Blair Gone (Official)

[madunit]

Like him or not, this leaves us very very skinny in the back row for next year.

Even more troubling is that pretty much all of the back rowers we have are small, taking us back a step to the Sheens era of having a small pack.

If we are talking Lawrence and Siro in the back row as starters (and we are running short of numbers here....) I would guess we again have the smallest pack in the league - joy. :crazy:

I mean - who else do we have ffs? Im struggling to find three, let alone reserves AND depth.....

we have players, but they will all be largely inexperienced.

I'd definitely be looking at Lawrence into the back row though.

Akoula and Sironen can join him there.

They are all good strong runners. Lawrence's defence is good enough, in fact he'd probably be our best back rower

 

[Miller was a legend]

Ayshford could play 2nd row. Going cheap

 

[TrigaTheTiger]

Small though yeah MU?

Its not the imposing pack from the first five rounds with KG hot and cold (at best), Gavet gone and backs in the back row.....

Now the risk is Tapau gets burnt out because he has to do all the work.

 

[Mario chalmers]

He improved significantly over the last 2 seasons. I reckon he is a big loss. The only benefit to us is that he has probably been getting paid overs.

I disagree with you for what its worth. I'm very glad the club is rid of him. In the pre-game to the 4 nations final they said something like "Adam Blair has had a few disappointing seasons with Wests Tigers but he really stepped it up during the 4 nations." This comment made me watch him closely on the night.

He played the first 25 mins of the first half. He took the ball forward off the kick off for the first tackle of the game. Then before being replaced he gave away 2 penalties and didn't take another hit up.

It leaves a gap in terms of experience but if Blair is bludging in the backline from week to week then this "experience" is of no use to anyone in my view.

This gives opportunities to others and I'd hope Kyle Lovett is one of them. He hasn't really kicked on to date.

 

[TYGA]

I hope this isn't a rebuilding plan to front load contracts and sign players for 2016. We have lost the following players since last year Fulton ($350k), Austen ($120k) Gavet ($100k), Blair ($550k), Thompson ($150k) Patterson ($100k), Korobiete ($150k), Nayaivaro ($70k), Anasta ($250k).

Thats close to $1.85m. We upgraded Brooks, Moses, Teddy by $300k each or $900k.
We should have circa $1.00m to spend.

 

[madunit]

Ayshford could play 2nd row. Going cheap

cheeky shit :lol:

 

[madunit]

Small though yeah MU?

Its not the imposing pack from the first five rounds with KG hot and cold (at best), Gavet gone and backs in the back row.....

Now the risk is Tapau gets burnt out because he has to do all the work.

yeah they would be small, but only in defence.

But that is an area we really need to fix.

Lawrence is a suitable enough replacement for Fulton.

The other two options are just not there yet. Akoula needs a lot of work on his defensive technique, for a forward his style is pretty bad.

Sironen, I'm just not convinced he's a back rower. I mean, he's got the body for it, that's bloody obvious.

But the kid has played in the halves most of his life, rewiring a footballers brain from being a half to a back rower would be one of the hardest things to do, evidenced by the fact that f**k all players have done it successfully.

But we have no option. He could have improved his pace (lateral and straight line) and running lines and been a good centre, but that just leaves us bare in the back row again.

I hope this offseason, he clicks into being a backrower, we desperately need him to.

 

[benched tiger]

Blair most likely will hold his own in a good pack.Before he arrived at the WT i watched a few Storm games and wondered what all the hype was about because he was rarely cited,at the WT he had a habit of going missing and giving penalties away,while calling him a forward leader is a bit rich,for all the talk and the $$$$ he was on he should of been a better player than what he was for the WT.

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

Ayshford could play 2nd row. Going cheap

How much are you offering for us to take him?

 

[BrotherJim05]

I think the plan for the Panthers is long term and we will be taking our time with signing quality players that compliment our core talent. Might take a few years but we will be premiership contenders soon enough.

sorry did I say Panthers...I meant to say Wests Tigers

 

[magpie guy]

I'm not too fussed with Blair leaving but as others have said, it leaves us very skinny in the backrow. I think we have Sirro, Sue, Akoala...Lawrence would go ok...but who else? Also, if Lawrence moves to the backrow, who do we have as centres? Where is our depth? Do we have to hope some more youngsters come through?

 

[The Charlatan]

He improved significantly over the last 2 seasons. I reckon he is a big loss. The only benefit to us is that he has probably been getting paid overs.

He improved markedly under Potter. Was dogshit in his first year under the Sheenius.

 

[madunit]

Lawrence to back row, Nofo to centre, that young speedster we bought last year (Sila?) On the wing.

If anything, that makes the backline stronger.

 

[Magpies Forever]

I dont wish ill luck with Blair but he certainly never, never earned his contract money with the effort he put in with WT. I wish him well with his future playing career and hope he does well.

As far as I'm concerned with Wests Tigers he was overpaid for what he was, which caused problems with money for other players, an average back rower who often went missing, a shift to prop made him work and he improved but never to the $500k per year price tag. With hindsight we should never have brought him.

Anyway, best wishes at the new club. I hope you and they are a better fit for each other.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

we have players, but they will all be largely inexperienced.

I'd definitely be looking at Lawrence into the back row though.

Akoula and Sironen can join him there.

They are all good strong runners. Lawrence's defence is good enough, in fact he'd probably be our best back rower

Our backrow is by far and away the worst in the competition.

 

[benched tiger]

Realistically considering where WT finished this season and with no big name signings for 2015 you would have to be pretty optimistic to think we will be a threat next season,our best hope is for our injured players to over come their injuries and some young players to come through and shine,filling the voids in our backline and backrow otherwise we are f#@&*d.

 

[mmap dragons]

Not here to stir the pot (wife supports your mob), however, Bit of chatter over our way that despite his denial on social media, Kasiano will either be a Dragon or a Tiger from 2015.

 

[madunit]

Our backrow is by far and away the worst in the competition.

definitely, and the gap between us and the second worst is immense

As evidenced by my statement that Lawrence would possibly be our best backrower

 

[Tigers Tale]

Not here to stir the pot (wife supports your mob), however, Bit of chatter over our way that despite his denial on social media, Kasiano will either be a Dragon or a Tiger from 2015.

If we were to sign another prop (as suggested Kasiano for example) our prop rotation would be Woods, Galloway, Ava and ????. If Sue were to play lock what do people think about Taupau playing in the second row.

I know he has shown he is a better than average prop but his running/speed is quite devastating so him running wide off Brooks/Moses could be a great attacking option. He defends OK so I think he could adapt to the back row. I know we are robbing Peter to pay Paul but he has size and we have been fairly soft in our wide running forwards lately.

Just a thought but I'd be interested in what others think....

I just edited this, maybe Lodge will do instead of buying Kasiano.

 

[ek999]

Lawrence to back row, Nofo to centre, that young speedster we bought last year (Sila?) On the wing.

If anything, that makes the backline stronger.

Sila will cost you match after match with his defensive efforts. He simply doesn't know what to do in defence