Luai can still organise while at second receiver. That's what they did against Canberra, it suits them well.
Tigers v Sea Eagles
- Thread starter Tigerstigerstigers
- Start date
Jolls
Well-known member
With Bula sidelined, Mason stepping in at fullback and Latu Fainu pushing Luai to 5/8th there will certainly be a change in team dynamics for the clash with Manly on Friday.
Manly: Anticipated Game Plan
Manly will try to leverage their height of their outside backs and the kicking game of DCE. Mason can expect a barrage of high balls and when they aren’t peppering him with bombs they will switch to trying to get Turbo one on one with AD to create space down the wing. Their forward pack is all about their bench so if they get momentum they will try to puch down that middle corridor in the back end of the first hald and potentially to start fast int he scond if they feel they have the ascendency.
Wests Tigers: How do we win?
To counter Manly's approach we need to counter DCE’s kicking with consistent midfield pressure. Latu will solidify the edge exploited by Canberra. His defence, in combination with Bird, will create a hard edge to counter Koula. The Manly starting pack is average – their strike is on the interchange bench so we need to dominate them in the opening stanza. A disciplined defence will contain them and dynamic halves play will nullify their defensive efforts. Latu partnering Luai will provide the space and varying the attacking angles to disaggregate their defence. Mason needs to be sniffing around to make the most of every opportunity in the middle as well.
Offensively, we need to exploit the edges early; with Sam F and Bird running lines at both DCE and Brooks at every opportunity to wear them out by making them tackle time and time again. This will also run the forward pack around in defence providing opportunity later in the half to bing TDS on and work Mason back through the middle off Pole and May.
Given the positional changes in Manly's backline, attacking their right edge with swift ball movement and support play could yield scoring opportunities. Certainly something to look at but not something to focus on unless we have early success.
Where will the game be won or lost?
The performance of Heath Mason will be pivotal. His ability to handle the high ball, will be tested by Trbojevic, Koula and Hopoate. His positional awareness and commitment need to be on the money. FI he does isn't confident they will work him over.
Winning this game will come off the performance of our pack. If we pressure DCE and Brooks with good line speed and inside pressure we are half way home. Combing that with our more dynamic halves pairing and Manly will leak points,
This is a game for us to lose, if we are committed and execute well we should come home with the chocolates.
Manly: Anticipated Game Plan
Manly will try to leverage their height of their outside backs and the kicking game of DCE. Mason can expect a barrage of high balls and when they aren’t peppering him with bombs they will switch to trying to get Turbo one on one with AD to create space down the wing. Their forward pack is all about their bench so if they get momentum they will try to puch down that middle corridor in the back end of the first hald and potentially to start fast int he scond if they feel they have the ascendency.
Wests Tigers: How do we win?
To counter Manly's approach we need to counter DCE’s kicking with consistent midfield pressure. Latu will solidify the edge exploited by Canberra. His defence, in combination with Bird, will create a hard edge to counter Koula. The Manly starting pack is average – their strike is on the interchange bench so we need to dominate them in the opening stanza. A disciplined defence will contain them and dynamic halves play will nullify their defensive efforts. Latu partnering Luai will provide the space and varying the attacking angles to disaggregate their defence. Mason needs to be sniffing around to make the most of every opportunity in the middle as well.
Offensively, we need to exploit the edges early; with Sam F and Bird running lines at both DCE and Brooks at every opportunity to wear them out by making them tackle time and time again. This will also run the forward pack around in defence providing opportunity later in the half to bing TDS on and work Mason back through the middle off Pole and May.
Given the positional changes in Manly's backline, attacking their right edge with swift ball movement and support play could yield scoring opportunities. Certainly something to look at but not something to focus on unless we have early success.
Where will the game be won or lost?
The performance of Heath Mason will be pivotal. His ability to handle the high ball, will be tested by Trbojevic, Koula and Hopoate. His positional awareness and commitment need to be on the money. FI he does isn't confident they will work him over.
Winning this game will come off the performance of our pack. If we pressure DCE and Brooks with good line speed and inside pressure we are half way home. Combing that with our more dynamic halves pairing and Manly will leak points,
This is a game for us to lose, if we are committed and execute well we should come home with the chocolates.
tig_prmz
Well-known member
I don't think you can become a week to week organiser overnight.
There has to be one person in-charge who dictates where the set goes. Which post to push towards, which corner to kick in, whether to spread it, play short etc.
I'm guessing Api does a lot out of dummy half but having a dominant kicker would help especially since it's a L or R combos. If Latu is going to be the main kicker, then Bird/Seyfarth, To'a and Turuva need to work hard on their kick chase and ditto on the other side.
For over half the season, Luai has been the main general play kicker and essentially the halfback, so why change it now?
And if the way we play isn't going to change, then bother with the whole 6 and 7 change garbage?
Repetition is the key to winning games consistently. Penrith, Melb, Dogs, Raiders all have a main person who kicks to the same corner each time and the defensive line is well set out of that corner each time.
innsaneink
Well-known member
I think a good start for us is crucial...take the crowd out of it.
Tackle 3 and we are on halfway lets start attacking then...in there red zone were a bit of a messed up jigsaw tho hopefully Latu & Romey rectifies this
Tackle 3 and we are on halfway lets start attacking then...in there red zone were a bit of a messed up jigsaw tho hopefully Latu & Romey rectifies this
Eh… I’m not going to agree on your Heath assessment mate. Just because I think bagging Bula is laughable , does it mean I think writing off a Aus schoolboy half , who’s 19 is a good idea as well . He’s probably been told to back his running game , and because he’s young is struggling with the timing of that, and naturally including his edge into his thinking . Many halves get told to run first , get into the contact then create second .
I think playing him as an extra fullback / lock for 10-15 minutes Ala Connor Watson is the ultimate usage of him as an attacking threat . But his defence is simply not there at the moment to justify that .
He’s a gun footy player , who’s elusive and quick off the mark , he’s a Connor Watson level 14. Another Craig wing , another Kurt Gidley . And that’s a gun footy player , we just gotta work his body into the nrl level to handle the contact .
They’re both keepers . IMO I think the issue is we had Galvin , Large , Bula , Fainu , TDS , younger Large , and Heywood all vying for 2-3 positions on the field in nrl come 2026/27.
Because of this we were trying to manufacture guys like Galvin into an edge , and Mason into a fullback . Now some of those guys are leaving , the positions these guys will play has become more clearer .
I just hope we made the right choices . I’m very confident we have re. Fainu>>>>> Galvin , I also think Hayward will be the better footy player between TDS and him . I think crafty 9s are better for a footy team than a running 9 (just my opinion ) … in all of this my real issues are we let the Large brothers go . Even if Onitoni is a centre moving forward , I just think we were crazy to back Galvin over him . I get the whole ultimatum stuff , and we should never succumb to that (it’s what my big issue with TDS is atm) , I dunno I just lament the timing . Hopefully when the dust settles with this current generation of kids aged 17-20 we have the fair share of them stay and lead the club to glory . Mason and Bula ( i know he’s 23) should very much both be in our long term plans .
I think thier older head forwards will come out and try and lay a platform early , we will have to endure that . We get past that 10 minutes , fitness levels will take over and we should be in control in the ruck .
As long as we understand this old hard heads are going to bring it early , and we have the intensity to match it with them , it should hold us in good stead for the rest of the game . We get up and in thier face and limit metres in yardage , we can do real job , especially with Latu and bird providing stronger edge defence .
This should help with kick as the barrage of bombs should generally have less pressure being applied by chasers .
ruck speed and turning the ball inside , should be the name of the game . Cause thier dad’s army forwards to collapse then hit the edges . I think especially around DCE there will be some gaps we can find .
Shut down Turbo by getting up and early on him , force him to turn back into the middles , should help as well .
No Olakuatu is basically no edge power game so I can see they will try and use the speed of thier backs . We just need to be up and early on them like we were on Canberra . I think we can do a job on them . I’m really confident much like I was against the raiders . We should have won that game . Manly , the cowboys and the titans are cannon fodder . There to be destroyed . We need to rise to this .
Happy to say that it’s too early to write him off. The fact that he’s been playing when he clearly isn’t ready is more of an issue for me.
Losing the Large brothers I agree could turn out to be a monumental mistake. I still think Onitoni’s request was completely within reason. TDS is different as he’s essentially saying ‘It’s me or him’.
Yep … with all we know about Galvin now , I wonder how much politics within that Harold Matt’s team lead to a lot of what’s going on now . I don’t know where I heard it , but there was a rumour Galvin had a dummy spit when he found out he was spending the year on the edge rather than a spine position .
So yea …… if hypothetically Galvin was an entitled malcontent and his family were , how and why we didn’t see it early enough to allow things like the large clause to happen I mean yea … you’d love to have been a fly on the wall .
Seems with a few things that have come out amongst that team there wasn’t too many people outside of TDS , who were sorry to see the back of Galvin .
I dunno , I mean all teams have thier politics , but yea . I think Sheens and Mcdonell have a lot to answer for as well with the decisions they made around the time . Like for every large , there was a Matamua and Tumeth . So it’s interesting .
I guess we just need to be more consistent with our production line so even if we do lose a large or a Galvin there’s another one or 2 only a couple of years away . IMO Galvin is nowhere near the footballer Fainu is . I’ve been saying that for 2 years. I’m really glad everyone is seeing it now .
Hayward is as good if not better than TDS.
We have Godinet and Duncombe coming through on the edges , with Saukuru showing really strong signs since he’s moved to the back row .
There’s a couple of gun fullbacks in Oitman and Brookes .
There’s that weapon Harold Matt’s lock who the club has amazing wraps on at wests . I forgot his name .
Like I said smarter in our choices , smarter in the way we convince these kids to stay , smarter in our development coaches (flegg coach who started the year … I mean please) , get more junior recruitment and scouting staff…
If we can produce 1 nrl calibre player every year of quality and a star in whatever position every 2-3 , then that should be more than enough churn to maintain a strong consistent flow of talent .
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
Siotame Havea Jr is our gun 17yo lock.
Yep thanks mate !
magpies forever
Well-known member
Who's the referee's & video ref allocated? Sad to say but they have a huge effect on the game these days
Tigerstigerstigers
Well-known member
you dont want to know
Fullbacks in every NRL team are game breakers who can create something out of nothing and be a big part of their team creating try scoring opportunities and scoring tries.
Has that been happening for us, particularly over the past 5 games ?
He was contributing well earlier in the season, but being on a soon to be 900k per season contact he can’t escape criticism when we are not scoring tries or winning games.
Last edited:
The idea of the Reddit upvote/downvote would be helpful.
To be fair I don't think Mason is as bad as some ppl are making out.. and the criticism doesn't factor in the position he is in + his age..
Correct me if I'm wrong but his first game at #6 in the last 2-3 years was just recently in the NrL.. pretty big ask of a young kid.
Youre right that he isn't a threat to Bula, Luai or Latu, but I think with some time he can be a handy back up.
That ref line up is horrendous for us
Halbrowne61
Well-known member
Sutton/Badger I read on another post.
LeichhardtTiger
Well-known member
Fun Fact Time:
19 years & 51 weeks ago in Round 17 Wests Tigers beat Manly at LO 49 - 24
It was the 2nd win of a 7 game winning streak that helped lift the Tigers to 4th position into
T H E F I N A L 8 (I am writing this slow for those who have limited vision).
We were 12th at the time on 16 points. With the Manly game, plus 8 other games and a BYE remaining., we dropped the last 2 of the season to Melb & Penrith.
Now in 2025, there are 10 games plus a BYE remaining.
We are currently 14th on 14 points. If we can string together 7 wins from here on in we are more than a mathematical chance getting us to 30 points, with our last BYE included. So we can afford to drop 3 as 30pts in such a tight comp is gonna go close. But I feel that we can achieve greatness over the coming weeks and my gut says undefeated - tho my doctor says it's probably just the effects of drinking too much unfiltered Adelaide water. 🐯 🤪
19 years & 51 weeks ago in Round 17 Wests Tigers beat Manly at LO 49 - 24
It was the 2nd win of a 7 game winning streak that helped lift the Tigers to 4th position into
T H E F I N A L 8 (I am writing this slow for those who have limited vision).
We were 12th at the time on 16 points. With the Manly game, plus 8 other games and a BYE remaining., we dropped the last 2 of the season to Melb & Penrith.
Now in 2025, there are 10 games plus a BYE remaining.
We are currently 14th on 14 points. If we can string together 7 wins from here on in we are more than a mathematical chance getting us to 30 points, with our last BYE included. So we can afford to drop 3 as 30pts in such a tight comp is gonna go close. But I feel that we can achieve greatness over the coming weeks and my gut says undefeated - tho my doctor says it's probably just the effects of drinking too much unfiltered Adelaide water. 🐯 🤪
BAGNF05
Well-known member
I think 9-10 wins was always par this year and probably remains that way. Will need a lot of luck to do any better but here’s hoping.
Lol the evil trio! The brothers Sutton on field and a Badger in the bunker. You couldn’t make this stuff up!
