Not good enough': Tigers board to undertake post-season review
Ed Chisholm 51 mins ago
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Scrutiny on the likes of Michael Maguire and Luke Brooks is set to intensify over the off-season with the Tigers board to conduct a full-scale review on the end of another disappointing year for the club.
The Tigers' finals drought will go on into a 10th straight year following a year that started with plenty of pre-season promises and ended with not much to show for it.
A recruitment drive that was headlined by former Panthers skipper James Tamou wasn't enough to improve results for the embattled club, which sits in 13th place heading into Sunday's final round clash with the Bulldogs.
Maguire remains contracted until the end of 2023 but that hasn't curbed the scrutiny around his position, while star halfback Luke Brooks' future also remains clouded with reports during the season suggesting the Tigers wouldn't hesitate entertaining offers from rival clubs for his services.
Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis confirmed on SEN that the club's board owed it to fans to demand answers after another year of agony.
While he didn't comment on the futures of Maguire and Brooks, the pair will undoubtedly be placed under the spotlight when the review is undertaken.
"It's been a disappointing year," Hagipantelis said.
"I've made it publically known that we will all sit down at the end of the year and undertake a deep review of the year that's passed and ask a lot of difficult questions but more importantly demand difficult answers.
"These boys put in each and every week. I have no doubt about their efforts and commitment and pride for the jumper but it hasn't translated with results on the field and it's just not good enough.
"We're just going to have to sit down at the end of this year and work out what we need to do."
Tigers powerbrokers have been outspoken in their past with their trust in Maguire as the man to lead the club out of this rut but patience is undoubtedly beginning to wear thin.
Defensively this season the Tigers are conceding an average of 29.3 points per game, their worst defensive record since Maguire arrived at the helm three seasons ago.
Recruitment is another issue that continues to plague the club, with Dale Finucan and Tevita Pangai Junior the latest big names the Tigers have expressed interest in yet failed to land.
Their new arrivals for next season so far include star Super League duo Jackson Hastings and Oliver Gildart, both sound acquisitions but not ones you'd pin hopes on to immediately turn results around.
"We owe it to our fans and members - there are 400,000 people who identify themselves and fans and members of the Wests Tigers and we owe it to them. They are the stakeholders," Hagipantelis added.
"They have now been through 10 long years desperate for a team of which they can be proud and a team that will actually achieve sustained success."
Ed Chisholm 51 mins ago
Comments
Scrutiny on the likes of Michael Maguire and Luke Brooks is set to intensify over the off-season with the Tigers board to conduct a full-scale review on the end of another disappointing year for the club.
The Tigers' finals drought will go on into a 10th straight year following a year that started with plenty of pre-season promises and ended with not much to show for it.
A recruitment drive that was headlined by former Panthers skipper James Tamou wasn't enough to improve results for the embattled club, which sits in 13th place heading into Sunday's final round clash with the Bulldogs.
Maguire remains contracted until the end of 2023 but that hasn't curbed the scrutiny around his position, while star halfback Luke Brooks' future also remains clouded with reports during the season suggesting the Tigers wouldn't hesitate entertaining offers from rival clubs for his services.
Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis confirmed on SEN that the club's board owed it to fans to demand answers after another year of agony.
While he didn't comment on the futures of Maguire and Brooks, the pair will undoubtedly be placed under the spotlight when the review is undertaken.
"It's been a disappointing year," Hagipantelis said.
"I've made it publically known that we will all sit down at the end of the year and undertake a deep review of the year that's passed and ask a lot of difficult questions but more importantly demand difficult answers.
"These boys put in each and every week. I have no doubt about their efforts and commitment and pride for the jumper but it hasn't translated with results on the field and it's just not good enough.
"We're just going to have to sit down at the end of this year and work out what we need to do."
Tigers powerbrokers have been outspoken in their past with their trust in Maguire as the man to lead the club out of this rut but patience is undoubtedly beginning to wear thin.
Defensively this season the Tigers are conceding an average of 29.3 points per game, their worst defensive record since Maguire arrived at the helm three seasons ago.
Recruitment is another issue that continues to plague the club, with Dale Finucan and Tevita Pangai Junior the latest big names the Tigers have expressed interest in yet failed to land.
Their new arrivals for next season so far include star Super League duo Jackson Hastings and Oliver Gildart, both sound acquisitions but not ones you'd pin hopes on to immediately turn results around.
"We owe it to our fans and members - there are 400,000 people who identify themselves and fans and members of the Wests Tigers and we owe it to them. They are the stakeholders," Hagipantelis added.
"They have now been through 10 long years desperate for a team of which they can be proud and a team that will actually achieve sustained success."
