'I can't rationalise it': Tigers boss feels for fans as finals slip away again
By Chris Barrett
Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis says his heart aches for supporters of a club staring down the barrel of a decade without a semi-finals appearance and the joint venture’s roster can't be used as an excuse for under-achievement.
Barely three weeks since thumping Brisbane 48-0, the Tigers’ hopes of a long-awaited return to the NRL top eight look to be all but dashed following a third straight defeat, a 44-4 hammering at the hands of Newcastle on Saturday night.
It was a terrible flop on an occasion when the team’s season was virtually on the line and club favourites Benji Marshall and Chris Lawrence were marking their 250th matches.
“My heart aches for those fans and members as I sit in front of the TV and watch a performance like [Saturday night] and just cannot rationalise it,” Hagipantelis said on Sunday. “I just do not understand where a performance like that comes from.
“As the chair I feel an obligation and a responsibility to our fans and members to provide them a product of which they can be proud. We would all have been bitterly disappointed with [Saturday] night’s effort. I don’t think there would be anyone that could say otherwise. There is no point in sugar-coating it.”
There was a further blow on Sunday when emerging playmaker Billy Walters was ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.
The Tigers have a horror run over the final seven rounds of the shortened 20-game competition in which they face the top four sides – Penrith, Melbourne, Parramatta and the Roosters – as well as Souths and Manly. They will almost certainly have to win at least five of their remaining matches, starting with next Sunday’s clash with bottom-placed Canterbury at Bankwest Stadium, to make the finals.
They have not done so since 2011, the longest current streak away from the semis of any NRL club. That drought seems destined now to stretch for a full decade, the last two years on the watch of Michael Maguire.
The coach has tried shuffling key players like Marshall and Luke Brooks in and out of the side in an effort to find his best combination but the ploy hasn’t ultimately worked.
The Tigers lack the strength across their squad to challenge the best teams and there are also questions about the value for money provided by top earners like Joey Leilua and Moses Mbye, who has been played in several positions, most recently at hooker in place of the injured Harry Grant.
The chairman, however, is not interested in excuses.
“You often hear about transitioning and rotating of rosters and the like, but our fans and members don’t want to hear that anymore,” Hagipantelis said. “They want the roster that is there to perform as we all do, they want the administrators and the board to perform and they’re entitled to that expectation.
“We are all bitterly disappointed with the performances of late and we’ve all got to take a share of the responsibility for that.”
While club legend Marshall is yet to decide whether he will seek another season at the Tigers in 2021, Maguire, remains very much in their plans beyond next year, when he is off contract.
“Michael has a vision for the club and shares our vision. So from our perspective we couldn’t be happier [with him],” the chairman said. “It’s publicly known that Michael is off contract at the end of next year and it would be remiss of us not to be considering 2022, ‘23 and beyond. Every option is on the table at the moment; every option is being considered by the board and we are absolutely committed to doing what is necessary to ensure the long-term success of the club.”
Hagipantelis said he had contacted fullback Adam Doueihi, who was distraught after the heavy defeat to the Knights.
“He’s OK, but there are incredible pressures on these kids they have to deal with in a high-profile position,” he said. “They operate daily in the public eye.”
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/i-...s-finals-slip-away-again-20200809-p55k1m.html
