolo to 6 and Thompson keeping the full back spot

Forget LoLo for after watching him play in the ISP he is way of the pace.

That’s disappointing to hear to say the least.

Many have tried and failed to bring the best out in him and there’s a lot of hopes on Ivan somehow finding a way with him.

 

[goldcoast_tiger]

While he was no world beater last season, I thought he would improve at least to some degree with a full off season hehind him, does he have much weight on.?

 

[Russell]

I really disagree with alot of other peoples views it seems.

I thought Big ben and packer did well in their first hit out. Along with Aloai they bent the line regularly and rarely let a shark push them over the advantage line.

Marsters and nofo struggled defensively. Thompson was great however with limited creativity in the halves i feel lolo needs to be there.

MWZ is good but dont seem him having a huge impact personally i would like Thompson on that wing with lol at the back.

I dont think you can have a backrow with rochow, rowdy and ET. And while Rochow has played well i think we will struggle if all three are in the team.

While i will never knock someone that throws on the Tigers jersey and tries hard i struggle to appreciate Grant. Yes he runs hard but he has poor lateral movment and always makes some really poor choices.

I have never been a fan of Kev but he has been really solid in both trials and for fiji.

But my biggest concern is definitely hooker. Killa struggles with passing consistently and i have liked what i have seen from pita but neither excite me. I hope our young fella is back soon.

Overall i thought we played well in the second half and personally i think both the sharks and roosters will be the top teams this year.

Good summary Hodgo, agree with just about everything you said.

 

[Cairnstigers]

Thompson may have made it very difficult to leave him out next week.
Could we see Lolo to 6 and Thompson keeping the full back spot

Yes
That's how I see it

 

[2041]

If the best players we have are the best players we had last year minus Woods and Tedesco it is going to be a very long year.

Genuine question: does anyone expect anything better than mediocrity from Reynolds? Please show working.

 

[jadtiger]

A couple of players stood out, namely Aloiai, Thompson and Rochow. Godinet has to start at 9 for round 1, his service and spark out of dummyhalf was noticeably better than McIlwrick and Reynolds…

Matulino had a couple of decent runs and tackles but he and Packer clearly needed the run. Eisenhuth was busy prior to his head knock and Chee-Kam was good when he came on, had some good runs. Our backline attack was non-existent though, Brooks and Reynolds really didn't offer Naiqama/Marsters any decent ball and Nofo and MWZ only got the ball when returning kicks or doing the dirty yards at our own end.

We desperately need more structure and depth in attack, but we definitely lack speed compared to recent years.

X2

 

[supercoach]

Gelling so many new faces together was always going to be the biggest stumbling block for us in 2018, but what makes it even harder is we have no individual brilliant players to create something or any pace to carry us over to the combinations are formed.

No doubt they will get better but they will be near the bottom come September, you can’t be competitive with our spine and no real pace

 

[LCA]

The difference between the service/skills of the 9s was stark - Brailie was outstanding for the Sharks. A huge influence on the result in my opinion. When is Liddle back for us?

On another note, I liked the skills of Tyson Gamble late in the game.

Aloiai was terrific.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

For too long we have been praising players on their effort and performance within the Wests Tigers team. However, this will mean little if our players are not better than their opposites in the competition. Rating a players 'effort' doesnt mean they completed the function of their roles at a high standard within the NRL. I didnt think anyone screamed out as being good compared to their opposites within the competition and this will become a strong contributing factor to the outcome of our season.

I felt Thompson looked the best out their tonight, but dont think he was brilliant as a Fullback. The same goes for Rowdy - Committed, Busy, but was it a performance which will see him as one of the better edge forwards in the NRL. I doubt it.

And then you have Godinet. Looked excited, busy, displayed huge effort, but his service from Dummy Half was poor. I spotted him ignoring his halves on 3 occasions and he isnt good enough as a player to make those calls. Back to State Cup for him, and he can take Fonua with him.

From a Round 1 perspective, I still couldnt name a 1-17 and I feel alot will evolve around where Ivan plays Taylor & Aloiai. Josh was also good tonight and displayed some tough defence. After watching the first half, I think Aloiai must be positioned on the Right Edge to help Marsters manage Reynolds & Nofoaluma. Tough on Rochow, but we need more conversing out there or opposition coaches will be directing too much traffic there again much like in 2017.

Finally, alot of fans have been talking up Packer & Matulino. We will need to be patient with these 2 for the opening weeks until they get some game time in their lungs. I'm sure they will improve, but neither are ready for Round 1.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

The 50m run by Thompson near the end cemented his round 1 spot. Think he was our best. Even saved a try by recovering that charge down. Rochow was also very good, and has earnt a spot in the 17 imo.

As for the ugly. Brooks, apart from the try he set up, his kicking game was awful. Reynolds did some good things, but threw a lot of stray passes. Fonua looked wiped after only 5 minutes, so he could be a while away.

 

[Tim Sheens]

While he was no world beater last season, I thought he would improve at least to some degree with a full off season hehind him, does he have much weight on.?

I think that I remember a WT tweet or similar shoeing Tui as the final member to re-join training post World Cup and make it a full squad, so he would have done the least amount of conditioning. He showed enough with us last year to deserve a spot and whilst I am happy enough with him at five-eight, still think that he should be at the back. We need his creativity in the side.