Webster takes the reins at Tigers
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Webster takes the reins at Tigers
Wed, Mar 22, 2017 - 03:44PM
By Alicia Newton, NRL.com
Interim Wests Tigers coach Andrew Webster was flocked by a large media contingent at Leichhardt Oval for the side's first training session following the dismissal of Jason Taylor on Monday.
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It has been a whirlwind three days for the joint venture with Taylor shown the door following the side's back-to-back losses, in which they've conceded 82 points and scored just the eight in their last two outings.
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Asked about how the past 72 hours have unravelled, Webster explained how CEO Jason Pascoe and the Wests Tigers board approached him at a meeting on Monday.
"Just like everyone else really… I arrived at Ashfield and got called up to the boardroom and got told by the CEO and board members that Jason had been let go and asked me would I like to take on the role," Webster said on Wednesday.
"I said yes and then we addressed the group straight after.
"I didn't tell them [originally]… Justin and Marina let the players know.
"I can only worry about the way I perform and hold myself, it's important to know that I've got complete respect for Jason.
"When I did address them I said we needed to have continued respect for Jason, he's very important and everyone agreed.
"Obviously with Jason giving me an opportunity and how good he was to me personally, it's a different sort of week I'm going to have to deal with.
"Everyone was on board with what Jason was doing. I don't want to dive into what individuals were thinking because I don't know.
"I can't speculate on that but I know that every day we were turning up with a smile on our face and working hard.
"We weren't doing well enough and we need to get better."
Webster admitted that everything happened so fast and he immediately jumped at the opportunity but was also quick to reach out to Taylor, who was yet to respond.
"I didn't have time to think about it, you want to be an NRL head coach but you don't want to be in these circumstances particularly to [replace] a guy that’s been so good to you.
"Jason's got a lot going on… he hasn't rang me.
"I've reached out to him via message and phone call but he's got to deal with what he's got to do personally and for his family."
After being recruited by Taylor as an assistant coach for this season, the 34-year-old previously worked as the club's NYC coach in 2014 before being assistant to former Warriors coach Andrew McFadden in 2015-16.
"I'm a Balmain and Parramatta junior as a footballer and moved over to England and has some time in the Super League there then come home and been an assistant coach at the Warriors and Tigers with a stint at Parramatta as well," Webster explained.
He is now the front man at an organisation that has another chapter with Taylor, after ongoing debate with the departure of Robbie Farah in the last two seasons taking most of the headlines at Concord.
"It's certainly different to what I normally would have to deal with as an assistant coach," he admitted.
"It's now part of the job as the interim and something you have to do as a professional so I'll do my best.
"I think you've got to understand that being an assistant coach 48 hours ago and being throw in you’re not thinking about those sorts of things.
"It's really important that I get to the playing group and make sure that we're focused about this week."
It is a huge test for the club but Webster admitted the players' focus needed to be on the job at hand with the high-flying Melbourne Storm arriving to Leichhardt on Sunday.
"We obviously want to play better football so that's all my focus is at the moment," he said.
"Unfortunately in this game you've got to move on and we've got a job to do straight away.
"I've got a lot of faith in these boys as individuals and players.
"Obviously it's going to be a different week for us but we need to stay tight as a group and work hard.
"This is a club on the up… there are so many things right about this place.
"We need to make sure we train well in the session today and tomorrow and turn our focus to football.
"The scorelines don't look great… we give up some tries from some errors, which everyone saw on the weekend.
'We've had some good moments in the games and we have got to make sure particularly before half-time that we have that concentration for longer periods so we have confidence going into the second half."
As for Webster's future beyond 2017, or even in next few weeks for that matter, the interim coach said it was beyond his control and had not crossed his mind.
"I got no idea… [I'm] just worried about Melbourne," Webster said.
"How these things come about is up to people well above me.
"We've got a group of players that really need to narrow their focus on what we're tyring to do and I don't want to think past that.
"If I'm talking about anything else then I'm not sending the right message to the players."
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