LIVE GAME *SPOILERS* Round 2 vs Raiders

Live Game Discussion
Demps said:
Very inexperienced spine, Api aside.
Very poor move naming Sullivan over Aidan.

Ciraldo persisted with dud Haze Perham last year where it was clear he was no good... hopefully Benji isn't the type of coach to persist with poor players in important positions.
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An interesting comment he made in the presser when asked if he would persist with the young fellas is that he would pick the team each week based on the game plan which I took to mean depending on who we were playing.
 
tigermate said:
I just watched the replay

Sullivan responsible for the first two try’s because he got into marker with weak defense and then doesn’t chase back when line breaks are made

He then doesn’t organize a proper kick on the 5th after we get back in the game with two tries (chip kick inside pass for Bula)

The raiders then score after that.

And then he lets in that try from the penalty down his side.

Honestly he has no heart in defence - super lazy - which cost us 3 tries

And his terrible kicking in the 5th tackle cost us two tries.

If we had sezer on at the start we would have been so much better

We just need to get a proper 5th kick in to the corners and defend

I’m telling you - if the coaches realize this and drop him to #14 or bring in TDS or Fainu when fit we will be a much much better team

In the modern game momentum is so big.

With just kick pressure you can turn a game from 18 points down to a win.
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I was also surprised at many the kicks on fifth. High, long bombs straight to their back three (mainly Rapana)- Galvin, Sullivan and Sezer all doing it. Just allowed them to get rolling quickly on their return set which back footed us. Corners and grass next week would be my request. On the flipside, grubbers in the red zone were almost all very good.
 
Our defensive line after the initial first few sets stops moving up. So we were always on the retreat, rather than moving up and trying to smash their attack. This is caused by not being able to slow the play the ball down and not being able to apply any defensive pressure.

Anyway our defensive line becomes a rabble when the scrambling defence breaks down and then it’s one way traffic. Forget the attack for now, it’s all about implementing a defensive structure that can withstand pressure without crumbling. The big question do we have the players capable of defending at the required level???
 
The club needs to quit buying other clubs cast offs, there is a reason the clubs cut them loose, they are not good enough, ditto for the UK super league, it is where players who are past it go to get some $$$ before they retire from the game.
 
W.Boland_c said:
I was also surprised at many the kicks on fifth. High, long bombs straight to their back three (mainly Rapana)- Galvin, Sullivan and Sezer all doing it. Just allowed them to get rolling quickly on their return set which back footed us. Corners and grass next week would be my request. On the flipside, grubbers in the red zone were almost all very good.
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The high bombs are ok if they are well placed and we have chasers arriving with the ball.
Problem was none of our players were within cooee when the ball came down... giving them plenty of time to get into stride by the time our lazy blokes finally did arrive.
Apart from Api and a few others we had no urgency in defence.
How hard is it not to be fired up for the first game?
 
So my thoughts the next day. Sorry, it’s a long read…

As per last year, we got creamed in the possession stats. It ended 55/45 and they had 5 minutes more ball. We won’t beat a good team on those numbers. Some of that was down to poor errors and handling, some of it was down to some calls that went against us. I think there were three or four times where they dropped the ball but retained possession through a penalty or a challenge. Canberra, generally speaking, are a high completion team. We completed at 81% which given we haven’t played for 3 weeks and were chasing the game, wasn’t awful.

Of course we were out run in raw metres because they had more ball but the metres per set were pretty much dead even. They had six line breaks to our four which again in the context of our possession stats isn’t terrible. Attack in their 20 was not good enough again.

Missed tackles were 36 for us 24 for them. Still too many but by 2023 standards and the possession they had, not disastrous. Online defence I thought was pretty good.

Penalties were 13-7 for Canberra. Set restarts were 3-0. So overall a 16-7 infringement stat. I really don’t think the game I watched justifies those figures.

We conceded 5 tries:

1. Canberra backline move, line break on our defensive right. Toa falls off a tackle, Staines is too low to prevent offload but had to quickly adjust. Pass may have been forward. Yoss blames Starford Toa. Dishonourable mentions to Sullivan who was slow moving over, Staines for not being strong enough in his tackle and Seyfarth who, even though Bula has the person with the ball covered, decided to leave the inside guy uncovered to come across to the guy with the ball.

2. Fogerty steps through our goal line defence. Disappointing but it happens too much to us. Bulla and Seyfarth missed tackles, Seyfarth had a decent shot and comes up short. I blame Seyfarth.

3. Last tackle play. It’s actually a really nice play by Canberra. Galvin makes a great tackle on their back rower but he makes a nice offload. Faataape gets caught in no man’s land a bit but I find it hard to blame him completely.

4. Bud Sullivan forgets how to play rugby league. I blame Sullivan.

5. They score from a bomb. Galvin is closest but should he really be relied upon to defuse bombs? Good kick and catch. Not sure who I blame, probably nobody.

Forwards: Pole had 121m. Seyfarth had 16 off one run in 22 minutes. Most of them were ok but got to stop guys walking for 10m.

Galvin, Pole, Api were very good.
Sullivan and Seyfarth were poor,
 
Love_the_WestsTigers said:
I don’t think the coach can do that, only winning will inspire confidence
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If you wait for a favourable scoreboard to regain your confidence, then you’re waiting a long time. The coach should be looking for the small wins and heaping praise and positive feedback. Youre right that winning a game or positive benchmarking is often a reinforcement and can provide a confidence boost, but can we wait for that?
I think our problem is moreso lack of experience. We have one player who has played more than 60 games in a Tigers jersey and he is off injured.
Against Dragons we missed 39 tackles in the first 40min, likewise against Raiders we missed 24 in the first 40min. What does that tell you?
 
Iron Fist said:
As a Canberran Wests Tigers fan, I took the opportunity to look at all 3 grades today, and this was the most immediate and obvious thing that stood out with each of the 6 teams and it was easy to pick the eventual winners in each game. Wests Tigers were shorter, smaller, and weaker at all three senior levels. Final scores yesterday:
Flegg 0 - 36
Magpies 12 - 50
NRL 12 - 32

Final scores in Mudgee:
Magpies 6 - 58
NRL 18 - 34

We can harp on about coaching, defensive systems, game plans all you like, but the club's senior rosters were inferior to Dragons, Raiders, and I assume, will be inferior to just about every other club in their respective competitions. The Dragons and Raiders also have NRL options in their reserve grade. Wests Tigers have virtually none unless they send unprepared kids to fight hand-to-hand combat against hardened men. This is why there should be very little change in the team week-to-week similar to last year, and why NRL players won't be pushed. It is a death cycle for competitiveness and performance.

Recruiting has been abysmal. Bad decisions year on year for the last decade have led to this point. Good luck to Shane Richardson sorting it out. 6 months? He'll probably need at least 6 years.
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100% Iron Fist.
Our talent identification & recruitment is absolutely abysmal, and has been for years. Forget Luai, Api, & Ice. Any fool can identify existing high performers outside the club. Who was the last "unknown" we scouted that worked out?
 
Demps said:
All our younger players coming through have shown more than the seasoned players. For the most part.

The likes of Bula, Pole and TDS and today's Galvin and Samuela.

They're the trumps.

The Sullivan's and the Staines have shown no desire or intent.
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Does that make Sullivan and Staines the Bidens? Wandering around aimlessly because they forgot what they were supposed to be doing? Not tackling anyone just holding them long enough to sniff their hair......
 
The-moP said:
Can't wait for fit Latu Fainu to step up .. someone who has a step and speed off the make around the ruck that can created something out of nothing .. !!
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He is becoming vital to this season.
No pressure…,
 
stephen said:
100% Iron Fist.
Our talent identification & recruitment is absolutely abysmal, and has been for years. Forget Luai, Api, & Ice. Any fool can identify existing high performers outside the club. Who was the last "unknown" we scouted that worked out?
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Pole?…Bula?.
Not too many that’s for sure.
 
The-moP said:
i was at the game yesterday and we were dealt the wrong end of a pointy stick .. !! Yes we didnt play well but by crikey that ref wa shocking with his handling of that game .. he constantly had us at 12 to 14m back in defence then held the Raiders around the 8 to 9m .. have no idea what was going on there .. ?? The Raiders lose the ball in a tackle and the ref calls ruck infringement .. wtf .. ?? To'a was injured in a hip drop tackle .. no penalty .. we got done several times for a leg lift tackle .. were the Raiders were doing it as well if not more and didnt get done .. on a 5th and last we put a chip kick in and chased hard and the Raiders fullback dropped it cold ..but the ref then penalised us for in front of the kicker in the chase .. BUT the replay should there was no one in front of the kicker .. WTF .. ?? and when Staines was going for the corner score the Raiders player tackled him around the neck and head with both arms .. penalty awarded but why not a penalty try .. ?? I was sitting amongst a whole bunch of Raiders fans .. and they even said the game was a lot closer if hadnt been for the stupid ref .. one of the Raiders fan said with were given a "raw prawn" by the ref .. well there you go what the hell does that mean .. ?? .. lol no wonder Stef lost his cool he had a raw prawn .. lol
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Great post.
Yes we had a lot of issues in our own game, but all the points you raise made it very hard.
Let’s hope our fans get behind the team particularly in our home games and ensure the refs don’t get away with this crap without plenty of hostility to keep them in check.
The Sharks are a top side and will be extremely hard to beat, but surely the players and fans will be up for the contest on a Saturday night at Leichhardt.
It’s a massive game as another heavy loss will just further send the negative and any hope of renewed confidence into a downward spiral, a win will surprise most but will do wonders for the teams confidence moving forward.
Not an impossible task, let’s hope for a big turn around.
 
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