LIVE GAME Round 9 vs. Bulldogs

[stephen]

Wrong in that particular game. We shut it down only for it to be opened again when it shouldn’t have been

I understand the point you & others make, CK. I'm def not happy about that game but why did it get to the point of allowing a challenge, valid or not?

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Cause the referree ruled on something that they thought need to be corrected... sorry Stephen for answering the question.. in fact the captains challenge being a new concept in the game reiterates the ref's dont know what they be doing half the time... its a confession... we are not perfect... never will be....not even in the captains challenge...

 

[Stevec]

We are lacking depth ! That's the first problem
Some of our 17 are not as fit as those in the top teams that's another problem
Our starting props playing first 20 mins and last 20 mins wouldn't be such a problem if we had replacements of same quality we DONT ! our loss of go forward in middle phases is obvious !
We are struggling for playmakers .Sezer suspended ,Galvin is young and learning and we don't have any good options
The top teams have much better subs in reserve grade
Benji will be forced to pick from poor options as our reserve grade is really so bad they might as well play in a lower grade
We need to urgently recruit a few quality players from the top teams in NSW cup or Qld cup

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

We are lacking leadership. Dolphins are lacking depth.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

How does Sezer get a 4 week ban and Tago got 1 week for the same offence

subsequent offences like a few weeks ago the tackle he took an early guilty plea and the tackle against Canberra. All adds up to 4 weeks

Not necessarily a bad thing sezer hits the pine

 

[crazycat]

The Bula jog across to get 1 mtre from the try was the worst performance ive seen since Bea Ryan. Bula needs some heat put on him. 2nd year syndrome, the dude is living off a few good games last year and has developed [This word has been automatically removed] all this year. Reminds me of Laurie at fullback, came across from Penrith, was the second coming of Hodgo in a few games then did zip for his remaining games. Bulas defence and complete lack of support play is embarrassing for a 1st grader.

So, is it them or US?

Does Bula, Laurie, Mbye all Suck?
Or is this a WT problem.

I have seen our defense improve this year. But we still let our side down and suddenly those 2 tries are very hard to make up for.

 

[Vicious]

So, is it them or US?

Does Bula, Laurie, Mbye all Suck?
Or is this a WT problem.

I have seen our defense improve this year. But we still let our side down and suddenly those 2 tries are very hard to make up for.

It’s a Wests Tigers problem as there are no repercussions for players who allow blatant lack of effort to creep into their game.
Do you think he’d be playing NRL next week if that happened at one of the top clubs ?

 

[Winston Churchill]

So, is it them or US?

Does Bula, Laurie, Mbye all Suck?
Or is this a WT problem.

I have seen our defense improve this year. But we still let our side down and suddenly those 2 tries are very hard to make up for.

Its an accountability issue. Nobody EVER gets dropped for producing shit after shit each week. No player in the regular 15 or 16 players named each week are worried about not getting named in the squad the next week no matter how shit they performed.

The excuse you constantly hear on this forum of 'there is no one else better' doesn't fly in my books in current year of a pro league licence. As a pro team you have signed 30 players or whatever it is these days and than you have layers of depth throughout the next tiers with nuffty players eager to bust their ass to get a run and make a career for themselves. If that system is not in place and practiced throughout the entire entity it lands squarely on the wankers running the place. The top tier teams have ready made players position to position to slot in and replace a regular at the drop of a hat and most of the time they don't look out of place. Until the Tigers sort out such a basic issue they will forever be stuck in this shit show.

And yes, thats why signature after signature of top class players look like shit at the Tigers and look much better before or after leaving the Tigers. As they know at the Tigers their performance doenst mean jack shit, at other clubs they will be dropped and replaced so they pull their finger out of their Hoppa and have a go each week.

 

[cktiger]

It’s a Wests Tigers problem as there are no repercussions for players who allow blatant lack of effort to creep into their game.
Do you think he’d be playing NRL next week if that happened at one of the top clubs ?

Yes, he would.
If you think he cost us the game you’re obviously letting your unwarranted hate for him take over your thinking.

 

[BZN]

Yeah I guess some people just don't understand the impact officials have on the game

Can you imagine the impact on the game if there was no bunker and no Captain's Challenge.

 

[jrtiger]

a referee losing control does not excuse the most pathetic second half I have seen from us since 74-0. constant ill discipline and poor use of the football has killed us time and time and time again this season.

the most frustrating thing out of all this is how winnable this game was. apart from one set where Bula and Galvin made a break through the middle corridor we were diabolical in that second half. one out and picked off constantly by the Dogs, irrespective of whether or not they were offside. I’m yet to see any evidence of them being offside either.

Marshall needs to fix his forward rotation and fast. since Samuela has gone to the edge we have lost so much punch thru the centre of the park. Seyfarth getting on at around minute 55 does nothing for us either.

much to work on. a lot of it starts with our senior players taking a long hard look in the mirror.

 

[69-05-41]

it's apparently been Dukes fault for the last few years.... wrong
sezer ain't cutting it either, time to get latu in at 7 and have a go

Puke was excrement for most of his WT career. Sezer is not the long-term solution nor will he be around for a decade receiving $1.4m to completely stink it up. Latu should be the obvious choice with Sezer out.

 

[Tiger_Yoshi]

Its an accountability issue. Nobody EVER gets dropped for producing shit after shit each week. No player in the regular 15 or 16 players named each week are worried about not getting named in the squad the next week no matter how shit they performed.

The excuse you constantly hear on this forum of 'there is no one else better' doesn't fly in my books in current year of a pro league licence. As a pro team you have signed 30 players or whatever it is these days and than you have layers of depth throughout the next tiers with nuffty players eager to bust their ass to get a run and make a career for themselves. If that system is not in place and practiced throughout the entire entity it lands squarely on the wankers running the place. The top tier teams have ready made players position to position to slot in and replace a regular at the drop of a hat and most of the time they don't look out of place. Until the Tigers sort out such a basic issue they will forever be stuck in this shit show.

And yes, thats why signature after signature of top class players look like shit at the Tigers and look much better before or after leaving the Tigers. As they know at the Tigers their performance doenst mean jack shit, at other clubs they will be dropped and replaced so they pull their finger out of their Hoppa and have a go each week.

Bud Sullivan….

 

[TieDye]

I couldn't believe how Bateman slacked off vs Bulldogs with the Josh Curran try.
View attachment 11925
It could be a bad angle, but it honestly looks like Bateman was the closest player and you see Bula get involved but not Bateman.

Bula is not setting an urgent tone there, Galvin should really be beating out a second rower to the bounce.

 

[crazycat]

Sezar was brought in for a job- to be the bridge between Latu Fainu being not ready to ready. Galvin's ascent was probably unthought of at the time. It might be time to just hand the keys to Latu now & have Sezar as the bench player. His defence & running game could open up that "Hastings Lock Role" that Sheens wanted.

Honestly I think your nailing this all over.

Simpkin gave us a chance. Latu is no hooker for now. Hooker takes a stack of skillbuilding and can be a really tough position.

Just that Bridge between Latu/Galvin being ready and where they are at... Yea that's going to take awhile. It's clear that Galvin has been pegged at 5/8 while Latu we still don't know where he fits.

Had we brought in Galvin OR Latu by themselves, I suspect they would be onboarding a lot faster. Instead were just too Amatuerish...

 

[Tom Shines]

Ur wrong the game against the cowboys if we weren’t cheated out of that game the drag queen end up with spoon so ur post is wrong

speaking of being wrong …

drags finished 10th that year … and the Tigers were 4 points away from the second last team

 

[Jolls]

This game was not lost by the skill of our players, although as many have pointed out the benchies certainly affect our ability to maintain momentumn. This game was lost between the ears yet again. Ill discipline is the issue we are battling; the opposition gets a roll on and we go away from the game plan, start to run sideways, get frustrated and don't have the ability to dig ourselves out of that situation (less the Eels win).

Could we do with some player upgrades and a bit of depth? Sure, but it isn't happening in 2024. Wish what you want but the answer to our problems right now aren't so much about the ball and defensive skills of the playing group, although they could both improve, it is about our resillience as a team.

We showed we have it in us in the dig against the Eels. I trust Benji is cool enough to sit back and use this last loss as a lesson to be learned as opposed to going off about our lack of discipline. This is the time to pull each individual aside and chat with them about how they react to game stress. In simple terms each player needs to ask themselves, in a facilitated way: was my reaction natural, was it helpful and what can I do to improve it? Call it grit, determination, mongrel if you are old, call it resillience if you are a younger generation. Regardless of the nametag; Wests Tigers lacks it. We just don't do the 1%ers at critical times to change the outcome. Yes, we have an inexperienced side; but when our leaders should be urging them on they are dropping the bundle.

You see teams doing breathing exercises after tries to bring themselves back down and focus on the task at hand, others simply have such a well exercised routine that it is second nature. Penrith is probably the best at it in the competition and have three premierships to show for it. They clearly demonstrated what it looks like in last years GF, but as recent as this week they dug their way out of the fast start by the Donkeys by being calm during adversity and turning the momentum around.

We don''t have the player skill set to get to that level yet; however, turning this around is as much about work on the training paddock as it is about each player understanding their own reaction to game day stress; understanding when it is happening and doing something about it. Then as a collective urging each other to perform and overcome it.

This is where a great coach comes in; I hope Benji was taking notes!

 

[The Chad]

I've said a few times this year that Benji can't fast track the kids into the side fast enough.

Clearly adding Luai & Turuva is an aggressive step forward in recruitment. We need whatever talented players we are going to build around on the field as soon as possible to have these recruits maximised- not babysitting for a year.

There will be some headaches that come with this however.

That said- we were refereed out of the game. Not beaten because we were inexperienced. The team competed the whole way through.

We have a nice blend of experienced players in the squad. But losing Sezar now MUST mean the inclusion of Latu Fainu over Sullivan. Sullivan right now, is clearly not the answer beside Luai.

To take some of the pressure off the likes of Galvin, shifting him into a less important role for a spell might not hurt. Burton has played centre afterall. Couldn't Galvin cut his teeth there on occasion?

Benji needs to work out who his promising forwards in the lower grades are. A bunch of young backs are getting their chance, but a young forward or two getting some actual bench time would help development. Let's be honest- would Lualili'i, Fa'agutu, Sukkar, Matamua, Sione Fainu or Miller do WORSE than Twal & Seyfarth for 20 minutes a week?

Not suggesting we drop both Twal & Seyfarth- but you could rotate those 2 with one or two of the young guys taking the other bench role until one picks themselves.

 

[tigerjoe 0]

What a disappointing performance in the second half. We lacked discipline and effort. Our forwards and outside backs were not prepared to compete and showed no hunger or desire to do the hard yards, allowing the Dogs smaller bench players to gain ascendancy. We had very little possession or field position because of this and our halves could do nothing, not even kick long on the 5th ( although I am not sure Sezer can kick long).
A number of issues added to the demise - as has happened in previous games Paps looks shagged at times and his efforts in D are poor. Also we have a problem when him and Sezer defend next to each other. Alaimalo looks lost for the most part. Bateman is no 13. Latu is no 9 and I think Simpkin should be the 14 while Latu plays in KOE for 5-6 games to get his game going.
On the Reffing performance - wow Badger was certainly out of her depth and completely lost control of the game. However what I have noticed is that ref calls tend to go with the team that has the momentum especially repeated 6 agains and penalties. The team that has the ascendancy gets the rub of the green generally so we need to be winning the ruck and dominating the game, not making mistakes and not being ill disciplined, as well as holding possession and showing good line speed. These key efforts will make a lot of the crap reffing calls disappear.
Benji has plenty of work to do to get this group to play at their individual best for 80 mins. Leaders need to step up and focus on efforts by example- cut the bonehead rubbish.

Best post so far

 

[Stevec]

What a disappointing performance in the second half. We lacked discipline and effort. Our forwards and outside backs were not prepared to compete and showed no hunger or desire to do the hard yards, allowing the Dogs smaller bench players to gain ascendancy. We had very little possession or field position because of this and our halves could do nothing, not even kick long on the 5th ( although I am not sure Sezer can kick long).
A number of issues added to the demise - as has happened in previous games Paps looks shagged at times and his efforts in D are poor. Also we have a problem when him and Sezer defend next to each other. Alaimalo looks lost for the most part. Bateman is no 13. Latu is no 9 and I think Simpkin should be the 14 while Latu plays in KOE for 5-6 games to get his game going.
On the Reffing performance - wow Badger was certainly out of her depth and completely lost control of the game. However what I have noticed is that ref calls tend to go with the team that has the momentum especially repeated 6 agains and penalties. The team that has the ascendancy gets the rub of the green generally so we need to be winning the ruck and dominating the game, not making mistakes and not being ill disciplined, as well as holding possession and showing good line speed. These key efforts will make a lot of the crap reffing calls disappear.
Benji has plenty of work to do to get this group to play at their individual best for 80 mins. Leaders need to step up and focus on efforts by example- cut the bonehead rubbish.

I agree with your thoughts on Paps ,and Latu and Ailamalo who could be replaced by Faataape .However its must be hard to pick a team with such mediocre talent in our reserves .We need more depth