Tigers show us how to defend

[jeffdragon]

When we were winning in early 2015 Andrew johns said we cant keep winning the way we were playing only scoring minimal points.and relying on defence.
Tigers wont make the 8 and the chooks and storm will go deep into final.
It wont last for the tigers.

 

[giboz71]

Couldn't agree more, and I reckon that once retired, Marshall will have a Steve Rogers type epiphany and publicly state that his Dragon years were wasted.

I noted with interest that Marshall was quoted as saying that Wayne Bennett helped him discover his passion for league again...words to that effect anyway. This was a massive slap in the face to Paul McGregor.

Marshall had a pretty good year under Mary in 2015 when he was 2nd in Dally M’s.

2016 was the year he struggled as he was battling a hamstring injury most of the year.

But the biggest reason he’s playing well now is that he’s finally playing 5/8. He never was a half and we should have never been recruited him to be play half.

 

[hewi]

Marshall had a pretty good year under Mary in 2015 when he was 2nd in Dally M’s.

2016 was the year he struggled as he was battling a hamstring injury most of the year.

But the biggest reason he’s playing well now is that he’s finally playing 5/8. He never was a half and we should have never been recruited him to be play half.

However chinless was so desperate to save his skin he signed him up as a halfback hoping it would turn things around. Problem was he forgot to look in the mirror to see the real problem was staring back at him.

 

[rasaint]

I also don’t mind the Tigers going well. Good on them for Stella performances this year. They have recruited well which has freshened up the team vibe.

I do find it interesting that some are now annoyed why we didn’t go for Ivan Cleary as coach and pull out all stops etc. Ivan is a good coach who has achieved some success, However, his % win record sits at 48% . Yes, he coaches more losing games than his team wins. Other than Gibson, Bellamy and Bennent most coaches are around the ‘50/50 win loss ratio including our own club’s coach. When Gibson and Bennent had inferior team rosters ( Souths and Newcastle respectively) they dropped back to 50/50. Craig Bellamy has had great run at Melbourne with reported high 3rd party deals keeping elite players at the club.

The point I make is don’t get too overly enthused over the coach. Most have a sweet spot in their careers but luck, team roster and 3rd party deals sure help.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Cleary is a fantastic coach and I have a solid ‘lol’ at those claiming he isn’t as good as Mary nor that he wasn’t the best coach available.

Sure, he doesn’t have the ultimate title next to his name but he took the perennially underachieving Warriors to a grand final, he basically built Penrith from the ground up to take them deep into the finals (would have done much better last year than Griffin did) and is getting off on the right foot at the Tigpies.
What’s most impressive is his attitude. He doesn’t splash his face in the media promoting second-rate achievements like falling into 8th, he doesn’t peddle excuses or bitch and moan about having the team he wants or the field being 2m too long, no blame shifting to recruitment or ‘the attacking coach from North QLD’ and he doesn’t bring out random stats in order to try and paint himself out to be less of a failure. He just puts his head down and gets the job done. Takes ACTUAL accountability for his coaching. I’m envious of those with a coach like him.

Bullseye - well said.
McGregor is the single biggest problem we have as a club but a few egotistical board members are determined to prove everyone wrong - hence the extension.
Atrocious, management and total disregard for the fans.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I also don’t mind the Tigers going well. Good on them for Stella performances this year. They have recruited well which has freshened up the team vibe.

I do find it interesting that some are now annoyed why we didn’t go for Ivan Cleary as coach and pull out all stops etc. Ivan is a good coach who has achieved some success, However, his % win record sits at 48% . Yes, he coaches more losing games than his team wins. Other than Gibson, Bellamy and Bennent most coaches are around the ‘50/50 win loss ratio including our own club’s coach. When Gibson and Bennent had inferior team rosters ( Souths and Newcastle respectively) they dropped back to 50/50. Craig Bellamy has had great run at Melbourne with reported high 3rd party deals keeping elite players at the club.

The point I make is don’t get too overly enthused over the coach. Most have a sweet spot in their careers but luck, team roster and 3rd party deals sure help.

There are 2 elements to this argument.
You have put forward one side very succinctly.
The other is more subjective and has to do with ethos and pedigree.
Cleary's achievements at both the Warriors and at Penrith say a lot about his ability to build teams into successful units.
He is doing the same at the Tigers.
I would also point out that technically, he is a knowledgeable and astute coach.
Just watching the Tiges put the skids under both Easts (Robinson 60%+ win/loss ratio BTW) and Bellamy coached Melbourne, we witnessed 2 coaching masterclasses in fact.
That is exactly the sort of coach that would give us a chance at winning a premiership.
I don't care how window dress it - we have no chance of doing that with McGregor.
The coach is the one that drives outcomes and matches wits with the opposition coaches on game day.
Let's face it - McGregor ain't that guy.

 

[SBD82]

The Grammar is killing me in these thread titles.....

*the grammar in these thread titles is killing me.

 

[ALSGI]

That is exactly the sort of coach that would give us a chance at winning a premiership.
I don't care how window dress it - we have no chance of doing that with McGregor.
The coach is the one that drives outcomes and matches wits with the opposition coaches on game day.
Let's face it - McGregor ain't that guy.

Agree with your thoughts on Coach Cleary, however strongly disagree that we have no chance.

I think we’re a chance this year despite Mary’s current record.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Agree with your thoughts on Coach Cleary, however strongly disagree that we have no chance.

I think we’re a chance this year despite Mary’s current record.

Respect the optimism but we can't win without a top line coach.

 

[ALSGI]

Respect your opinion mate, but there are 16 teams that could win this year, including Warriors and their coach has a worst record than Mary.
No team can’t win the premiership - despite the coach.
Agree that our chances are diminished with Mary but I still think we’re a better chance this year than the last few years.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Respect your opinion mate, but there are 16 teams that could win this year, including Warriors and their coach has a worst record than Mary.
No team can’t win the premiership - despite the coach.
Agree that our chances are diminished with Mary but I still think we’re a better chance this year than the last few years.

Would love to be proven wrong - just like Bill Collins famous call of the 1982 Cox Plate "and Kingston Town can't win..."
I'll be cheering the loudest - believe me.

 

[Dragonslayer]

*the grammar in these thread titles is killing me.

Or alternatively:
Killing me, these thread titles grammar are.
Spoken in Yoda speak of course.

 

[Gareth67]

Saw it it late last season that the Tigers were and still will have a great season . They may very well be one of the teams fighting it out at the end for a semi spot . We have seen that they are not afraid of any team that they face , which is evident with their hard fought wins over 2 of the competitions tall poppies - namely the Rorters and the Storm .

As a number of other members have mentioned, there are similarities between this mob and our own Baths Babes . An excellent coach , a core of up and coming junior players mixed with some astute off season buys to fill the vacancies of the big 3 , whom have all gone on to greener pastures with varying degrees of success .
Makes one wonder just how much those 3 ex-Tigers were being paid to afford the class players that they have recruited ? However the best of luck to them and the Knights, just as long as both of those teams have an off day against the Dragons .

Much rather see the teams that have been wallowing in the mud at the bottom of the ladder for so long now reach the semis . It sort of makes the competition more interesting and the gap between the haves and the have nots , not as wide as it once was .

 

[Dragonslayer]

I dont know about the use of "showing us how to defend" but I will say their defense is stoic.
The flip side of this is "Dragons show them how to attack". The Tigers have scored 2 trys in 2 games we have scored 8 abd we currently lead the table on for/against.
Though defense will certainly win you games you still need to have some attacking prowess.
Yes, the Tigs have played 2 heavyweights in the Roosters and Storm but we havent actually played the 2 bottom teams either.
Also, our game on Thursday night had a wind bias and I thought our defense was very good in that 1st half when they had that gale behind then and in the 2nd half they only scored a penalty goal.
Its early in the season but good on the Tigs.

 

[ALSGI]

*the grammar in these thread titles is killing me.

Or alternatively:
Killing me, these thread titles grammar are.
Spoken in Yoda speak of course.

What’s grammar with, wrong

 

[BennyV]

I also don’t mind the Tigers going well. Good on them for Stella performances this year. They have recruited well which has freshened up the team vibe.

I do find it interesting that some are now annoyed why we didn’t go for Ivan Cleary as coach and pull out all stops etc. Ivan is a good coach who has achieved some success, However, his % win record sits at 48% . Yes, he coaches more losing games than his team wins. Other than Gibson, Bellamy and Bennent most coaches are around the ‘50/50 win loss ratio including our own club’s coach. When Gibson and Bennent had inferior team rosters ( Souths and Newcastle respectively) they dropped back to 50/50. Craig Bellamy has had great run at Melbourne with reported high 3rd party deals keeping elite players at the club.

The point I make is don’t get too overly enthused over the coach. Most have a sweet spot in their careers but luck, team roster and 3rd party deals sure help.

It would be nice to pick up a stats sheet and use it to determine where coaches are ranked, but it’s far from that simple because there’s a hell of a lot of context behind them, in particular the condition of the teams they take over, external factors affecting the team, and of course the balance of the squad. What Cleary took over at the Panthers, and now at the Tigpies, was a complete rabble undone by high-contract, low return players and poor morale from previous coaches. He then rebuilds and does a damn good job.

There is an essential balance of coaching and players in order to be successful. I often say a coach and players is like a tradie with his tools.- yes, a tradie needs the right tools to get the job done but I’d rather bring in a top tradie to do the job, rather than a shit tradie with awesome tools.

 

[giboz71]

I thought we defnded great in both games.

Don’t need the Tigers to show us.

 

[ALSGI]

Good to see them having a couple of big wins. Hope the Tigers go undefeated till round 18, then we give them a touch up at Kogarah, followed by another touch up in Rd 23 at Leichhardt. Marshall and Packer would be done by that stage of the season.

 

[latemail]

What’s grammar with, wrong

Who gives a flying f**k about the grammar
I’m sure you get the point

 

[Dragsters]

How good is Benji under a real coach? His two & a half years under McAnchor looked like he was in a sink hole. It spiralled his career & earning capacity backwards.

Thats what happens when the coach forces him to play out of position for the entire time he was here...