Tiger_Torch
New member
FT is spot on re Elijah Taylor though his signing is not quite locked in as it all depends on Farah / Cherrrington. Te Mare Martin and Cherrington are very tight and the Panthers see them as 2/4 of their spine from next year. Cherrington has let it be known he will stay with the Tigers but wants a guarantee that he will be 1st choice hooker next year, the fly in the ointment is Farah! All coaching staff have him locked in as their No1 starting hooker, for what its worth I agree. Seve was lead to believe he would be given a crack at centre this year and subsequently trained the house down, then told he would play in Ron Massey cup, he then left as he knew Milone was the anointed / sponsored one! Depending on the outcome of SOS if NSW were to win Farah will call time this year ( he will play games 1 &2 - should NSW lose both he will be replaced, Daley has been upfront with both Farah & Taylor)
First signs of tension among coaching staff re team selections, principally centre & bench with all assistant coaches calling for Rankin to play centre ( until Simona returns and then dropped to fullback in NSW Cup) and Addo Carr to play preferred left wing & Noffa back on the right wing. Watson Helata whose sprint times are better than Peni has also been put forward - quite vigorously by one coach in particular. Lovett it is agreed by all bar Taylor can provide an effective 20 minute spell but nothing more. Rod Griffin leads the offloads in the NSW Cup - this 2nd phase play has all but disappeared from our NRL team - a point noted time and again by assistant coaches! Rod Griffin himself is not the solution but at least 6 good offloads per half from Woods / Sirro would be a start - both were excellent in opposed training sessions.The treatment of MCK has been appalling and his form / fitness / training application has begun to slip. Moses groin is a worry so therefore Rankin gets in the team as goalkicker. Other goalkicking options are equally poor outside of Drinkwater (75%) who has been in poor form on NSW Cup; Littlejohn whose form has been solid continues to practice and is approaching 70% accuracy in training / normally translates to 65% playing.
In pre season player profiles all players were asked to list their strengths / weaknesses; preferred positions: Rankin's were : 5/8; 1/2; fullback; centre; wing!
Brooks & Moses are now virtually certain to take up 1 year options in their favour to remain at the tigers for 2017; both are now very hesitant about committing beyond 2017 until coaching situation is resolved. There really hasn't been any significant big $ interest from elsewhere! Bulldogs will take either at $500k, both will receive a minimum $600k to remain + TPA.
cLUB IS STILL TRYING TO GET THEM SIGNED UP FOR 3 YEARS, but would be happy to put the matter ( temporarily) to bed for a year if they can get them signed up asap.
As indicated previously Melbourne have now formalized an offer to JAC - 2 years $120k / $180k.
Korobete would return to the Tigers for $360k! Tigers asked the question with $280k in mind.
Taylor will depart this year ( 2016) but only if the Tigers can secure Cleary who now has become wary of signing, believing the Warriors may be a better fit. Once current Chair Marina Go / Board moves on later this year Taylor will lose his current steadfast support, and will definitely not remain beyond 2017\. Current Board seems to think that only Cleary would be a better option than Taylor whilst he remains under contract until end of 2017.
Taylor does still enjoy overwhelming majority support of the playing group with a handful of exceptions. I cannot fault or find any blame attributable to Farah re any unrest in the ranks; as previously stated he works more closely with Craig Sandercock than Taylor.
It is well known that we are the worst performing team in the league over the last 16 years - Pascoe is hellbent on eliminating any more 'rebuilding' excuses. Both he and Mark O'neil believe our current roster only needs a few tweaks to secure consistent top 8 appearances. This was the message delivered to sponsors last week. Separate one on one unofficial meetings were held with Harry T.
I don't have the right or expertise to put forward my own petty opinions but was pleasantly surprised to be asked last week by Mark for my views. He wanted to know after 4 years what I thought were the 3 major impediments to success confronting the club, so I simply regurgitated my views along with those of my colleagues and a few of those expressed here when I pop in from time to time:
1.No accountability - nobody ever gets dropped for poor performances.
2\. Hand in hand with #1 bizarre team selections, players left to languish in lower grades before losing interest / form and then move on.
3\. Poor club / fan interface _: suffice to say Mark now visits the WTF!
I could go on but that would involve my opinion/s, not facts.
The mood within the team / club on the whole is positive though 2016 amongst us 'realists' in the support staff is now all but written off. I emphasise that is not the view of the players, but with early signs of fractures within the coaching ranks I am a little concerned.
The future is still bright that first light at the end of the tunnel may be an oncoming locomotive, but behind that I still believe we will all need heavy duty sunnies because soon the tunnel will be split asunder and the stunning glare of success will be too much to take.
Until next time don't be afraid of the dark, Tiger Torch.
First signs of tension among coaching staff re team selections, principally centre & bench with all assistant coaches calling for Rankin to play centre ( until Simona returns and then dropped to fullback in NSW Cup) and Addo Carr to play preferred left wing & Noffa back on the right wing. Watson Helata whose sprint times are better than Peni has also been put forward - quite vigorously by one coach in particular. Lovett it is agreed by all bar Taylor can provide an effective 20 minute spell but nothing more. Rod Griffin leads the offloads in the NSW Cup - this 2nd phase play has all but disappeared from our NRL team - a point noted time and again by assistant coaches! Rod Griffin himself is not the solution but at least 6 good offloads per half from Woods / Sirro would be a start - both were excellent in opposed training sessions.The treatment of MCK has been appalling and his form / fitness / training application has begun to slip. Moses groin is a worry so therefore Rankin gets in the team as goalkicker. Other goalkicking options are equally poor outside of Drinkwater (75%) who has been in poor form on NSW Cup; Littlejohn whose form has been solid continues to practice and is approaching 70% accuracy in training / normally translates to 65% playing.
In pre season player profiles all players were asked to list their strengths / weaknesses; preferred positions: Rankin's were : 5/8; 1/2; fullback; centre; wing!
Brooks & Moses are now virtually certain to take up 1 year options in their favour to remain at the tigers for 2017; both are now very hesitant about committing beyond 2017 until coaching situation is resolved. There really hasn't been any significant big $ interest from elsewhere! Bulldogs will take either at $500k, both will receive a minimum $600k to remain + TPA.
cLUB IS STILL TRYING TO GET THEM SIGNED UP FOR 3 YEARS, but would be happy to put the matter ( temporarily) to bed for a year if they can get them signed up asap.
As indicated previously Melbourne have now formalized an offer to JAC - 2 years $120k / $180k.
Korobete would return to the Tigers for $360k! Tigers asked the question with $280k in mind.
Taylor will depart this year ( 2016) but only if the Tigers can secure Cleary who now has become wary of signing, believing the Warriors may be a better fit. Once current Chair Marina Go / Board moves on later this year Taylor will lose his current steadfast support, and will definitely not remain beyond 2017\. Current Board seems to think that only Cleary would be a better option than Taylor whilst he remains under contract until end of 2017.
Taylor does still enjoy overwhelming majority support of the playing group with a handful of exceptions. I cannot fault or find any blame attributable to Farah re any unrest in the ranks; as previously stated he works more closely with Craig Sandercock than Taylor.
It is well known that we are the worst performing team in the league over the last 16 years - Pascoe is hellbent on eliminating any more 'rebuilding' excuses. Both he and Mark O'neil believe our current roster only needs a few tweaks to secure consistent top 8 appearances. This was the message delivered to sponsors last week. Separate one on one unofficial meetings were held with Harry T.
I don't have the right or expertise to put forward my own petty opinions but was pleasantly surprised to be asked last week by Mark for my views. He wanted to know after 4 years what I thought were the 3 major impediments to success confronting the club, so I simply regurgitated my views along with those of my colleagues and a few of those expressed here when I pop in from time to time:
1.No accountability - nobody ever gets dropped for poor performances.
2\. Hand in hand with #1 bizarre team selections, players left to languish in lower grades before losing interest / form and then move on.
3\. Poor club / fan interface _: suffice to say Mark now visits the WTF!
I could go on but that would involve my opinion/s, not facts.
The mood within the team / club on the whole is positive though 2016 amongst us 'realists' in the support staff is now all but written off. I emphasise that is not the view of the players, but with early signs of fractures within the coaching ranks I am a little concerned.
The future is still bright that first light at the end of the tunnel may be an oncoming locomotive, but behind that I still believe we will all need heavy duty sunnies because soon the tunnel will be split asunder and the stunning glare of success will be too much to take.
Until next time don't be afraid of the dark, Tiger Torch.
