Match Discussion: Round 1 vs Melbourne @ CommBank Stadium

[WA Tiger]

I thought the forwards were great. I hope Tuilagi is not going to Manly. He looks the goods.

There was no official announcement Tuilagi is going so hopefully it’s not signed and we make him happy to stay

 

[WA Tiger]

Memo to madge. When the opposition is down to 15 men and you have 17 men, you rotate the bench and ask the players on the field to go even faster. You don't hold back and also play with 15 men until the last 15 minutes. FFS, its basic maths, not quantum physics.

Madges logic.. “Why change when we are looking good” .. or worse “who do I take off”

 

[Ned Kelly]

I'm tipping we will get to 3 wins and 11 losses half way through the season. There will be talk of Madge getting the chop so to ward of instability we will extend his contract another 2 years.

 

[WA Tiger]

I thought a big issue was our use of the interchange bench- a few here have commented our forwards were tired after abut 60 minutes of solid effort. The interchange is supposed to alleviate that. Maquire's use of the bench was questioned last year and it seems so far this year to be open to a 'what the hell?'.

Refereeing remains the big issue with WT not really getting the rub and all we can do is play to the whistle and just keep at it. The other team, when they are the better, more prominent team, will often get the momentum changing penalty, when equal offences against use are not pinged. Better teams with greater talent pool can just play on and will usually tough it out and more often than not, win. WT not possible.

Not sure what the answer is. I'd like to see WT take the more blatant cases to the NRL hierarchy and if we are dismissed to the NSW Courts. Its a professional sport, if the refereeing is not consistent and despite technology eg the bunker being available and still not correcting blatant mistakes where is the sporting change in that? If the NRL refuses to act, take it out of their hands and go to court. Put in injunction on play until decision made- then the NRL and the refs will take notice. Put in a damages claim. Its a professional sport with clubs, payers and coaches futures hanging on a level playing field. Same with the cannonball, threaten to take the player involved to court for injury suffered and financial compensation for club and player if our player is injured. Take it out of the hands of the NRL- thats twice now in 3 games we have had inconsequential penalty given to opposition players putting in that dog act.

No what we need is one captain to yell at the ref (Just a little one and maybe once a game at the most - to get his attention!)and otherwise be firm as Fk in the nicest possible way, when there’s a bad decision..refs are human they will sometimes get caught up in the moment, and think too much of it’s significance and the surrounding facts, instead of just calling it.

If the captains berating is hard enough, the ref will fkn think twice before the next call, and in fact he may veer in our favour. Nobody likes being told off. Esp when the argument put forward is a good one.The ref needs to know there will be a pissed off voice in his ear, if he calls it wrong

It’s often not that penalty etc the captain will benefit from, it’s the ones following.

 

[Tigerm]

Interesting?

Melbourne Storm forward Trent Loiero has been handed down a punishment from the NRL for his cannonball tackle on a Wests Tigers star that left Tigers coach Michael Maguire fuming.

Loiero was charged with a Grade 1 Dangerous Contact offence for his work tackling the Tigers’ Luciano Leilua.

However, since it is his first offence, Loiero faces a fine of $1000 with an early guilty plea.

 

[Ned Kelly]

Hastings is my choice for captain because I can't see him taking the softly softly approach with players that need to be given a rocket .

 

[WA Tiger]

Hastings is my choice for captain because I can't see him taking the softly softly approach with players that need to be given a rocket .

He’s holding it in at the moment isn’t he. He is captain material of the highest order, apparently

 

[Wizardman]

He’s holding it in at the moment isn’t he. He is captain material of the highest order, apparently

One problem with that thought....the man may struggle to be in first grade when Douhei gets back. Im no massive fan of Douhei as a player either but is definitely more effective there than a slow hastings...at least Douhei has a habit of making defenders miss.
I hope Hastings comes good but his lack of speed is a massive concern. He better ballplay exceptionally well over the next few months or he'll be in NSW Cup.
Im not seeing him as a lock.....not big enough.

 

[glockers]

Jason Smith, Shaun Timmins, Jim Dymock, Travis Norton, Wally Lewis etc. Plenty of slow but effective halves have played at the top level.

 

[Wizardman]

Jason Smith, Shaun Timmins, Jim Dymock, Travis Norton, Wally Lewis etc. Plenty of slow but effective halves have played at the top level.

All were not quick but great ball players but you are missing two things

(a) Have a look at the names you just typed. All bar Norton were rep calibre (Norton was bloody handy too). Hastings is WAY behind those men.
(b) The game is a shitload quicker now than it was back then. Im not saying a slow half cannot play in the NRL but you better be pretty bloody good at ballplaying to keep an NRL spot. Benji showed it could be done....Jason Smith and Cliff Lyons were also bloody good in times when rugby league got a lot quicker than when they were in their primes. The three guys that I mentioned were EXCELLENT players.
Hastings is playing from a long way behind those men. I hope he makes me eat my words and absolutely fires. But, I do have concerns about him. Name a starting half that is slower in today's NRL.....I'll wait.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

Re the last few posts about Hastings and even Douhei.

There are so many if’s and but’s.
If Hastings is slow, is he still better for the team than Brooks?
Is Hastings only there until Douhei comes back, but when is that?
But isn’t Douhei expected to come back in the centre’s anyway? If that’s the case, is Douhei a fast centre ?
But wasn’t there many supporters screaming out to get rid of Brooks? If that’s the case, when does that happen?
Perhaps Hastings is deceptively quick and the Tigers need him because he adds more value than Brooks ever will in the halves,

 

[stryker]

Madges logic.. “Why change when we are looking good” .. or worse “who do I take off”

Madge is a substandard coach. You, I and a couple of others have always seen that. Our middle forwards are still developing their first grade motors. They need a rest, but he left them on too long, negating the advantage he was afforded through Storm injuries, which led to line breaks and tries.

 

[stryker]

Interesting?

Melbourne Storm forward Trent Loiero has been handed down a punishment from the NRL for his cannonball tackle on a Wests Tigers star that left Tigers coach Michael Maguire fuming.

Loiero was charged with a Grade 1 Dangerous Contact offence for his work tackling the Tigers’ Luciano Leilua.

However, since it is his first offence, Loiero faces a fine of $1000 with an early guilty plea.

Very weak punishment for what is a dangerous tackle. Plenty of players have broken legs and ripped ACL’s due to this shit.

 

[Wizardman]

Flanagan has been nice to the Dogs in commentary. I wonder why? Lol

 

[WA Tiger]

Jackson Hastings …Capricorn/pig
Combo = The Spider

Primal Astrology - Spirit of the Spider

Those born under the zodiac sign of Spider have the following traits...(more)

www.primalastrology.com

 

[Ned Kelly]

I would still like to see Wolfe replace Madge. Negotiations probably should start now for next season unless of course we are happy with how we are going and the calibre of players we are presently able to attract.

 

[Pezz70]

I’ve said it before Hastings reminds me of Alfie Langer, just a bit slower than the rest, but I think if the tigers can settle into a good attacking pace Hastings will come into his own. I think the halves combination will work out ok. Brooks lacks finesse, he constantly takes the wrong options, passes and runs when he shouldn’t, on a positive his goal line kicks for Maumolo and the right side we’re on point in this game. Our attack was pretty good against the storm in the first half and they’ll improve off that, but defence has been the concern for the last 20 years or so and that remains to be the case.

 

[The Rosco]

I thought a big issue was our use of the interchange bench- a few here have commented our forwards were tired after abut 60 minutes of solid effort. The interchange is supposed to alleviate that. Maquire's use of the bench was questioned last year and it seems so far this year to be open to a 'what the hell?'.

Refereeing remains the big issue with WT not really getting the rub and all we can do is play to the whistle and just keep at it. The other team, when they are the better, more prominent team, will often get the momentum changing penalty, when equal offences against use are not pinged. Better teams with greater talent pool can just play on and will usually tough it out and more often than not, win. WT not possible.

Not sure what the answer is. I'd like to see WT take the more blatant cases to the NRL hierarchy and if we are dismissed to the NSW Courts. Its a professional sport, if the refereeing is not consistent and despite technology eg the bunker being available and still not correcting blatant mistakes where is the sporting change in that? If the NRL refuses to act, take it out of their hands and go to court. Put in injunction on play until decision made- then the NRL and the refs will take notice. Put in a damages claim. Its a professional sport with clubs, payers and coaches futures hanging on a level playing field. Same with the cannonball, threaten to take the player involved to court for injury suffered and financial compensation for club and player if our player is injured. Take it out of the hands of the NRL- thats twice now in 3 games we have had inconsequential penalty given to opposition players putting in that dog act.

One thing that stuck out for me was the amount of tackles that storm had a 3rd player ( often Welsh ) do a straight out flop on top of the ball carrier and the 2 tacklers. Cam used to do this, but nowhere near what storms did to us the other night. It seriously seemed to happen 80+% of our carries.
Welsh didn't get injured in play. Welsh picked up his hamstring injury by having to stretch over the tackle heap to land on top of them time and time and time and time again.
While you don't want to see a player pick up a season ending injury, you must always remember that karma is a bitch.
Christian, old bean, next year when you return, don't flop like a merkin and you'll be fine.

 

[Tiger Ted]

I’ve said it before Hastings reminds me of Alfie Langer, just a bit slower than the rest, but I think if the tigers can settle into a good attacking pace Hastings will come into his own. I think the halves combination will work out ok. Brooks lacks finesse, he constantly takes the wrong options, passes and runs when he shouldn’t, on a positive his goal line kicks for Maumolo and the right side we’re on point in this game. Our attack was pretty good against the storm in the first half and they’ll improve off that, but defence has been the concern for the last 20 years or so and that remains to be the case.

Can’t agree with u re comparison to Alfie although I’m not rushing to condemn Hastings.I certainly wasn’t happy with Hastings’s performance & acknowledge it’s only his 1st match for us albeit we need him to be consistently dominant or we r fkd.
Watched a lot of footy on the weekend & reinforced my massive concern about our atrocious backline.We’ve deadset got the worst backline in the NRL.It’s going to take one heck of a catastrophic season from another team to beat us to the spoon.

 

[Speedy Gonzales]

Can’t agree with u re comparison to Alfie although I’m not rushing to condemn Hastings.I certainly wasn’t happy with Hastings’s performance & acknowledge it’s only his 1st match for us albeit we need him to be consistently dominant or we r fkd.
Watched a lot of footy on the weekend & reinforced my massive concern about our atrocious backline.We’ve deadset got the worst backline in the NRL.It’s going to take one heck of a catastrophic season from another team to beat us to the spoon.

I watched bits and pieces of the Dogs and Cows game and think those two teams have us covered in terms of being worse. It's going to be a cripple fight for the bottom tho