Wests Tigers shake off 'soft' tag..

[Geo]

Tigers shake off 'soft' tag

Jack Brady Wed 16 Mar, 2016, 6:00am
By Jack Brady ‌, National Correspondent, NRL.com

Tigers shake off 'soft' tag

The Wests Tigers have shaken their 'soft' forward pack tag after dominating the Warriors and the Sea Eagles in consecutive weeks, according to halfback Luke Brooks.

With Aaron Woods leading the way and heavily supported by the likes Tim Grant, Sauaso Sue and Ava Seumanufagai the limited interchanges have worked in the club's favour.

Though they ended up having the last laugh on Monday night, the Tigers came under fire in the off-season when they let Martin Taupau leave the club to sign a rich four-year deal with Manly.

Producing the second-most points (70) in the opening fortnight, Brooks said it wouldn't have been possible if not for the platform provided by the Tigers' forwards.

"We have thrown the ball around a bit more but in saying that our forwards have been outstanding. They are running hard, generating quick play the balls and we're playing off the back of that," Brooks said.

"It does make it a lot easier with our big men going forward and playing the way they are. It's good to play behind that pack and I think the reduced interchanges are definitely working in our favour.

"We always knew we had a strong forward pack and they have shown that over the past fortnight."

Any concerns over the club's depth were doused when Grant left South Sydney to sign with the Tigers in January.

With the Titans to come this Saturday night, only notorious metre-eaters Woods and Tedesco have produced more metres than the 28-year-old Grant so far this season (122.9 metres per game).

"Timmy Grant has been a great addition for us. I think we were missing that one front-rower in the pre-season," Brooks said.

"He brings a lot of experience and plenty of go-forward. It's good to have him there up front, and as you can see it's helping us out.

"Jesse Sue has come into his lock position and he's doing a great job too. The boys that have come in to cover Marty's position are doing well. We have every confidence in any player coming in.

"The toughest thing for us this weekend will be the short turnaround between Monday to Saturday. We just have to rest up and get ready for that."

Having missed the Tigers' season-opener due to suspension Brooks was grateful to slot back in alongside five-eighth Mitchell Moses with good effect against Manly.

"It was good to blow the cobwebs out. I was blowing a bit there in the first half but it was good to get my first hit-out out of the way and get the win," Brooks said.

"It was pretty tough to sit out of last week. Training hard all pre-season and missing the first round wasn't the best but it was good the boys could get the win and that we could back it up."

http://www.nrl.com/tigers-shake-off-soft-tag/tabid/10874/newsid/93822/default.aspx

 

[supercoach]

Love when we win, the media articles flow thick and fast

 

[maxxy86]

Love when we win, the media articles flow thick and fast

Now I'm predicting 2005 will come up in articles and interviews it really annoys me :blah :blah

 

[TrueTiger]

Love when we win, the media articles flow thick and fast

Now I'm predicting 2005 will come up in articles and interviews it really annoys me :blah :blah

maxxy86,I watched the game on Monday night and when we scored one of our great trys the commentator said " its 2005 all over again" …I think because we were an electrifying team back then it has given us that tag that we unfortunately have to hear about way to often. however I don't care what they say or write,as long as we keep winning and putting egg all over the knockers faces..

 

[innsaneink]

It's only been 2 games…. I recall similar stories after we pumped souths early last year

 

[TrueTiger]

It's only been 2 games…. I recall similar stories after we pumped souths early last year

Absolutely right Ink,but I'm having faith that the climb to the top will continue,sure there will be losses,however you can see a different attitude and culture in this team already…

 

[underdog]

It's only been 2 games…. I recall similar stories after we pumped souths early last year

This.

You don't win premierships or even make the 8 in March.

 

[Spartan117]

Im Looking for the Tigers to restrict points against to well below the 20s.

Then and only then will we be a serious team worth the hype.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Love when we win, the media articles flow thick and fast

Now I'm predicting 2005 will come up in articles and interviews it really annoys me :blah :blah

Conversly Maxxy, even though I don't feel one can compare teams that play a decade or more apart there are a few similarities in how we have kicked this year off with the greater ruck speed.

Also, chances are the more this side is compared to our premiership winning team, the better we are going, so welcome hearing it adnauseum. I hope it is not just for the opening weeks.

 

[goldcoast_tiger]

It's only been 2 games…. I recall similar stories after we pumped souths early last year[/quote

And the year before.

 

[Snake]

Lets revisit this around round 10.

 

[Eddie]

We have started plenty of seasons well.

Heck even in 2002 we were 2-0 and Lamb was sitting with his feet up on the desk.

Back page of the Tele….
\
\
Bottom line is we lose to the GC this week its same old Tigers...

 

[happy_tiger]

Im Looking for the Tigers to restrict points against to well below the 20s.

Then and only then will we be a serious team worth the hype.

We have let in some bloody soft tries this year

That needs to change and change fast

 

[tig_prmz]

I can't believe how vulnerable we looked at the back end of first half and the start of the second. luckily, manly weren't able to keep possession because of our in the face defense which changed the momentum of the game.

we can't afford that, even in patches coz sooner or later teams will figure out our attack and we wont be scoring 40 points a game.

 

[westTAHger]

It's only been 2 games…. I recall similar stories after we pumped souths early last year

And we all witnessed what happened for remainder of the season…
One to forget ....
I do hope that the end result for season 2016, is far better than last season.

 

[goldcoast_tiger]

You don't lose a soft tag in two games,
we've dropped the concentration at times in both of those games, and it's up to them to prove that they can do the hard work for complete games over and over .
It's certainly better than most of last year, but they have to learn that the last tackle before halftime is just as important as the first tackle in the game. And the arm waving has to go completely.

 

[Guest]

I'm hoping we really are switched on against the Titans this weekend. They have a decent sized pack and we really don't want to be playing catchup football against them IMO. The forwards have started the season well, but it's important they continue to get quick-play-the-ball and scramble well in defence.

 

[cqtiger]

This game v Titans was always going to be the teller for me. Even if we lost against the Warriors and Manly this game would of been the one we had to win. Now that we have beaten those other 2 teams this game still is the one we have to win. Why? Because we ALWAYS lose against teams we should beat.
Nuff said

 

[pHyR3]

We have started plenty of seasons well.

Heck even in 2002 we were 2-0 and Lamb was sitting with his feet up on the desk.

Back page of the Tele….
\
\
Bottom line is we lose to the GC this week its same old Tigers...

i dont believe we've ever started 3-0

and 2002 we started 2-0 and then 3/5 and 5/10

hardly the best of starts. above average perhaps

 

[innsaneink]

Re: Wests Tigers shake off 'soft' tag…...

For a few days