Wests Tigers 2016...The winning formula..

[happy_tiger]

The team's points differential last year was better than 5 other teams, not great but still a substantial improvement on the previous 2 seasons. And if it improves again this year then we'll be heading in the right direction, if it doesn't then maybe changes need to made. Let's see how things go.

I just want to be clear on this because logically what you and others are stating makes no sense. If we improved last year why were we basically dead last ?

Its pretty simple in that we have to consistently score more points than we let in against each team we play. Its no good scoring 40 but losing because the opposition scored 42 or defending supposedly well and the opposition scoring 10 when we score 8.

I think JT learned this lesson last year and changed his approach. You need to be scoring points. You need to defend well. Then hopefully you will win games consistently.

Example: If for the past 2 seasons you finish 13th & 15th but with a points differential of -200 and -300 respectively (average -250) and then finish 15th the following year with a points differential of -75, would it not suggest there has been improvement in the competitiveness of the team despite the position on the ladder? Would I like to see us make the finals with a -100 points diff rather than miss with a points diff of + 100? Of course I would. But the records show your chances are so very much better if the points differential is in the positive. If the team can improve even more in that regard this year, and yes of course you need to score more than the opposition on a consistent basis to do this, than it'll give us a chance of getting there. If we regress back to what occurred in seasons 2013 & 2014 we will not stand a chance. I'm not debating, or trying to "spin", the value of attack or defence but am trying to show through the facts available to me that although you may not have liked the methods Taylor used last season they were to some small degree an improvement on the previous 2 seasons.

WIthin reason all the matters is where you come on the ladder so to answer your question it's clear that last year we performed as bad as we ever has. We went backwards.

It's clear via facts that Taylor's methods failed last year. On the positive side I think he also abandoned the terrible game plans/tactics that he used earlier in the season by the end of the season and we improved.

Because we scored more points hey Steve , that's why we improved

But we still couldn't defend those points we scored , but that's not important , as long as we are exciting to watch

And if we cross our fingers and toes and pray really hard and sell our souls again to the Devil 2005 will come around again and all of the issues will be washed away

 

[TrueTiger]

Happy,Russell,we could tell Steve how our defense needed to be improved so we could defend a lead competantly until we are blue in the face…he only wants to rekindle Taylor ball and how we need to score more points to win games..unfortunately he can't grasp the finer points of the game,its like :brick: until you bleed...

 

[stevetiger]

It's a thing of the past Steve - why do you keep bringing up Taylorball?

Simple. You are trying to justify or spin Taylorball into long term success or something that needed to happen or that it was a success when it was obviously a failure. I even think Taylor realized it was a mistake. I don't understand why you are trying to justify it especially when you can't.

Go check last year's ladder and get back to me with how well that worked out for us.

 

[happy_tiger]

It's a thing of the past Steve - why do you keep bringing up Taylorball?

Simple. You are trying to justify or spin Taylorball into long term success or something that needed to happen or that it was a success when it was obviously a failure. I even think Taylor realized it was a mistake. I don't understand why you are trying to justify it especially when you can't.

Go check last year's ladder and get back to me with how well that worked out for us.

What do you not seem to understand is what you refer to as Taylorball , many other clubs class as getting in the grind , playing high percentage football ,relying on kick chase and playing field position

When teams are trying to stay in games that is exactly what they rely on and then you hope two things occur

1/ The opposition makes a mistake and you can then capitalize or

2/ You can out defend your opposition and wear them down and take advantage late in the game

Against many of the top teams unless we got a mountain of possession the best thing is try and hang with them as long as possible

Usually if we get in a pissing contest in a try fest with the top sides we find our defence doesn't stand up at crucial stages where the better sides do

Defence is the most crucial aspect in the game

 

[stevetiger]

Happy - I understand that is how you feel and you are justifying the game plans/tactics that Taylor came up with last year but its clear such a one sided approach doesn't work.

I think a bunch of you are simply not getting it and don't have the ability to look at the situation rationally. Look at the ladder from last year and your argument goes to pieces.

I'm not stating that defence isn't important. I'm just stating that you need to attack as well. Yes the attack needs to at times mean playing percentage footy. I'd even suggest that percentage footy can be exciting. What we had last year was completely negative play at times and it costs us games. It just allows the opposition to take it easy and then attack when is suits them. That was Taylorball. If we play like that this season we will have another poor season.

 

[Russell]

It's a thing of the past Steve - why do you keep bringing up Taylorball?

Simple. You are trying to justify or spin Taylorball into long term success or something that needed to happen or that it was a success when it was obviously a failure. I even think Taylor realized it was a mistake. I don't understand why you are trying to justify it especially when you can't.

Go check last year's ladder and get back to me with how well that worked out for us.

If you cannot see we improved last year, I don't care what position - we are talking about improvement then I think you should go and play tiddlywinks!

I don't need to justify or spin (as you call it) "Taylorball" - the improvement is there to see.

The point I was making was, and I will spell it out so you can understand.

"Taylorball" if that is what you want to call it, finished in the first half of 2015\. We are now in 2016 and a new season with a new roster and I am sure new game plans.

The QUESTION is: why do you keep bringing up "Taylorball" when it is last years news, not relevant to the 2016 season? and second part of the question - why sit on the fence?

Rubbish Taylor completely or get on board with the rest of us and support JT and the team for 2016\. Or, are you on the fence because you think that JT just might make it all work?

 

[happy_tiger]

Happy - I understand that is how you feel and you are justifying the game plans/tactics that Taylor came up with last year but its clear such a one sided approach doesn't work.

I think a bunch of you are simply not getting it and don't have the ability to look at the situation rationally. Look at the ladder from last year and your argument goes to pieces.

I'm not stating that defence isn't important. I'm just stating that you need to attack as well. Yes the attack needs to at times mean playing percentage footy. I'd even suggest that percentage footy can be exciting. What we had last year was completely negative play at times and it costs us games. It just allows the opposition to take it easy and then attack when is suits them. That was Taylorball. If we play like that this season we will have another poor season.

But every side does it Steve :brick:

Tell me one side in the comp that for at least 20% of its sets don't go 5 hits up and kick for field position Its part of the game , playing percentages and winning the field position battle

And if there is a side that does do it , bet they don't figure regularly in semi final footy

 

[stevetiger]

Happy - I understand that is how you feel and you are justifying the game plans/tactics that Taylor came up with last year but its clear such a one sided approach doesn't work.

I think a bunch of you are simply not getting it and don't have the ability to look at the situation rationally. Look at the ladder from last year and your argument goes to pieces.

I'm not stating that defence isn't important. I'm just stating that you need to attack as well. Yes the attack needs to at times mean playing percentage footy. I'd even suggest that percentage footy can be exciting. What we had last year was completely negative play at times and it costs us games. It just allows the opposition to take it easy and then attack when is suits them. That was Taylorball. If we play like that this season we will have another poor season.

But every side does it Steve :brick:

Tell me one side in the comp that for at least 20% of its sets don't go 5 hits up and kick for field position Its part of the game , playing percentages and winning the field position battle

And if there is a side that does do it , bet they don't figure regularly in semi final footy

I think that this shows that you just don't get it.Its not about doing it every so often. Taylor ball was all about doing it too much and at the wrong time and therefore we lost games.

The proof is in the pudding. You can argue and disagree as much as you want too but it stuffed us last year.

 

[stevetiger]

It's a thing of the past Steve - why do you keep bringing up Taylorball?

Simple. You are trying to justify or spin Taylorball into long term success or something that needed to happen or that it was a success when it was obviously a failure. I even think Taylor realized it was a mistake. I don't understand why you are trying to justify it especially when you can't.

Go check last year's ladder and get back to me with how well that worked out for us.

If you cannot see we improved last year, I don't care what position - we are talking about improvement then I think you should go and play tiddlywinks!

Check the ladder. We went backwards and significantly so. That is pretty clear. End of story.

It has nothing at all to do with rubbishing Taylor on my side either. I think he was terrible last year but I'm hopeful he learnt a lot and he doesn't repeat the same mistakes.

 

[Geo]

OMG…agree to disagree please ..so we can move onwards and upwards in 2016....

 

[Tim Sheens]

Happy - I understand that is how you feel and you are justifying the game plans/tactics that Taylor came up with last year but its clear such a one sided approach doesn't work.

I think a bunch of you are simply not getting it and don't have the ability to look at the situation rationally. Look at the ladder from last year and your argument goes to pieces.

I'm not stating that defence isn't important. I'm just stating that you need to attack as well. Yes the attack needs to at times mean playing percentage footy. I'd even suggest that percentage footy can be exciting. What we had last year was completely negative play at times and it costs us games. It just allows the opposition to take it easy and then attack when is suits them. That was Taylorball. If we play like that this season we will have another poor season.

But every side does it Steve :brick:

Tell me one side in the comp that for at least 20% of its sets don't go 5 hits up and kick for field position Its part of the game , playing percentages and winning the field position battle

And if there is a side that does do it , bet they don't figure regularly in semi final footy

Granted and obvious, however we did it one out for a few weeks and paid the price.

 

[innsaneink]

stop feeding troll

 

[stevetiger]

Happy - I understand that is how you feel and you are justifying the game plans/tactics that Taylor came up with last year but its clear such a one sided approach doesn't work.

I think a bunch of you are simply not getting it and don't have the ability to look at the situation rationally. Look at the ladder from last year and your argument goes to pieces.

I'm not stating that defence isn't important. I'm just stating that you need to attack as well. Yes the attack needs to at times mean playing percentage footy. I'd even suggest that percentage footy can be exciting. What we had last year was completely negative play at times and it costs us games. It just allows the opposition to take it easy and then attack when is suits them. That was Taylorball. If we play like that this season we will have another poor season.

But every side does it Steve :brick:

Tell me one side in the comp that for at least 20% of its sets don't go 5 hits up and kick for field position Its part of the game , playing percentages and winning the field position battle

And if there is a side that does do it , bet they don't figure regularly in semi final footy

Granted and obvious, however we did it one out for a few weeks and paid the price.

Exactly. I'm just stating the obvious.

 

[stevetiger]

stop feeding troll

You are one weird dude.

 

[Russell]

OK Steve - you win.

We went backwards, so far backwards we nearly ended up in 2001.

You will never get it, so you win. For relief I'm going to bash my head against a brick wall.

 

[Harvey]

Maybe if we went forward more and got quick play the balls while paying 5 hit-ups and kick, we would not have gone so far backwards. If we through the ball around more, we might find that we go sideways.

 

[happy_tiger]

stop feeding troll

You are one weird dude.

Pot.Kettle.Black

 

[TrueTiger]

Happy - I understand that is how you feel and you are justifying the game plans/tactics that Taylor came up with last year but its clear such a one sided approach doesn't work.

I think a bunch of you are simply not getting it and don't have the ability to look at the situation rationally. Look at the ladder from last year and your argument goes to pieces.

I'm not stating that defence isn't important. I'm just stating that you need to attack as well. Yes the attack needs to at times mean playing percentage footy. I'd even suggest that percentage footy can be exciting. What we had last year was completely negative play at times and it costs us games. It just allows the opposition to take it easy and then attack when is suits them. That was Taylorball. If we play like that this season we will have another poor season.

But every side does it Steve :brick:

Tell me one side in the comp that for at least 20% of its sets don't go 5 hits up and kick for field position Its part of the game , playing percentages and winning the field position battle

And if there is a side that does do it , bet they don't figure regularly in semi final footy

Happy,Russell and other forum members,Steve doesn't understand that the younger players had to learn the defensive structure in the NRL,its completely different from NYC,we affectionately called it Taylor ball,but they had to learn it,Steve fails to see anything else but where we finished on the ladder…the younger players and the team as a whole will benefit greatly from those few boring games we had to watch....
If Steve wants to call it "spin" albeit...I prefer to call it valuable experience for the young guys... .

 

[TrueTiger]

A big part of our game this year will depend on how our forwards take the bigger packs on up the middle and don't get bullied or intimidated by the opposition…I really rate some of the recruits to stand up and be counted if they want to play NRL,which brings me to the point of Jesse Parahi,you don't get to represent your country in any sport or event if you don't have something to offer,he has also turned down the opportunity to rep Aust in the Olympics which are a pinnacle of many sports.I know many will say that he has played rugby 7s and it is a lot different,however you don't recruit someone just for the sake of it,I think he could be a good defensive back rower if he is given the chance and he must also prove he can make it at NRL level,same goes for the Ipswich boys,and I have much confidence in them to perform well in NRL if they get the chance and can prove they have something to offer at that level.We know Rankin and Chee Kam will give their best with the experience they already have..To many times we have had teams run over the top of our forwards and this year I think JT has something to work with to stop the leaks through the middle ground..This will be a real test for us in 2016 and hopefully if we improve by a small percentage,then that will be a big step in the right direction for us,but as always these things take time and I will fully support JT and the team while they try and get a winning culture together for us...

 

[doublesonthemain]

A big part of our game this year will depend on how our forwards take the bigger packs on up the middle and don't get bullied or intimidated by the opposition…I really rate some of the recruits to stand up and be counted if they want to play NRL,which brings me to the point of Jesse Parahi,you don't get to represent your country in any sport or event if you don't have something to offer,he has also turned down the opportunity to rep Aust in the Olympics which are a pinnacle of many sports.I know many will say that he has played rugby 7s and it is a lot different,however you don't recruit someone just for the sake of it,I think he could be a good defensive back rower if he is given the chance and he must also prove he can make it at NRL level,same goes for the Ipswich boys,and I have much confidence in them to perform well in NRL if they get the chance and can prove they have something to offer at that level.We know Rankin and Chee Kam will give their best with the experience they already have..To many times we have had teams run over the top of our forwards and this year I think JT has something to work with to stop the leaks through the middle ground..This will be a real test for us in 2016 and hopefully if we improve by a small percentage,then that will be a big step in the right direction for us,but as always these things take time and I will fully support JT and the team while they try and get a winning culture together for us...

I think the Ipswich fellas probably have a better chance of getting used to the NRL, in fact I think they'll do really well and give the team a bit of energy and toughness in the middle. And of course I'd love to see Jesse Parahi do well but I think he will find it pretty tough going. Not sure how well his body will hold up to the weekly grind of NRL especially if he is playing in the forwards which he is almost certainly to do. I noticed he didn't make it to the fans day Sunday, apparently they had a tough contact session that morning and he got a knock of some kind. That's not uncommon of course but still puts a little doubt in my mind. I hope Jesse proves me wrong and I'll be supporting him all the way to do just that.