carltonleach
Well-known member
Is it just me that didn’t realise how slow Fogarty is ? He may not be but watching some highlights he looked like he was running on a treadmill
LIVE GAME Trial 2: vs. Raiders
- Thread starter KingRobbie
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Live Game Discussion
Jolls
Well-known member
I love the positive spin but I think many are glossing over some of the issues we still need to address to be up there with the top teams.
While Wakeham had a much better game he was one dimensional much of the time and didn't ask many questions of the defence. I have no doubt that Brooks will improve us he needs to really step up to keep the opposition on its toes. It won't take long for teams to pick out and nullify AD if it doesn't happen.
Our second phase play was excellent yesterday, but against a team that had next to no line speed and was full of fringies when the score started to blow out. Seeing Daino and Staines pushing up around the middle was also great. I also expect that they have been given leeway to kick early and I am a fan of this. The flip side of all this positivity is that we still made some really poor passing decisions that fortunately didn't bite us in the bum yesterday - but probably would have against better quality sides. Our early kick decisions were for the most part atrocious. I guess we have to expect a few more of them as we develop. It makes for hard watching at times though.
Finally our decisions under the high ball were not confidence building at all. I recall that twice at least we made no attempt to get to the high ball - try that against the Chooks and see where we end up.
So yes a great win and fantastic to see us put some points on the board; but based on today's performance there is still a lot of work to do before we take on the Titans in two weeks.
Plenty of positives but still a lot of improvement to be made. The coaching staff have done well to turn us from wooden spooners into what I think at this stage is about 12th; I think we could get to the bottom of the 8 if we continue to improve.
While Wakeham had a much better game he was one dimensional much of the time and didn't ask many questions of the defence. I have no doubt that Brooks will improve us he needs to really step up to keep the opposition on its toes. It won't take long for teams to pick out and nullify AD if it doesn't happen.
Our second phase play was excellent yesterday, but against a team that had next to no line speed and was full of fringies when the score started to blow out. Seeing Daino and Staines pushing up around the middle was also great. I also expect that they have been given leeway to kick early and I am a fan of this. The flip side of all this positivity is that we still made some really poor passing decisions that fortunately didn't bite us in the bum yesterday - but probably would have against better quality sides. Our early kick decisions were for the most part atrocious. I guess we have to expect a few more of them as we develop. It makes for hard watching at times though.
Finally our decisions under the high ball were not confidence building at all. I recall that twice at least we made no attempt to get to the high ball - try that against the Chooks and see where we end up.
So yes a great win and fantastic to see us put some points on the board; but based on today's performance there is still a lot of work to do before we take on the Titans in two weeks.
Plenty of positives but still a lot of improvement to be made. The coaching staff have done well to turn us from wooden spooners into what I think at this stage is about 12th; I think we could get to the bottom of the 8 if we continue to improve.
Re watching on Fox On demand ( should be working).
The team played very well. Lots of rust but the effort and line speed was there.
AD, Simpkin, Naden in particular.
The team played very well. Lots of rust but the effort and line speed was there.
AD, Simpkin, Naden in particular.
tig_prmz
Well-known member
Naden seemed impressive. The one handed flick... He did one with his R hand on R side in the All stars Game and L hand yesterday.
How did Laurie go in the halves?
How did Laurie go in the halves?
jrtiger
Well-known member
a very positive performance, especially defensively. team pushed hard from the inside and worked for each other and we were able to deter a Canberra pack that traditionally runs over us and finds success out wide.
attacking-wise was interesting. I thought we strugged to make ground coming out of our end but Doueihi did enough with his kicking game for it not to matter. there's a few reasons for that but hopefully its not a recurring theme. team looked as if it was trying to get to certain points on the field before throwing shape.
when we get into opposition territory that's where we shine. some of the attacking shapes and timing was out of the top drawer. Tupou's first try, where we go from one side of the field to the other, was brilliant. admittedly Naden had work to do at 2 on 2 but how good was his lead up work. Talau's try was more of a traditional 4-4 split and he ran a great line, whereas Staines' was a beautifully executed play down a short side. AJ's try came from the team's desire to shift the ball early when the defence traditionally jams in, but you can expect to see more of that this year. Tupou's second try was the quintessential Wests Tigers try. players in motion, second phase, eyes up football and excellent decision making (Wakeham in particular).
Koroisau, Brooks, Ofahengaue and Bateman are all still to come back to this side and the team will benefit from more time together. to see the attitude, work rate and desire was something we can be proud of. let's hope it continues week in week out.
attacking-wise was interesting. I thought we strugged to make ground coming out of our end but Doueihi did enough with his kicking game for it not to matter. there's a few reasons for that but hopefully its not a recurring theme. team looked as if it was trying to get to certain points on the field before throwing shape.
when we get into opposition territory that's where we shine. some of the attacking shapes and timing was out of the top drawer. Tupou's first try, where we go from one side of the field to the other, was brilliant. admittedly Naden had work to do at 2 on 2 but how good was his lead up work. Talau's try was more of a traditional 4-4 split and he ran a great line, whereas Staines' was a beautifully executed play down a short side. AJ's try came from the team's desire to shift the ball early when the defence traditionally jams in, but you can expect to see more of that this year. Tupou's second try was the quintessential Wests Tigers try. players in motion, second phase, eyes up football and excellent decision making (Wakeham in particular).
Koroisau, Brooks, Ofahengaue and Bateman are all still to come back to this side and the team will benefit from more time together. to see the attitude, work rate and desire was something we can be proud of. let's hope it continues week in week out.
OzLuke
Well-known member
I was impressed with a lot of things yesterday....
Whilst it was good to see the players throw the ball around....the hit and stick tackling and defence was a huge improvement.
Lots of early ball to our backs....(Goodbye Luciano thank god)
Good strong hit ups and hole running.
Simplified version of how we played and it has probably all been mentioned previously, yes even though it was a trial, but it was good to see
Whilst it was good to see the players throw the ball around....the hit and stick tackling and defence was a huge improvement.
Lots of early ball to our backs....(Goodbye Luciano thank god)
Good strong hit ups and hole running.
Simplified version of how we played and it has probably all been mentioned previously, yes even though it was a trial, but it was good to see
Bigscreentv
Well-known member
True…not saying he didn’t make some good decisions, but he also recruited many duds and implemented a style that was extremely predictable and had the players confused.
Tiga
Well-known member
Excellent completion rate and top qual defence...long time no see! We want that all season!!!
pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
Laurie I believe to be one of our best. The forwards all worked hard and I was very pleased for Jake S.
We need all our players firing and they are responding to the challenge which creates pleasant selection issues.
OzLuke
Well-known member
One thing I thought was good, but highlighted a small failure, was the amount of time AD poked his nose through the line carrying defenders, but there was nobody there for a pass
Always been an issue.
Another issue that has always been prevalent has been our lack of metreage getting the ball up field.... wasn't the case yesterday.
We were making ground every set with our forwards laying the platform.
It was great to see.
Kelce68
Well-known member
What was particularly pleasing were the options on the backline plays.
The halves, particularly Doueihi, were able to choose between six options yesterday:
- Throwing the harbour bridge ball
- The flat cut out at the man back against the grain (Talau try)
- The more traditional second man play on the sweep (Staines try)
- Hitting the front man on the short, crash ball
- Early kick for the outside man (Nofoaluma try)
- Or early ball with space to the centres (Tupou try via Naden)
There was clear doubt in the Raiders' edge decision-making as a result and we capitalised on our chances. Doueihi also often took the correct option yesterday and reaped the benefits. I think the structures and bodies in motion really facilitated those options and genuinely made the defensive decisions so hard.
Really, really encouraging attacking changes, albeit in a single trial yesterday.
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old_man_tiger
Well-known member
Worst thing now is the 2 week wait. I'd counsel everyone to remember we are not exactly known for consistency, but hopefully we see a similar performance and result rd 1
Honkylips
Well-known member
TT what you say is right. I also liked Wakeham and would love it if he shines. I hope we give him every opportunity but he will be playing in the black and white for most of the year under Brooks.
In a perfect world I would prefer we leave Moses and hope Wakeham gets his chance and Brooks goes.
Nothing personally against Brooks. I've always said he tries hard. I've also been saying for over 6 years he doesn't have it and isn't the halfback we need.
Bigscreentv
Well-known member
Hmm, the problem is there was more than one problem. Better players with Madge wouldn’t have fixed the problem. A better coach with the same roster wouldn’t have fixed the problem.
Madge wasn’t making the right moves to fix the problem. He seemed like a decent guy; no one is questioning that.
Bigscreentv
Well-known member
I don’t think he’s slow…it was really hot and he’s been out for a while.
carltonleach
Well-known member
Oh that’s true I didn’t think about that. I recon he’s a quality player none the less
Fair play. Just don’t like the act of laying the slipper into our players, especially local juniors. We don’t want to be like bulldogs Supporters! I am all for constructive criticism on players performance, but continuously hammering players like Nofa and brooks just makes us out to be a bunch of shit supporters! Support our own.
dazza65
Well-known member
One of the things that was confirmed to me yesterday (which I always thought) is that Naden is a centre - not a winger. He should lock down one centre position easily.
