Wests Tigers forwards - Can they shake the pussy cat tag?

S

stryker

New member
I am not a PC person. I dont give 2 hoots about the huge amount of charity work this club does. I dont smile when the papers report the Tigers have visited a cancer riddled child mid week, promise him/her a victory and then proceed to be pantsed on the weekend. I dont care that we are perceived to be a "good guys club".

I am not the type of bloke who gloats over good news stories or always does what is socially acceptable. I have many enemies. The reason i am this way is because I do not suffer fools and more importantly **POST EDITED BY ADMIN**. I along with the majority on here riled up against Matty Johns's assessmnent that our forward pack was soft at this years start. I did not want to believe it and I had a personal vendetta against the complainant.

Truth be told, the Wests Tigers have always been creampuffs….creampuffs that is with a hell of a lot of talent. There is not one forward in this squad that would scare me to go one-on-one with...nor has here ever been....they are not that type of bloke. They are tireless workers and that is highly commendable but they have never possessed a mongrel who scares the opposition. As an opposition forward, there has never been a Tigers forward who I wouldnt be scared to run at. They just tackle you...they dont smash your nose and lie on top of you telling you how sweet your daughter is...they dont pack into a scrum and tell you that on your next run your neck will be broken, then tell you how sweet your daughter is....for gods sakes, you would be unlucky if 2 or more of them met you at the advantage line. All you have to do is take the tackle, quickly play the ball and get ready for your next asault. It isnt a hard gig.

By all reports Potter is a defence orientated coach. I really hope this is so because in this day and age you need a tough forward pack....one who is prepared to hurt the opposition. One who is prepared to make the opposites know they will be in a war. My major criticism of the pack has been, for a few years now, Keith. He is big, he is strong and he is soft. No one is scared of him, no one thinks twice about running straight at him. He just does the bare minimum and that is all...and he is not on his Pat Malone. Is anyone scared of being tackled by Liam? By Robbie? by Blair? Take the Roosters forwards for example. They are usually behind us on the table but relish the games against us. I can not think of the last game that we bested them in the forwards. They always bash us. Sometimes our blokes really aim up (think the Broncs and St George this year) but on the whole we are soft in the forwards. I am not asking for a pack of Les Boyds...but am asking for a pack that will hit their opposites every time they have the balls to run straight.

We have a talented side, we also have a collection of media darlings who will attend to a charity at the drop of the hat. How about in season 2013 we have a pack of blokes who are hated in RL circles due to their aggression, their lack of empathy and their mongrel attitude? A pack who arent considered "good blokes"? A pack who will risk it all to get on top?

Maybe then Benji and Robbie will have the space to create our attack......
 
Mate Skando might of been an issue one on one Any bloke who ran to fights with a smile on his dial is a concern

But you are right Stryker , I'd rather be a fan of the most hated club in the NRL and winning 70% of our games than be everyone's 2nd favourite side winning 40% of our games

I would be quite happy if we won armwrestles 10-8 every week

Some on here live in 2005 fairytale world and want us to return to those days and it won't happen again

Maybe as fans we need to change as well , become hated like we would like our team

Make the Tigers the intimidators or dogs of war mentality I don't care ,lets just grow a set and stand up every week

Win , lose or draw
 
That's o.k. provided that it doesn't result in conceding silly penalties which in today's game can cost a team very dearly. However I agree that a team must stand up for itself. As a Newtown supporter I well remember the classic 1981 semi-final between Newtiwn and Manly. There was a certain halfback named Raudonikis playing for the Jets that year who really fired up his team.
 
The game is all about power and you need to be able to produce it for 80 minutes. Our cattle loose interest very quickly and have the mindset that they can out score most teams on most days,so why bust your guts in defense.

Just looking at the players we have on our books I can't really see our forwards going the distance with any of the better sides. Really if Potter can get them hungry and switched on in defense I will be happy but I just don't see many of our forwards up to the task
 
If this is your attitude then you may want to consider supporting another team because the Wests Tigers certainly won't drop all of the work they do in the community because a few fans want them to start being more aggressive on the field - That's a guarantee.

And I'm not arguing that the Tigers pack could not be more aggressive, I think they should be, and maybe they will under Potter, but the community and charity work will continue and I wouldn't b holding my breath for players like Liam and Woods to just start upending players at will in defence.
 
Sheens used to consciously coach the aggression out of players.
Hopefully Potter will place a lot more emphasis on being feared.
Definitely doesn't mean we have to start being idiots off the field though. You can actually be one without the other.
 
Its pretty clear at time we hold very little respect to our oppositions

Ten years of touch footy will do that
 
I am all in favour of more aggression as long as it is controlled and not foul or grubby.It is very easy to cross the line from one to the other
 
I am happy we didn't keep players like O'Donnell, Villasanti, Laurie etc.
There is confusion between attitude/tackling technique and physical size of players, good defenders are not necessary big players, so players like Ellis, Skandalis, Fulton etc. are better defenders than Morley, Moi Moi, Waerea-Hargreaves etc.
By saying this, we need stronger 2nd rowers, so my choice ATM are Pettybourne, BMM and Fulton.
God willing we will add Dwyer to this group.
 
@willow said:
If this is your attitude then you may want to consider supporting another team because the Wests Tigers certainly won't drop all of the work they do in the community because a few fans want them to start being more aggressive on the field - That's a guarantee.

And I'm not arguing that the Tigers pack could not be more aggressive, I think they should be, and maybe they will under Potter, but the community and charity work will continue and I wouldn't b holding my breath for players like Liam and Woods to just start upending players at will in defence.
Click to expand...

Don't think Stryker is saying that we shouldn't be out in the community Willow (well from the way I read it anyway)

He like many others wants this side to be far more aggressive in attack and defence and intimidate other sides , and playing the style that we have in previous years won't get it done ( as results prove)

I don't think niggling players is that big an issue (Robbie looks to be an excellent sledger) and it annoys me when I see one of our players help another from the opposition to their feet

We need to mentally and phsyically strong and never back down from the hard stuff
 
How about suggesting to Potter that he arrange a player slapping session in the dressing room at the beginning and halftime of every match.
 
@Newtown said:
How about suggesting to Potter that he arrange a player slapping session in the dressing room at the beginning and halftime of every match.
Click to expand...

No I'm not suggesting that at all

I want a side that when things get tough and you need to grind it out we grind it out and not try and score and 80 metre try

The side I imagine seeing every week would make the opposition coach think to himself " Well we are going to have to show up 100% focused and we will have to win it , not wait for the opposition 6 to self implode and hand us the game on a platter with soft defence and horrific completion rates

Thats what mentally and physically strong is all about

Anyone who thinks this side is mentally strong is kidding themselves and the changes required won't happen overnight and might take multiple seasons

Thats if Potter can control Marshall and Farah

It may never happen while Marshall is here
 
Although RF took offence Matthew Johns was correct,Tiges were very soft in the middle this season but i think Potter knows that and alluded to it in interviews.MPO from 2012 was our poor kicking game was a contributing factor to this,particulary when coming out of our own half,it really put a lot of pressure on our defence.The same play to Benji, or Robbie was used over & over again,all game & season to the extent a kindergarden kid could read our moves,sign of a tired/burnt out coach or senior players not listening.
 
Agree with the sentiment. Our forward pack has only got on top in a few games since well forever.

I am now of the opinion that big dollars spent on outside backs is a total waste unless the forward pack can get the job done.

Imagine how good Benji and Robbie would be behind a Manly or Melbourne forward pack.

Instead we turn a solid forward in Blair into a powder puff overnight.
 
I disagree with the premise you have to be a thug and a grub to be effective, personally I never played footy to show how tough I am (mainly cause i'm not real tough) and everytime a bloke whacked me or took a cheap shot or talked about my mum or my sister Id get that feeling that they were getting desperate and I was getting on top and the penalty is well worth it.

Id much rather an effective disciplined player like Shane Webcke or Glen Lazarus, both of which claim to be not so good on the knuckle, altho i suspect they'd go ok, than a hard nut who smashes blokes and is hard, but gives away penalties and doesn't necessary stick to the plan.

I agree we need more go forward and more important need to tighten the defence to stop forwards getting on top of us, this is somewhat due to personal and somewhat due to style.

I think people are over reacting a bit as well, we did run top 4 in consecutive years, we are not th basket case that people are saying.
 
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