Tigers Deep Dive of the Week

[Bellend]

Jock seems to be playing with injury; his kicking is severely hampered. If Lanyon is up to it I wonder why he doesn't start in place of Latu and give Jock a spell

The Question is will Benji bite the bullet ran within something out of his comfort zone??

 

[Jolls]

The Question is will Benji bite the bullet ran within something out of his comfort zone??

Probably not; but if we aren't up for it this week he will need to pull some other levers.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Just made some notes showcasing the injury impact on our Best 17 this season.

Bula - Missed 4 rounds. Will be nursing his shoulder the remainder of the season.
Turuva - No injury. Just moved around from right wing to cover fullback & centre, lack of conntinuity.
To'a - Hampered by his elbow/tricep injury from last year, also restricted pre-season with stress reaction in foot impacting his fitness levels.
Taylan May - Missed 4 rounds early in the season & past 2 rounds with shoulder. Will be nursing his shoulder the remainder of the season.
Makasini - 18yo who has been targeted heavily by opposition & media - mental fatigue. Stress reaction in foot to miss 5 rounds. Playing with AC/shoulder injury.
Luai - Missed 3 rounds with MCL. Knee did restrict him for at least month after he returned. Question marks on mental impact of PNG signing after Round 8.
Doueihi - Missed 5 rounds with shoulder. Will be nursing his shoulder the remainder of the season.
Twal - Missed 1 round with MCL so far. Even when he returns, it will likely hamper him for a period.
KPP
Samuela Fainu - Missed 6 rounds with stress fracture in foot. Another 5-6 to go. Impact on fitness levels for rest of season.
Pole
Koroisau - Something has impacted his fitness levels the past 2 weeks???
Terrell May - nursed a back problem through pre-season. Ok now.
---
Latu Fainu - minimal contact in pre-season due to shoulder recon. Has been on a slow build of mins.
Sione Fainu
Hunt - possibly out for season with pec???
Seyfarth

 

[wstigers11]

Just made some notes showcasing the injury impact on our Best 17 this season.

Bula - Missed 4 rounds. Will be nursing his shoulder the remainder of the season.
Turuva - No injury. Just moved around from right wing to cover fullback & centre, lack of conntinuity.
To'a - Hampered by his elbow/tricep injury from last year, also restricted pre-season with stress reaction in foot impacting his fitness levels.
Taylan May - Missed 4 rounds early in the season & past 2 rounds with shoulder. Will be nursing his shoulder the remainder of the season.
Makasini - 18yo who has been targeted heavily by opposition & media - mental fatigue. Stress reaction in foot to miss 5 rounds. Playing with AC/shoulder injury.
Luai - Missed 3 rounds with MCL. Knee did restrict him for at least month after he returned. Question marks on mental impact of PNG signing after Round 8.
Doueihi - Missed 5 rounds with shoulder. Will be nursing his shoulder the remainder of the season.
Twal - Missed 1 round with MCL so far. Even when he returns, it will likely hamper him for a period.
KPP
Samuela Fainu - Missed 6 rounds with stress fracture in foot. Another 5-6 to go. Impact on fitness levels for rest of season.
Pole
Koroisau - Something has impacted his fitness levels the past 2 weeks???
Terrell May - nursed a back problem through pre-season. Ok now.
---
Latu Fainu - minimal contact in pre-season due to shoulder recon. Has been on a slow build of mins.
Sione Fainu
Hunt - possibly out for season with pec???
Seyfarth

Twally missed the Manly game as well. Sione HIA last week. Not even sure we’ve had the same backline once this year, it’s the walking wounded!

 

[Airport05]

Not making excuses, but we need some equity from the ref at the start of the game as well. That first six again on the fourth last week against Penrith snowballed diabolically and there was just no discernible reason for it. A call like that so early in the game can screw the whole fixture. We weren't going to hold out Penrith but it seems like every week we're getting these farcical set restarts against us that compound in nonstop defence, fatigue and errors.

 

[tigerballs]

Not making excuses, but we need some equity from the ref at the start of the game as well. That first six again on the fourth last week against Penrith snowballed diabolically and there was just no discernible reason for it. A call like that so early in the game can screw the whole fixture. We weren't going to hold out Penrith but it seems like every week we're getting these farcical set restarts against us that compound in nonstop defence, fatigue and errors.

I hate to use the ref as an excuse, and we were never likely to beat Penrith, but once they had 90% possession in the first 20 minutes, it was never going to end well. The boys didn't give up, they were just depleted. Sometimes, 50/50 calls change the whole complexion of the game.
When To'o fielded that kick and Mak was taken out of the play, that's a tigers penalty, which meant possession on the Penrith 22. Instead, To'o takes off downfield against a tiring, scattered defence and there's another 6 points before you know it.
Mak cops a shoulder charge from a front rower and turns the ball over. There's another WT possession that ends in points for Penrith.
You can't win without the ball, and I know we turned it over plenty, but the ref doesn't have to hand it over as well.
I know, we still would have lost, but not by that score. Maybe not even to nil.
BTW, Makasini is an 18 year old kid on the receiving end of, at minimum, a shoulder charge every week.
You can't even touch the toe of a kicker. Don't dare rough up Sam Walker. Seems you can belt a promising WT junior into submission without fear.

 

[Tigerstigerstigers]

I hate to use the ref as an excuse, and we were never likely to beat Penrith, but once they had 90% possession in the first 20 minutes, it was never going to end well. The boys didn't give up, they were just depleted. Sometimes, 50/50 calls change the whole complexion of the game.
When To'o fielded that kick and Mak was taken out of the play, that's a tigers penalty, which meant possession on the Penrith 22. Instead, To'o takes off downfield against a tiring, scattered defence and there's another 6 points before you know it.
Mak cops a shoulder charge from a front rower and turns the ball over. There's another WT possession that ends in points for Penrith.
You can't win without the ball, and I know we turned it over plenty, but the ref doesn't have to hand it over as well.
I know, we still would have lost, but not by that score. Maybe not even to nil.
BTW, Makasini is an 18 year old kid on the receiving end of, at minimum, a shoulder charge every week.
You can't even touch the toe of a kicker. Don't dare rough up Sam Walker. Seems you can belt a promising WT junior into submission without fear.

nailed it

 

[Chunk]

The big questions for this week:

• How many minutes can Latu realistically play at hooker before fatigue becomes an issue?
• Can Hope bridge that gap or is there a better answer?

Yes, hopefully 25 minutes at full throttle.

A bit of a question mark over Latu's line speed and ruck domination, is it up to it. Fortunaltely he has a some help with Fainu playing at lock, I can see him having a good game by just working his backside off and not worrying about defending on the edges.

We can't make any errors, we need as much control as possible, much easier said then done for a team like the Tigers. This is the key for me.

The change in the interpretation of the ruck may have hurt us latley, we have never been able to slow the ruck down like other teams.

 

[EllisFan]

I hate to use the ref as an excuse, and we were never likely to beat Penrith, but once they had 90% possession in the first 20 minutes, it was never going to end well. The boys didn't give up, they were just depleted. Sometimes, 50/50 calls change the whole complexion of the game.
When To'o fielded that kick and Mak was taken out of the play, that's a tigers penalty, which meant possession on the Penrith 22. Instead, To'o takes off downfield against a tiring, scattered defence and there's another 6 points before you know it.
Mak cops a shoulder charge from a front rower and turns the ball over. There's another WT possession that ends in points for Penrith.
You can't win without the ball, and I know we turned it over plenty, but the ref doesn't have to hand it over as well.
I know, we still would have lost, but not by that score. Maybe not even to nil.
BTW, Makasini is an 18 year old kid on the receiving end of, at minimum, a shoulder charge every week.
You can't even touch the toe of a kicker. Don't dare rough up Sam Walker. Seems you can belt a promising WT junior into submission without fear.

We can’t control the ref but the three schoolboy errors afterwards is on us. Earlier in the year we had a resilient mindset. I’m sure this week we are all about what we can control.

 

[Jolls]

2026 Deep Dive 7. What has happened to our defensive resolve?​

I want to move past the generic "they didn’t show up" or "they lack heart" rants. Let's look at the mechanics of our edge defence. Recently it hasn’t just leaked. It has, at times, capitulated.

NRL defence is a game of microscopic trust. We started the season on a high defensively, but major issues have been exposed in our “edge connection” and the split-second decisions our outside backs are making under pressure once injuries hit.

In our defensive system, the edge is supposed to move like a rubber band. The halves and back-rowers form a "hinge"; their job is to push hard off the line to freeze the ball-player, and then lock with the centre to slide outward as a single, unbreakable wall.

Due to a combination of inexperience and a lack of NRL quality depth we have not hinged the rubber band and have suffered from a combination of ball watching and a loss of physical and spatial connection with the outside backs. It is dead easy to pick; panic as players shoot out of the line un-necessarily, players not following the decisions of the inside player (even if they are wrong) creating yawning gaps instead of pushing the play to the outside to allow the scramble defence to compensate for the mis-read.

When the inside connection fails, it leaves the outside backs stranded. This causes two distinct mechanical failures on the fringes:

• The Centre Panic (Inward Jam): A centre's chief role is to mirror his opponent and hold his line until the ball is committed. Seeing a 3-on-2 overlap brewing in open space, our inexperienced players commit the cardinal sin of edge defence: jamming in on the lead runner before the playmaker releases the ball. At NRL level playmakers hold the pass or double pump waiting for the centre to commit, before making the pass decision. If the centre decides to jam – his winger needs to jam also; otherwise he provides an open passage to the try line for the opposition centre.
• The Winger’s No-Man's Land: In good structure, if the centre jams, the winger should also jam, providing only one opportunity for the attackers; to go around he defence. This is where the sideline comes into play as the extra defender and the inside pressure forces them to cut back inside or risk being bundled into touch.

Makasini has all the physical tools to be a great FG centre, but his play so far has exposed the technical gap between an outstanding junior talent and first-grade structures. Similar can be said for LL and Tino. They all suffer from the same inexperience and there are a couple of tell-tale signs:

• The 'Eye-Magnet'. These three juniors constantly have their eyes glued to the inside runners. When an opposing team runs a block-sweep shape, they tend to bite inward with their shoulders turned flat toward the ball. This stops their lateral footwork dead, preventing them form making adjustments quickly and losing the flexibility of the rubber band.
• Over-reliance on Physical Recovery: In the juniors, they could afford to make an incorrect read because their raw speed allowed them to chase down a ball-carrier. In first grade, they are being punished instantly.

Good edge defence requires the centre to be the 'brain' and the winger to be the 'muscle'. Right now, we tend to be making isolated decisions rather than coordinated team reads. When Makasini jams, it is a solo choice that catches his outside winger off guard. This can also be said, to a lesser extent, for Madden in his role.

This is only part of the problem though. If the junior players are struggling to execute the defensive plan is the problem something we can overcome with training, is it a skill deficiency in the system or the way the system is applied across the grades. Surely, if we have the same system in all of our grades we should not see this dysfunctionality (next man up).

The big questions:

1. Is this a Benji System Problem (complex system), an Execution Problem, a Club System Problem (inconsistent application across the grades) or are we simply short of experience (depth)? In short: are we asking our outside backs to play a complex spatial reading game that they just don't have the first-grade experience to pull off yet?
2. Should we move to a simpler, more aggressive block/jam (up and in) defence that is easier for NSW Cup depth players to execute when injuries hit?

I have my thoughts. What are yours?

 

[TheEnz]

2026 Deep Dive 7. What has happened to our defensive resolve?​

I want to move past the generic "they didn’t show up" or "they lack heart" rants. Let's look at the mechanics of our edge defence. Recently it hasn’t just leaked. It has, at times, capitulated.

NRL defence is a game of microscopic trust. We started the season on a high defensively, but major issues have been exposed in our “edge connection” and the split-second decisions our outside backs are making under pressure once injuries hit.

In our defensive system, the edge is supposed to move like a rubber band. The halves and back-rowers form a "hinge"; their job is to push hard off the line to freeze the ball-player, and then lock with the centre to slide outward as a single, unbreakable wall.

Due to a combination of inexperience and a lack of NRL quality depth we have not hinged the rubber band and have suffered from a combination of ball watching and a loss of physical and spatial connection with the outside backs. It is dead easy to pick; panic as players shoot out of the line un-necessarily, players not following the decisions of the inside player (even if they are wrong) creating yawning gaps instead of pushing the play to the outside to allow the scramble defence to compensate for the mis-read.

When the inside connection fails, it leaves the outside backs stranded. This causes two distinct mechanical failures on the fringes:

• The Centre Panic (Inward Jam): A centre's chief role is to mirror his opponent and hold his line until the ball is committed. Seeing a 3-on-2 overlap brewing in open space, our inexperienced players commit the cardinal sin of edge defence: jamming in on the lead runner before the playmaker releases the ball. At NRL level playmakers hold the pass or double pump waiting for the centre to commit, before making the pass decision. If the centre decides to jam – his winger needs to jam also; otherwise he provides an open passage to the try line for the opposition centre.
• The Winger’s No-Man's Land: In good structure, if the centre jams, the winger should also jam, providing only one opportunity for the attackers; to go around he defence. This is where the sideline comes into play as the extra defender and the inside pressure forces them to cut back inside or risk being bundled into touch.

Makasini has all the physical tools to be a great FG centre, but his play so far has exposed the technical gap between an outstanding junior talent and first-grade structures. Similar can be said for LL and Tino. They all suffer from the same inexperience and there are a couple of tell-tale signs:

• The 'Eye-Magnet'. These three juniors constantly have their eyes glued to the inside runners. When an opposing team runs a block-sweep shape, they tend to bite inward with their shoulders turned flat toward the ball. This stops their lateral footwork dead, preventing them form making adjustments quickly and losing the flexibility of the rubber band.
• Over-reliance on Physical Recovery: In the juniors, they could afford to make an incorrect read because their raw speed allowed them to chase down a ball-carrier. In first grade, they are being punished instantly.

Good edge defence requires the centre to be the 'brain' and the winger to be the 'muscle'. Right now, we tend to be making isolated decisions rather than coordinated team reads. When Makasini jams, it is a solo choice that catches his outside winger off guard. This can also be said, to a lesser extent, for Madden in his role.

This is only part of the problem though. If the junior players are struggling to execute the defensive plan is the problem something we can overcome with training, is it a skill deficiency in the system or the way the system is applied across the grades. Surely, if we have the same system in all of our grades we should not see this dysfunctionality (next man up).

The big questions:

1. Is this a Benji System Problem (complex system), an Execution Problem, a Club System Problem (inconsistent application across the grades) or are we simply short of experience (depth)? In short: are we asking our outside backs to play a complex spatial reading game that they just don't have the first-grade experience to pull off yet?
2. Should we move to a simpler, more aggressive block/jam (up and in) defence that is easier for NSW Cup depth players to execute when injuries hit?

I have my thoughts. What are yours?

I think its mainly an experience problem and the more reps the younger guys get the more it will become second nature. The only upside to all the injuries we have had this year is we are giving invaluable experience to the likes of Tino, Heamasi, Josese and co that will improve our depth for 2027 I'm not including Luke as he is moving on and its probably why Benji rarely uses him now. I don't watch a lot of the lower grades, however i would be shocked if they don't have the same defensive structure through the grades.

 

[innsaneink]

Defences nearly always have to react to what the attack is doing...nearly always/

If a defence tries that outside in umbrella type defence to shut down an attack where theyre stripping numbers easily....a good kicking game in behind the line will soon put a stop to that.
I see all teams getting stripped for numbers every weekend...some more than others.
Cowboys right edge was exposed badly yesterday in NZ. Clever halves will always be able to create an extra man with a good back rowewr...this is where communication from the defensive fullback is crucial

Lack of genuine pace also plays a part

 

[Jolls]

I think its mainly an experience problem and the more reps the younger guys get the more it will become second nature. The only upside to all the injuries we have had this year is we are giving invaluable experience to the likes of Tino, Heamasi, Josese and co that will improve our depth for 2027 I'm not including Luke as he is moving on and its probably why Benji rarely uses him now. I don't watch a lot of the lower grades, however i would be shocked if they don't have the same defensive structure through the grades.

I personally thik you are right and I expect that the system is the same but the execution just isn't there. This could be related to coaching ability or simply that we are lacking first grade quality players in our top 30 (most likely).

 

[Jolls]

Defences nearly always have to react to what the attack is doing...nearly always/

If a defence tries that outside in umbrella type defence to shut down an attack where theyre stripping numbers easily....a good kicking game in behind the line will soon put a stop to that.
I see all teams getting stripped for numbers every weekend...some more than others.
Cowboys right edge was exposed badly yesterday in NZ. Clever halves will always be able to create an extra man with a good back rowewr...this is where communication from the defensive fullback is crucial

Lack of genuine pace also plays a part

100%, and in my view it is the lack of expereince that has us making decisions too early or not follwoing the lead of the inside player. Getting stripped for numbers happens easily when a playmaker forces defensive decsions while they still have the ball in hand.