WTF – Wests Tigers Faithful Podcast

Spartan117 said:
Cracker Episode, The focus on the junior players in our systems is really a point of difference.

Those Johanssen Boys are just downright genuine, I Like how they sounded hungry and hard working.
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I might be misinterpreting what they are saying , but it seems like the culture that has gotten out there in the last couple of years through the players of being made to feel validated , and encouraged , was a big reason both boys are finding a home at the tigers .
It’s such a strange contrast , because the knock on. The tigers post the golden generation has been how bad the culture has been here , as much as admin etc.
and if this has been a strategy deployed throughout the grades to emphasise strengths , and build on them and not coach the footy out of players , I mean I’m not sure if it’s just Benji , but it sure does seem to be a tonal shift .
Because that simply isn’t the narrative that follows Madge , and definitely not what Taylor was spruiking when he was here . They seemed to be all about prototypes .
I just hope it works , because from the outside looking in , having had coaches and bosses who you do want to rip in for , and honestly how actually rare that is , to have it in multiple grades , seems to be a good place to come to work and apply your trade .
Like I said it’s soo rare . For me personally i can honestly count on 1 hand coaches and leaders and managers I’ve had that I’d run through a brick wall for .
Like I said I just hope it leads to good results in nrl . Because playing for a Madge archetype , personally sounds not that much fun .
 
Another great episode, boys, and it was fantastic to get some insights from the Johannssen boys. I took a lot out of it, including the excellent wrap-up of our juniors. The key points that stood out for me were:

  • Tim is not being transformed into an edge player soon, and it does not appear that there has been any mention of the possibility.
  • Benji is focused on individual player development and, if I’ve interpreted it correctly, the players appear to appreciate the approach.
  • The culture is shifting, with fitness being one of the key pillars of the team’s identity. This implies the Benji is learning from his mistakes.
  • Klemmer is still a key leader in the forward pack, despite a slight decline in his performance. He clearly offers intangible benefits to the club that go beyond just his on-field play.
  • It’s still early days, but the strategy that Richo and Benji have developed seems to be taking shape and showing promise.
  • The acid test will come when we take the paddock, but the signals we’re getting and the moves being made seem to be the right ones.
Exciting times ahead if Benji can turn enthusiam into effort!
 
Jolls said:
Another great episode, boys, and it was fantastic to get some insights from the Johannssen boys. I took a lot out of it, including the excellent wrap-up of our juniors. The key points that stood out for me were:

  • Tim is not being transformed into an edge player soon, and it does not appear that there has been any mention of the possibility.
  • Benji is focused on individual player development and, if I’ve interpreted it correctly, the players appear to appreciate the approach.
  • The culture is shifting, with fitness being one of the key pillars of the team’s identity. This implies the Benji is learning from his mistakes.
  • Klemmer is still a key leader in the forward pack, despite a slight decline in his performance. He clearly offers intangible benefits to the club that go beyond just his on-field play.
  • It’s still early days, but the strategy that Richo and Benji have developed seems to be taking shape and showing promise.
  • The acid test will come when we take the paddock, but the signals we’re getting and the moves being made seem to be the right ones.
Exciting times ahead if Benji can turn enthusiam into effort!
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Good summary @Jolls

Noah also mentioned that the NSW Cup players who have stood out in pre-season training put themselves in the frame for NRL trials selection - Max Liles, Tino Tavana & himself. He also mentioned Joe Lovodua, Bailey Hodges & Vaka Aho as three others who have impressed him in their pre-season efforts amongst all of them who have ripped in especially in the area of fitness.
 
Jolls said:
fitness being one of the key pillars of the team’s identity. This implies the Benji is learning from his mistakes.
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I agree but I think it goes beyond fitness alone. I don't think the team was unfit last year. There was a lot of waffling on about standards this time last year as well, and we did boot Nofo out of the club for good measure.

We were in Christchurch last year in a week long boot camp, Benji saying it was about "building trust, togetherness and genuine connections". It included a day out Jet Boating if I recall. And there also was a lot of talk from Benji about making players feel relaxed to go out and try things and express themselves... It was too soft. That's why you had Bud Sullivan getting picked off by the Raiders 5 minutes into our season. I'm sure Bud was fit as a flea when it happened.

Hopefully all that idealism has been reigned in, and there is a much more hardcore approach this time. Coaching for fitness, AND toughness hopefully.
 
TIGERS said:
Hopefully all that idealism has been reigned in, and there is a much more hardcore approach this time. Coaching for fitness, AND toughness hopefully.
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I think you are right about the toughness, both mentally and physically. The Army Camp typre training is tough but it isn't about developing strength etc. They are all about taking you to your limits and testing your mental toughness - to continue working under pressure. So I expect that Benji has taken this approach as opposed the the soft jet boating experience they had last time. Having said that the jet baoting could have been the reward at the end after spending days in teams carrying heavy shit up big hills so they could have done something similar there - just wasn't reported.

There hasn't been much said about the physical strength training - although they were given body mass/weight profiles to hit before their exits so you have to expect that the performance team has done the work there and provided specific weight and diet programmes to get them at their peak.

What I didn't get from J boys anything about our wrestling training. I would have expected that to be something they worked on more this year - but then again I don't think either of them were involved last season so perhaps there wsn't anythng for them to compare it so - this one is their baseline experience. I trust we have focussed a bit more on that aspect of the game in the pre-season as it was definitely an area where we appear to be behind the other clubs.
 
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Jolls said:
Another great episode, boys, and it was fantastic to get some insights from the Johannssen boys. I took a lot out of it, including the excellent wrap-up of our juniors. The key points that stood out for me were:

  • Tim is not being transformed into an edge player soon, and it does not appear that there has been any mention of the possibility.
  • Benji is focused on individual player development and, if I’ve interpreted it correctly, the players appear to appreciate the approach.
  • The culture is shifting, with fitness being one of the key pillars of the team’s identity. This implies the Benji is learning from his mistakes.
  • Klemmer is still a key leader in the forward pack, despite a slight decline in his performance. He clearly offers intangible benefits to the club that go beyond just his on-field play.
  • It’s still early days, but the strategy that Richo and Benji have developed seems to be taking shape and showing promise.
  • The acid test will come when we take the paddock, but the signals we’re getting and the moves being made seem to be the right ones.
Exciting times ahead if Benji can turn enthusiam into effort!
Click to expand...

Interesting developments since this was said...
 
Tucker said:
Interesting developments since this was said...
Click to expand...
Would not have picked it from the way the J boys spoke. I expect this has a lot more to do with his contract and $ as opposed to what he provides as a leader. The value for money proposition will not really be known until we see who Richo has coming in behind him and what we can do with any spare cash.
 
Lestronge said:
I might be misinterpreting what they are saying , but it seems like the culture that has gotten out there in the last couple of years through the players of being made to feel validated , and encouraged , was a big reason both boys are finding a home at the tigers .
It’s such a strange contrast , because the knock on. The tigers post the golden generation has been how bad the culture has been here , as much as admin etc.
and if this has been a strategy deployed throughout the grades to emphasise strengths , and build on them and not coach the footy out of players , I mean I’m not sure if it’s just Benji , but it sure does seem to be a tonal shift .
Because that simply isn’t the narrative that follows Madge , and definitely not what Taylor was spruiking when he was here . They seemed to be all about prototypes .
I just hope it works , because from the outside looking in , having had coaches and bosses who you do want to rip in for , and honestly how actually rare that is , to have it in multiple grades , seems to be a good place to come to work and apply your trade .
Like I said it’s soo rare . For me personally i can honestly count on 1 hand coaches and leaders and managers I’ve had that I’d run through a brick wall for .
Like I said I just hope it leads to good results in nrl . Because playing for a Madge archetype , personally sounds not that much fun .
Click to expand...

You would have to be misinterpreting unless you were a mind reader. Appreciate your honesty right at the start
 
Jolls said:
Would not have picked it from the way the J boys spoke. I expect this has a lot more to do with his contract and $ as opposed to what he provides as a leader. The value for money proposition will not really be known until we see who Richo has coming in behind him and what we can do with any spare cash.
Click to expand...

For sure. The Klemmer input value for next year is massively outweighed by the supposed $800k, as it somewhat is for this year at some $700k, and especially so if the club is going to limit him to 13 games this season so as not to activate the former.
 
jrtiger said:
no podcast this week, ladies and gents. both hosts away for work and couldn’t match up schedules.

we’ll have a full pre-season wrap-up early next week along with an interview with Marc Tannous.
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Hey @jrtiger look forward to this as usual mate. If you haven't interviewed Marc Tannous yet, maybe sneak in a question how Logan Brookes is recovering? He hasn't been named for this week's SG Ball.
 
I'm hoping for one more episode before the boys play round 1. Might be too much to expect this close however an episode focused on the coaching as has been mentioned would be interesting before we get into the season.
 
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