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

[diedpretty]

You are right Stryker - i think back to SOO game 2 when Robbie hit Slater and knocked him back 2 mtrs then rubbed his head on the ground and said a few choice words - he showed with that tackle that he has an aggressive side - we just don't see it enough.

I also remember back to the Wests pack of the late 70's - admittedly some of the tactics wouldn't be tolerated today however they oozed aggression and intimidation and this came out in the way they defended - hit em hard and often.

 

[Snodgrass]

ok change that - 2 terry randalls, 2 les boys, robbie farah, and one John Donnelly. RIP

Yeah, given modern standards, by Round 6 you'd be left with Robbie and a pack of reggies.
However you would be on the gavel thumpers Christmas card list.

They were the days but …

 

[Joel Helmes]

It's about finding the right balance.

Sheens had the guys playing a bit like college professors when what you need in this era is raw power up front, creativity in the halves and pace in the backs.

We had almost none of the above in all three areas in 2012.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

ok change that - 2 terry randalls, 2 les boys, robbie farah, and one John Donnelly. RIP

Yeah, given modern standards, by Round 6 you'd be left with Robbie and a pack of reggies.
However you would be on the gavel thumpers Christmas card list.

They were the days but …

fair enough. lets make that 3 Snodgrass' , 1 Randall, 1 Boyd & Rabbie Farah. Reggies :crazy

 

[Flippedy]

ok change that - 2 terry randalls, 2 les boys, robbie farah, and one John Donnelly. RIP

I'll trade you one Les Boyd for a Bobby Cooper :mrgreen:

 

[happy_tiger]

I've got a Webcke, Lazarus, Farah, Paul Sironen,Gillespie and Lindner

Mentally tough and definitely physically strong

 

[GoldXR50Leroy]

It's a fine line between toughness and agressiveness, while all the PCer's of this world want the violence out of our game who doesn't love a good old stink.
The toughest players in the game were the one's who could cop the verbal abuse and turn their cheek to the physical assault, but saying this who, didn't if they were a player want to plant one on Justin Hodges chin in that SOO game.

 

[innsaneink]

Threads an eye opener, showing quite a bit who knows what about the game….and moreso who doesnt know very much at all....and who doesnt read and misses the point

Goose: In '10 & '11 we had one of the toughest ever bastards to pull on a boot do defense, strength & fitness for our team....no surprise those two seasons were probably our best ever.

Im sure Stryker would love a pack full of players that embodied everything Steve Folkes stood for when he played the game..

I know I would.
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.he also said

I am not asking for a pack of Les Boyds.
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Times have changed! It's not the 70's anymore
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I disagree with the premise you have to be a thug and a grub to be effective
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I am not asking for a pack of Les Boyds.

Are you implying I know nothing about the game and miss the point?? Or Iam I misinterpreting cause my name is mentioned.

I know the OP clarified by saying he didnt want a pack of Les Boyds and understands it is not the 70's But he did also say he wouldn't be scared to go the knuckle with our blokes and wanted those who would, mentioned smashing blokes noses and wanted blokes to talk about wives and all that….

I dont reckon you need all that, I would love a pack full of Steve Folkes type players, but he is not the player the OP described in the post.

No no not implying anything, just stating a general observation then adressing a few of your points, no connection.

But you said it yourself, though in a diff context I think:

I think people are over reacting a bit as well,

 

[stryker]

Wow great discussion in this thread so far.

I agree that a few have misinterpreted my thoughts so to clarify:

Willow, Snodgrass, Goose and any others, I never said we shouldnt be out in the community doing charity work. I love and respect charities…I would wager I give more per annum than 3 or 4 others put together. What I mean is that we are PERCIEVED in the media and public alike to be a club full of good guys. Guess what? EVERY club does their share and they dont have stories written every week about their exploits off the field. Why do we? I think it is because we have been tagged as the charitable good guys, that seems to be our thing even though most do just as much.

It is this peronna that I want to move away from. Still do the work but have articles written about how tough our pack is and how skillful our backline is as a result. We just do not instill fear of any kind into rival clubs. They all know if they can shut down Robbie and Benji then playing the Wests Tigers is akin to a week off. Playing us - win lose or draw, does not take much out of a side. Look at sides such as Melbourne, Manly, Bulldogs, Souths etc....you may get the win over them but backing up the next week is a hard task because you have to go to war with them and you are very sore and tired after such an encounter. You look through the draw and see a game coming up against them and instantly that week at training is very tense. They are scarey sides beause you know deep down that they will batter the crap out of you. The result? They have already won the psychological battle with you BEFORE YOU HAVE EVEN WALKED ONTO THE FIELD. This is something I want for my side. I want the commentators before the game to speak of our fearsome pack before they wax lyrical about Farah and Marshals trick plays.

As for the sledging...it works. Plain and simple. You dont have to be a grub to be effective as was pointed out in the case with Cashmere or the many cases with Gibbs over the years. It always affects the recipient and either throws them off their game or forces them into retaliatory actions through anger. When they do succumb and fire up, we have to be there to belt them. Not with our fists persay but with our shoulders.

As for saying I want a team of grubs, again not the case. I want a team of hard arses who charge at the defence with all they have and who perform mainly dominant tackles. I want the forwards to be our stars....Woods was this year and to an extent so were Farah and Fulton. However 2 of our best this year were our wingers! They showed more balls than most of our forwards and that is not on.

Lastly, I dont want us to be brattish, i.e. we should remain humble in victory and gracious in defeat. However I really hate seeing our blokes hugging and laughing with the opposition after they have belted us in front of our home crowd. Look at Farah when we lose...he is that angry you wouldnt want to approach him. That can not be said for most of them.

Like I said, these thoughts may not be held by all and spineless characters like Snodgrass are an example. However we will not win another premiership unless our forwards man up every week and show some mongrel and ticker. If nothing else, I hope this is what Potter brings to the club.

 

[GoldXR50Leroy]

ok change that - 2 terry randalls, 2 les boys, robbie farah, and one John Donnelly. RIP

You might want to rethink some of these, Terry Randall was sent off and suspended for deliberately kicking a player, Les Boyd, broke the Big Mahn's jaw in SOO 1983 with a deliberate elbow, when he returned to playing eye gouged Billy Johnstone from the Bulldogs effectively ending his the NSWRL career.
Dallas, oh Dallas as much as he is revered could also be a thug, suspended for both Biting and Kicking, there's toughness and there's toughness, I'll admit I was a hot head when I played and was far from a Saint and had far less talent but that didn't make me a tough guy (in hindsight).

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

ok change that - 2 terry randalls, 2 les boys, robbie farah, and one John Donnelly. RIP

I'll trade you one Les Boyd for a Bobby Cooper

you got it.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

ok change that - 2 terry randalls, 2 les boys, robbie farah, and one John Donnelly. RIP

You might want to rethink some of these, Terry Randall was sent off and suspended for deliberately kicking a player, Les Boyd, broke the Big Mahn's jaw in SOO 1983 with a deliberate elbow, when he returned to playing eye gouged Billy Johnstone from the Bulldogs effectively ending his the NSWRL career.
Dallas, oh Dallas as much as he is revered could also be a thug, suspended for both Biting and Kicking, there's toughness and there's toughness, I'll admit I was a hot head when I played and was far from a Saint and had far less talent but that didn't make me a tough guy (in hindsight).

The Last of the Mohicians.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[Sabre]

There is not one forward in this squad that would scare me to go one-on-one with…nor has here ever been.

I wonder if we can arrange for this to happen

 

[innsaneink]

LOL
Yeh stupid statement, theyre footy players for christs sake…not fighters

 

[cusschops]

ok change that - 2 terry randalls, 2 les boys, robbie farah, and one John Donnelly. RIP

Yeah, given modern standards, by Round 6 you'd be left with Robbie and a pack of reggies.
However you would be on the gavel thumpers Christmas card list.

They were the days but …

Lol
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[cusschops]

Yes, this is a great thread. I want our team to be feared too but not in a way where others think we are thugs but in a way that they think oh no were playing the tigers next week.
We can accomplish this in other ways than thuggery.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[stryker]

LOL
Yeh stupid statement, theyre footy players for christs sake…not fighters

Thats not the point. I said I wouldnt be afraid to, not that I could. Its got nothing to do with fighting. It has everything to do with the way they hold themselves and the aura they project. Perception is half the battle. If you dont fear someone you can accomplish anything.

Thats why opposing packs like Souths, Manly, Roosters etc…dont run their big men at our halves or even wider like they do against other sides. They run them straight up the guts, straight at our big blokes and they punch holes straight through them. They dont fear them at all. As a result, we always struggle to beat them. We do have our bunnies who we target with very definite game plans...they fear Marshal and Farah. But the fair dinkum sides always aim at our pigs

 

[Newtown]

I remember that the 2005 WT forward pack were criticised for being too small. I can't remember any "enforcer" in this 2005 forward pack and the fear from oppostion teams was not due to any WT physical brutality. The pack did however have a number of very good tacklers, Galea, Fulton and co. The reason why WT won the 2005 GF was I believe due to their "brotherly" team spiri, youth and dedication. These are the all important X factors which Potter must re-install into the side. WT have an abundance of young raw talent. The current problem lies with the senior players who need to get away from the media spotlight, forget their differences and really concentrate on leading the younger players.

 

[happy_tiger]

I remember that the 2005 WT forward pack were criticised for being too small. I can't remember any "enforcer" in this 2005 forward pack and the fear from oppostion teams was not due to any WT physical brutality. The pack did however have a number of very good tacklers, Galea, Fulton and co. The reason why WT won the 2005 GF was I believe due to their "brotherly" team spiri, youth and dedication. These are the all important X factors which Potter must re-install into the side. WT have an abundance of young raw talent. The current problem lies with the senior players who need to get away from the media spotlight, forget their differences and really concentrate on leading the younger players.

They defended unbelieveably well during the big end of year games

Thats why we won in 2005

From rounds 1 - 14 they were ordinary

 

[stryker]

I remember that the 2005 WT forward pack were criticised for being too small. I can't remember any "enforcer" in this 2005 forward pack and the fear from oppostion teams was not due to any WT physical brutality. The pack did however have a number of very good tacklers, Galea, Fulton and co. The reason why WT won the 2005 GF was I believe due to their "brotherly" team spiri, youth and dedication. These are the all important X factors which Potter must re-install into the side. WT have an abundance of young raw talent. The current problem lies with the senior players who need to get away from the media spotlight, forget their differences and really concentrate on leading the younger players.

They defended unbelieveably well during the big end of year games

Thats why we won in 2005

From rounds 1 - 14 they were ordinary

…and the game was played completely differently back then. I also dont remember the defence being that good. It was the fact that we had a very mobile and speedy side that we could effectively scramble and stop tries.