What will be our strengths and weaknesses for 2014

H

happy_tiger

Well-known member
Assuming that majority of any major signings have been done and made , what do you see as our strengths and weaknesses in 2014
Strengths
More back up in the forwards particularly up in the engine room

The unknown quality of Brooks and Moses if they play , usually takes a side a season to work out what particular players strengths and weaknesses are

The fact Potter will have a season behind him and a squad he feels far more comfortable with

Hopefully better assistant coaches

Farah will be forced to hand more control over to his 7 and 6 ,definitely a good thing

More stability in our game , not trying to knock Benji but our backs will hopefully know what the halves have in mind

Weaknesses
Back row still undersized , but at least some improvement depending on selections

Lots of inexperience all over the park

Probable issues with consistency linked to the youngsters and the lack of experience

Reliance on rookie halves

Continued injury issues

Still lacking a strong kicking game

All the off field crap ,will it affect the young blokes

Potter still having a gun pointed at his head , can he relax and coach the side with the obvious expectations

Being overawed by the top sides

Based on a lot of this I expect a 11th -16th finish in 2014

Injuries of course will be crucial , along with our draw

Anyone have any strengths or weaknesses you would debate or like to add ??
 
Defence, defence, defence.
We've seen our boys defend well this year, and then we've seen them defend like wet toilet paper. It's which team turns up each and every game next year that decides how we'll go.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_
 
Our wing/centre defense isn't going to be pretty, with our current rookies in those positions. Don't think Simona or Nofo or Koro have the defensive reading skills ATM, hopefully that'll change in the off season.
However, obviously they're some of the best attacking wingers out there right now so that'll be a positive.

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@innsaneink said:
Kicking should improve, Brooks, Austin , Richards g/k

Defense and fitness is the concern
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The thing I like about that is that both of those are fairly attitude based. Not so much skills. If we get two great assistant coaches we have good potential.
Speaking of which is Skando still going to be there next year?

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_
 
Need improvement under the high ball. Seen glimpses but still there's a level of uncertainty. No determination to contest the ball in the air every opportunity.

For that matter there's rarely much determination to contest a ball on the ground either. An effort to dive on a loose ball would be encouraging.

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You can't beat the better sides with one elite player,our playing roster is still not nearly strong enough to compete against the better sides
 
@guyofthetiger said:
Need improvement under the high ball. Seen glimpses but still there's a level of uncertainty. No determination to contest the ball in the air every opportunity.
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_
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Yeah, this really annoys me. Surely it's not that hard to work towards a designated area of the field, put up a half decent bomb, and have our better jumpers ready to have a crack at either taking the ball or knocking it back. Tedesco and Dave both seem OK under the ball, but often it seems we're hoping Lawry or a prop will snatch from their wingers hands.
 
For weaknesses:

The biggest one I think is going to be consistency.

Also, we've been poor under the high ball when attacking. That'll be a weak point.

Defence and attack should be okay if potter remains and gets some good assistants. Folkes, Jason taylor, payten etc.

Metres could be a slight issue, potentially even bigger depending on injuries, especially against teams like the dogs and souths.

I'd be happy with a 7-10th finish. 9-10th is what i'm guessing we'll finish. That'd be decent and potter should keep his job after getting us from this to that. Sheens came 9th in 04 i believe. Also the dogs came 9th in 2011.
 
I think 2014 will be a good year for us. Having said that I guess its pretty easy to have a better year than the one we are having.

Weve had/are having the clean out that we have needed for some time now. The muppets behind the curtain have been moved on this year or last, Sheensie, Roycie, Stevie G and the main player thats been leaving a bad smell at the club for a long time needed to be moved on and its happened, see ya Benchy!

Ayshford, the waste of space centre that had a purple patch 3 years ago of about 6 games has been punted to the tiger sharks.

Hopefully a few more are told to pack up, ala Utai, Anasta and Moltzen at the end of this year.

Our cap space must be looking pretty good for 2014/2015\. I know weve signed a few of the kids up but geez there is a lot of cash left on the table with Benchy and potentially a few more leaving this year.

I reckon with Richards and Kapow coming home next year, along with Farah, Woods, Blair, Galloway, Lawrence and Lote, on match payments, we will have a fair bit of experience across the park to help the younger kids. The best thing to come out of 2013 is the shedding of some players that were spinning their wheels and taking the club no where for years and the experience these kids (SIrro, Koro, Ava, Sue, Nofo, Simona, Jack, Teddy) have received this year by being dumped into the deep in due to injuries has been invaluable. Come next year these 'Kids' have had a full season, 20-30 games in the bank and a full off season to train the house down. These kids along with the older heads have a real potential to shake the comp next year. Hopefully with certain players and coaching staff departing the whole clubs attitude and culture starts to change.

However as usual the forwards and outside backs can only do so much. It all comes down to our halves. This has been the problem since 2007 when Princey left. This has been the negative to the year, the boys (Luke and MItchell) have not been blooded in first grade and so much pressure will be placed on these boys to fill that void that we have been missing for many years.

In summary I think the return of some older players, the shedding of a lot of large deadwood, the experience the 'kids' received this year will be our strengths next year.

Our weakness will be the untested halves that our whole season will hang on. Sirro, Fulton, Rowdy in these make shift positions just wont cut it anymore and these young fellas will need to step up to the plate. If they do, 2014 will be a massive year for us.
 
@supercoach said:
You can't beat the better sides with one elite player,our playing roster is still not nearly strong enough to compete against the better sides
Click to expand...

This is a really good point. I also think that choosing the best team will be hard. For instance where do you play Lawrence ? What about Richards ? What about our backrow ?

I think the real concern though will be Brooks, Moses, Sironen and Anasta. We need to get 2 starting halves out of these two that can carry us all season. Then to add to that where do you play Sironen ?

I think Anasta could sink us next year.
 
As much as I applaud the way Teddy has been attacking the high ball from kicks , his penetration through the line is lacking .Kurtis Rowe is an exceptional talent with the ball ,makes line breaks and is very good at backing up , although is suspect under the high ball at some times .
BMM is getting the offload happening, he needs to work on his fitness and work rate.
Brooks will make a huge difference to the side , his directional skills one of his prime assets.
Siro at 5/8 will be hard to contain
Hoping Tapua and Gavet bring something to the team , Blair is getting better may turn the corner next year.
Just our defence and attitude require improvement
 
Strengths:

- Depth in the forwards. We'll have Woods, Galloway, Blair, Taupau, Ava, Buchanan for the front row. Back row has Fulton, Thompson, Sue, Sironen, BMM, Gavet, Paterson, Lovett.
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Weaknesses:

- Depth in the halves. With Anasta so terribly out of form and Siro most likely to move to the backrow, we will field a very inexperienced halves combination (assuming Brooks is the 7, not sure who will get the 6). Even if someone like Austin plays 6, he only has a few FG games to his name.
- Once again, another halves combo. If you look at the consistent performers of the last few years, they've had a settled spine over the seasons.
- Depth in the backs. Unlike last year, I don't see many of our U20s or State Cup backs pushing for first grade just yet. I would have Nofa, Simona, Richards, and probably Koroibete as starters. That only leaves Lawrence and Lulia (is he still coming?) as depth. Who knows what's happening with Tuqiri, Utai and Reddy?
 
First and foremost we are going nowhere until all players and fans have genuine respect for their head coach and assistant coaches. Get that right and player unity must follow. We must get rid of any remaining termite players and officials who destroy our soul.We are then on our way to an enjoyable and fruitful 2014\. Wests tigers have recruited (and axed) well. We still have at least one senior player who should go. We have many talented young players who will blossom in 2014\. There are also a number of untried promising youngsters such as Kurtis Rowe waiting in the wings. To add to that the club still has plenty of money left under the cap to buy a top marquee player. Plenty to like about 2014 for Wests Tigers fans.
 
@wtigers said:
Our wing/centre defense isn't going to be pretty, with our current rookies in those positions. Don't think Simona or Nofo or Koro have the defensive reading skills ATM, hopefully that'll change in the off season.
However, obviously they're some of the best attacking wingers out there right now so that'll be a positive.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_
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I think this post is spot on, and I think that is why we have signed some experience in the outside backs in Richards and Leilua. I am hopeful that Lawrence can improve after a full off season and be injury free. When this is balanced out with guys like Simona, Koro and Nofo I think we will have some stability and pace there.
 
Strengths:

- Forwards depth, in both the front and second row;
- Blair hitting form, if he continues his current form into next year and continues to improve, he may be worth close to what he's being paid by round 26 2015;
- The kicking game that Brooks will be able to offer. If the forwards dominate there's no reason why the Souths blueprint couldn't work for us;
- Youth: Pace, exuberance and application will be on our side next year;
- Continued removal of the Sheens era culture that has infested the club with new coaching staff being appointed (hopefully with Potter at the helm still😉
- Cap space. If the club doesn't go off and waste the spare money on offer by Benji leaving, we may be able to make an astute mid season pick up if we're hamstrung by injuries again next year. Then again, given the current black hole the club is in they may choose not to spend the cash and use it to alleviate some of the debt, especially if Sheens doesn't find another gig next year.

Weaknesses:

- The unknown factor: Gavet, Brooks, Moses, Richards returning from ESL and any juniors that may be promoted next year could all be sensations or could fail spectacularly. Given there are so many it could be a recipe for disaster, particularly with Brooks as it seems the club has hedged all it's bets with him exclusively;
- Accountability: Will Potter, with his own squad and staff, then have the balls to dump any potential Anasta/Marshall/Ayshford-esque performances next year and hold them accountable?
- Inexperience: We are looking at possibly one of the youngest squads we've fielded with a large number of U20's graduates over the last two years looking to be in the first 17 next year, with more to fill out the top 25\. Will they be mentally tough enough to rise and overcome the individual and combined poor performances that the team will be likely to experience?;
- Consistent efforts in defence & attitude;
- Do we have the player that can take the game by the scruff of the neck and dictate terms (i.e. Inglis, Thurston, Foran😉
- Front office instability negatively impacting on the football operations.

Certainly a few weaknesses there, but there's definitely a number of positives to make us cautiously look forward to the 2014 season.
 
@happy tiger said:
Assuming that majority of any major signings have been done and made , what do you see as our strengths and weaknesses in 2014
Strengths
More back up in the forwards particularly up in the engine room

The unknown quality of Brooks and Moses if they play , usually takes a side a season to work out what particular players strengths and weaknesses are

The fact Potter will have a season behind him and a squad he feels far more comfortable with

Hopefully better assistant coaches

Farah will be forced to hand more control over to his 7 and 6 ,definitely a good thing

More stability in our game , not trying to knock Benji but our backs will hopefully know what the halves have in mind

Weaknesses
Back row still undersized , but at least some improvement depending on selections

Lots of inexperience all over the park

Probable issues with consistency linked to the youngsters and the lack of experience

Reliance on rookie halves

Continued injury issues

Still lacking a strong kicking game

All the off field crap ,will it affect the young blokes

Potter still having a gun pointed at his head , can he relax and coach the side with the obvious expectations

Being overawed by the top sides

Based on a lot of this I expect a 11th -16th finish in 2014

Injuries of course will be crucial , along with our draw

Anyone have any strengths or weaknesses you would debate or like to add ??
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that we won't have too many problems with our kicking next year . I've seen a fair bit of Pat Richards on Pommy S\L This year and while ever he stays healthy, our line dropouts and line kicks will be a major improvement on the last few years . His goalkicking is still as good as when He was last here, and he is still great under a high ball .
Our front row stocks seem to have a lot more depth, and we should be able to better cover for injuries there.
I'm hoping that off season can add a bit of bulk to Buchanen.The kid deserves some credit after being thrown in at the deep end this year and at times having to be the main prop in the club.It must seem like the longest season that he has ever played .It's one thing for Young props to handle coming up for occasional first grade games while they're only rookies , but its a lot harder to be able to do that over a full season , especially when they have to be virtually the spearhead [As happened here due to the injuries that we have had)
If the off field problems can be overcome , we should have a reasonable year.
 
Strengths -
1/ A captain that leads by example without huge egos from other players to get in his way.
2/ Similar to Penrith a team of fringe newbies out to prove their worth
3/ Experience gained in 2013 for some of our young guns
4/ Mick Potter as head coach with hopefully decent assistant coaches (one great defensive coach please!)
5/ Speed in our back line to worry other teams
6/ A player leadership group that have come off a very tough year and will instill the value of seize the day
7/ The possibility for two young halves to develop into Wests Tigers legends

Weaknesses -
1/ Board if they don't pull their heads out!
2/ Fans who don't support the coaches calls
3/ Injuries if we do not improve our current training methods
 
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