Match Discussion: Round 1 vs Dragons @ WIN Stadium

[JB04]

Get Benji some help in that spine and your team will make the finals. Walters was diabolical and Douehi must be the fullback surely.

Well we normally have Brooks with him who straightens the attack up and arguably has a better short kicking game than Benji. Agree though re Walters, however I’m happy at this stage to say it was due to nerves and his first game at the NRL level at hooker

 

[Fordy20]

Mary's game plan was simple and effective. Run your best backrower at the old bloke in the halves and play off the back of that. The problem was the Dragons couldn't finish those chances off. We need to pair Benji up with Rowdy next week to shut down that option.

 

[weretiger]

soon as mbye or momo come back AD goes to fullback CT will go to the wing or reggies ,douie was bought for the fullback role

 

[Vic Mackey]

Mary's game plan was simple and effective. Run your best backrower at the old bloke in the halves and play off the back of that. The problem was the Dragons couldn't finish those chances off. We need to pair Benji up with Rowdy next week to shut down that option.

to be fair Benji handled Frizzell well until that break in the 75th minute. He injured his hand with about 10 to go which no doubt contributed to the missed tackle, saw him with ice on it after the game so hope all ok

 

[Tigerm]

I wouldn't be changing anyone (unless injured) after 1 game.

There were a few mistakes, not just CT's. BTW, the stats showed he was 3rd in run meters & 2nd in runs, but he did make a few mistakes, but so did a lot of them, it was first game.

I don't see Grant starting first up, he wouldn't even know the blokes names or the plays.

IMO, a player needs to earn the spot over the incumbent, I just didn't see that in spades last night.
But I will say Doueihi looks like he will be a great gain for us, as with the Leilua brothers.
The forwards were huge, that was basically an international pack they were up against and they wore them down in the end.

 

[The unknown]

I think Aloiai was probably our best middle forward. He had a huge game.

I was pretty blind to be fair and standing on the hill with the smelly saints fans, would have to rewatch to get a better grip of the game haha

 

[phenisha]

So i was just re watching the game again. If you look closely 2 of our tries (the first try and Benji try) were off the back of Thomas Mikaele. First try he gets an offload off (after drawing in 3 defenders), which eventually finds Benji who grubbers for the winger who scores. The second one he takes a hit up, a small bit of footwork at the line makes a half break (well enough to be able to not have players lying on him) gets the fast play the ball which finds Benji who crosses for the try.

I think going forward we are going to see more of this stuff off him, and it excites me.

 

[The unknown]

So i was just re watching the game again. If you look closely 2 of our tries (the first try and Benji try) were off the back of Thomas Mikaele. First try he gets an offload off (after drawing in 3 defenders), which eventually finds Benji who grubbers for the winger who scores. The second one he takes a hit up, a small bit of footwork at the line makes a half break (well enough to be able to not have players lying on him) gets the fast play the ball which finds Benji who crosses for the try.

I think going forward we are going to see more of this stuff off him, and it excites me.

I reckon Mikaele nabbing a bench spot for QLD isn’t too far fetched, provided the season still goes ahead

 

[WA Tiger]

I wouldn't be changing anyone (unless injured) after 1 game.

There were a few mistakes, not just CT's. BTW, the stats showed he was 3rd in run meters & 2nd in runs, but he did make a few mistakes, but so did a lot of them, it was first game.

I don't see Grant starting first up, he wouldn't even know the blokes names or the plays.

IMO, a player needs to earn the spot over the incumbent, I just didn't see that in spades last night.
But I will say Doueihi looks like he will be a great gain for us, as with the Leilua brothers.
The forwards were huge, that was basically an international pack they were up against and they wore them down in the end.

Yea we gotta remember Madge only changes teams when he has to..AD showed some real flair at centre for a first game maybe something to keep trying and see what else he can bring their...Madge will ask him how he felt playing at centre and weigh it up..I hope he enjoyed it..I wouldn’t expect changes coz if the change doesn’t work then what..I don’t mind seeing how we go without Brooke’s ..I’m sure Brooke’s will make a statement by not playing but let’s have a look ...Brooks doesn’t solve a problem when we are on their line in need of a good kick ..thats when he tends to freeze..and blow it ..When things are flowing for us then he can kick for a repeat set from just about anywhere no problem ..His darting runs is what I missed from him yesterday and his defence of course.

 

[Tiger05]

I was pretty blind to be fair and standing on the hill with the smelly saints fans, would have to rewatch to get a better grip of the game haha

I honestly thought he was our best middle forward but Twal was also fantastic. Mikaele is a huge man who if he just minimizes his mistakes is going to be a weapon. Musgrove is as good as those 3 as well.

Our pack looks so much better. I watched Woods and Fifita play for Cronulla and you can see the difference in our guys compared to them. They are both big and slow. Woods was actually pretty good but he still has that slow play the ball. Our guys belt it up and give our halves something to play on.

 

[The Rosco]

Isn't a win just so nice ?
Lots of folks, WT and STI fans, thought that the Saints pack was superior to ours, and if we could just hold them our backs might get the job done late in the game
Well, our no-name pack were not beaten by the other mobs forwards.
Frizelle, Vaughan and Graham are recognised name players.
Mikaele, Aloia and Musgrove were handy to remember for your next scrabble game.
But yesterday they stood tall !

Nothing better than a win, except a win against Saints.
The smug has disappeared from a lot of merkins' faces at work today.

 

[Tigerm]

From the WT's web site:

FORWARD PACK LEADING THE WAY
Against a Dragons pack containing experienced internationals in Paul Vaughan, Tyson Frizell and James Graham, it was the next generation for Wests Tigers who stood up most on Sunday night — amassing a whopping 1958 metres on the ground en route to victory. That was over 600 metres more than the Dragons and more than any other team in Round 1, such was their dominance, with several impressive individual efforts as part of an inspiring overall team performance.

In just 41 minutes, Josh Aloiai was superb in his starting role at prop with 15 carries for 187 metres while fellow front row starter Alex Twal got through 15 runs for 161 metres along with three tackle breaks and 36 tackles.

Thomas Mikaele (120 metres from 12 carries) and Zane Musgrove (69 metres in 26 minutes) kept that dominance up front going when the substitutions started to fall, and ensured Wests Tigers walked away from the contest with the two points.

 

[Tigerm]

From the WT's web site:

BACK FIVE FIGHT BACK TO FINISH STRONG
It was a far from ideal start for the Wests Tigers backs, with a missed tackle and a defensive mistake seeing the Dragons awarded a penalty try inside the opening two minutes of the game, before Corey Thompson's rare error in a kick return allowed Zac Lomax the simplest of four-pointers midway through the first half.

But after those momentary errors it was business as usual for the back five who held their nerve against the Dragons attack to keep out any more tries and start to assert themselves offensively with their tough carries and creativity.

New recruit Adam Doueihi looked lively on the left edge with six tackle breaks from his 10 carries, while his wing partner Robert Jennings (139 metres from 13 runs) was desperately unlucky not to score on two occasions.

On the right edge, Joey Leilua was held up over the line and narrowly missed grounding a Marshall grubber to score his first try for the club while Nofoaluma's two tries, 196 metres and one-on-one steal proved the difference in the end.

While it might not have been the most memorable night to start off with for Thompson, the diminutive number one did what he always does — kept on fighting — and finished the night with 159 metres and a team high nine tackle breaks to go with his five all-important last-ditch tackles.

 

[WA Tiger]

From the WT's web site:

BACK FIVE FIGHT BACK TO FINISH STRONG
It was a far from ideal start for the Wests Tigers backs, with a missed tackle and a defensive mistake seeing the Dragons awarded a penalty try inside the opening two minutes of the game, before Corey Thompson's rare error in a kick return allowed Zac Lomax the simplest of four-pointers midway through the first half.

But after those momentary errors it was business as usual for the back five who held their nerve against the Dragons attack to keep out any more tries and start to assert themselves offensively with their tough carries and creativity.

New recruit Adam Doueihi looked lively on the left edge with six tackle breaks from his 10 carries, while his wing partner Robert Jennings (139 metres from 13 runs) was desperately unlucky not to score on two occasions.

On the right edge, Joey Leilua was held up over the line and narrowly missed grounding a Marshall grubber to score his first try for the club while Nofoaluma's two tries, 196 metres and one-on-one steal proved the difference in the end.

While it might not have been the most memorable night to start off with for Thompson, the diminutive number one did what he always does — kept on fighting — and finished the night with 159 metres and a team high nine tackle breaks to go with his five all-important last-ditch tackles.

It doesn’t look that bad after all but I get where everyone’s coming from ...I forgot all about Nofos steel. At a point in the game when they looked like they could monster us but Nofo ended up being the monster...Great moment

 

[blue bags]

fantastic game by Nofo tiger

 

[BrotherJim05]

From the WT's web site:

FORWARD PACK LEADING THE WAY
Against a Dragons pack containing experienced internationals in Paul Vaughan, Tyson Frizell and James Graham, it was the next generation for Wests Tigers who stood up most on Sunday night — amassing a whopping 1958 metres on the ground en route to victory. That was over 600 metres more than the Dragons and more than any other team in Round 1, such was their dominance, with several impressive individual efforts as part of an inspiring overall team performance.

In just 41 minutes, Josh Aloiai was superb in his starting role at prop with 15 carries for 187 metres while fellow front row starter Alex Twal got through 15 runs for 161 metres along with three tackle breaks and 36 tackles.

Thomas Mikaele (120 metres from 12 carries) and Zane Musgrove (69 metres in 26 minutes) kept that dominance up front going when the substitutions started to fall, and ensured Wests Tigers walked away from the contest with the two points.

While I agree the boys did us proud, Benji starved the Dragons of possession which helps inflate our run meters. e.g. Dragqueens made 371 tackles and 133 runs compared to WT making 242 tackles and 184 runs.

Again, very proud of our boys but Dragons were a shambles. Knights will be a much stronger test.

 

[Tigerm]

While I agree the boys did us proud, Benji starved the Dragons of possession which helps inflate our run meters. e.g. Dragqueens made 371 tackles and 133 runs compared to WT making 242 tackles and 184 runs.

Again, very proud of our boys but Dragons were a shambles. Knights will be a much stronger test.

Maybe, but just enjoy the moment now.

 

[The Rosco]

Maybe, but just enjoy the moment now.

Yep. One week at a time.

Don't forget . . . . LOL@SOUFFS

 

[WA Tiger]

While I agree the boys did us proud, Benji starved the Dragons of possession which helps inflate our run meters. e.g. Dragqueens made 371 tackles and 133 runs compared to WT making 242 tackles and 184 runs.

Again, very proud of our boys but Dragons were a shambles. Knights will be a much stronger test.

For me that’s even better .yes Benji did .and We came from behind again...