Match Discussion: Round 10 vs Broncos @ Leichhardt Oval

[Das Hassler]

Brooks should’ve been tried at 9 ages ago.No reason he can’t stake a claim to the no.9 jersey post H Grant.Hes a strong defender has speed & strength to exploit lazy fatigued middle defenders.Hope he finds his niche at 9.

The only way he could fail there would be his decision making...he's as quick off the mark as anyone..his defence in tight on the big guys is very effective...he can do 80 mins easy and is as durable as a forklift. If Walters goes ok and Harry's going back then it's an option that should be tested. We might not have Johns as a halves coach but we do have Farah.

 

[Tiger Ted]

Luke Brooks cannot defend..hence why he was dropped to the bench. He is a five eighth..not a halfback..not a hooker

LB will b fine defending front-on in the middle

 

[WA Tiger]

Luke Brooks cannot defend..hence why he was dropped to the bench. He is a five eighth..not a halfback..not a hooker

What about Brookes would make him a good 6?

 

[Tiger05]

What about Brookes would make him a good 6?

I think the argument is that Brooks is a great runner of the footy and if he was at 6 he could just focus on that.

 

[Pezz70]

I think the argument is that Brooks is a great runner of the footy and if he was at 6 he could just focus on that.

For the most part it’s a bit of a fallacy these days. 6 and 7 are generally fairly similar bar the fact that the 7 puts the ball in the scrum, if your teams playing down the middle 30 which most teams do fairly consistently. Brooks’ defence has been pretty good over the last couple of years, he misses the odd tackle. Last week was his first really ordinary defensive game in a long time.

I’d give him the rest of this year in the 7 jersey and tell him he has free reign, let him play left and right, its up to you to make it happen, if you don’t it’s time to start evaluating your future.

I’d go so far as to say that the ball goes to Brooks tackle 3,4,5 in the oppositions half. Drown him in football so there’s no escape for him.

The tigers aren’t a premiership threat so let’s have a crack. I think the way the games being played now Brooks should be making headway.

 

[gordsy]

When I read the post that had Brooks to fullback i thought, see kids, this is what drugs will do to your brain.

I think Madge is right in dropping Brooks, It will send a long overdue message, aim the f**k up, stop playing like a plodder and give us 100% and for goodness sake, learn to kick better.
I know I'm not his biggest fan but we either sign Hook with a solid attacking coach or sign Madge long term. Head coaches seem to be like half backs, aint too many good ones around or coming through.

 

[WA Tiger]

Griffin as coach. Im all for it. And if Madge keeps up his sitting on the fence bullshit
eg 1 He drops Brookes but doesn’t really drop him. (Wheres he going to play Brookes and don’t say hooker - there’s no time for fairy dust thinking right now when the season is on the line. For now Harry’s hooker. That’s it. And if he’s going to put Brookes into halfback just so Walters can cover hooker and the halves if needed then wtf is going on? He’s been dropped for a reason. And dont say there’s no other options. There’s always options.
eg 2 Brings back Benji but not really coz he comes on way too late meaning we are 10 minutes short of winning

then yes definitely bring Hook in. He would have had all that halves shit sorted out nailed the buys and combinations, played or dropped on merit dead weights that Madge has refused to drop eg Marsters, Mbye, Jennings etc played debutants in their correct position and had a captain who acts like one ages ago..

 

[WA Tiger]

PS if I was Bulldogs I’d grab him..Proven coach (who could have functioned as a coach with Gould watching over you , Cleary couldnt) I think they are crazy wanting Barrett a proven assistant coach and a lovely guy. What I like most about Griffin is when he’s in the post match interview I understood liked and believed every word he said win or lose.

 

[Tiger05]

And if Madge keeps up his sitting on the fence bullshit

I reckon this is really rough. I can't remember a coach who sacked players as quickly as Madge. I also think he is building the club nicely. My only concern with Madge is if he gets quality players off side ala Matterson because Madge appears to be a bad ass.

Still as usual I just want to win more games.

 

[WA Tiger]

I reckon this is really rough. I can't remember a coach who sacked players as quickly as Madge. I also think he is building the club nicely. My only concern with Madge is if he gets quality players off side ala Matterson because Madge appears to be a bad ass.

Still as usual I just want to win more games.

Yip and that too .

 

[WA Tiger]

We will prob make the 8 coz there seems to be weak teams this year that have been strong in the past but for me this has been brewing for a while.. Brookes being dropped with all the fanfare that went with that, about what a tough and decisive coach we have and then I see Brookes on the bench when he of all players should have been deropped and a message sent - has obviously set me off. In fact seriously I don’t think Brookes can be fixed ...I mean he’s not even close ...And if he can be he needed time on the sideline to maybe watch the game from a different perspective have some time just to think about things like Benji did. It would have done him the world of good ..as it is he’s not going to change a thing. I wouldn’t care so much if it wasn’t such a key position and if he wasn’t such a liability....so A different perspective without the rose tinted glasses..
I can’t wait to see how this plays out on game day. Thank god Benjis starting.

 

[super_coach]

It all comes down to the cattle you have at you disposal. It would not matter who was coaching our current fit roster they would struggle, and even a fighting fit roster is bottom 8 at the best.
Things like lack of pace, no goal kicker and gaps in the spine have to be addressed before Madge or any other coach can be fairly appraised.

What we really need is a way to attract quality players to the club without paying double the rate. I think Madge has been great, but Not sure his methods equates to having a long stay at any one club.

 

[Tiger Ted]

It all comes down to the cattle you have at you disposal. It would not matter who was coaching our current fit roster they would struggle, and even a fighting fit roster is bottom 8 at the best.
Things like lack of pace, no goal kicker and gaps in the spine have to be addressed before Madge or any other coach can be fairly appraised.

What we really need is a way to attract quality players to the club without paying double the rate. I think Madge has been great, but Not sure his methods equates to having a long stay at any one club.

Ur last paragraph is very pertinent re our shithouse predicament.

 

[benched tiger]

Yes our depth is pretty light on in some areas which isn’t entirely Madges fault, as large amounts of our cap have been taken up by dud signings that could of been spent elsewhere to benefit the team.

 

[Tigerm]

Yes our depth is pretty light on in some areas which isn’t entirely Madges fault, as large amounts of our cap have been taken up by dud signings that could of been spent elsewhere to benefit the team.

Agree re current dud signings, but that can happen With any signing. Our problem atm is, Madge cannot attract quality players to come here, we have the money so that is not the issue.

 

[Tiger05]

Yes our depth is pretty light on in some areas which isn’t entirely Madges fault, as large amounts of our cap have been taken up by dud signings that could of been spent elsewhere to benefit the team.

To me this is our issue. We can't keep overpaying for players just because we have the money. Pay overs for one year only but not longer term contracts. I mean we still have McQueen on our books.

 

[WA Tiger]

It all comes down to the cattle you have at you disposal. It would not matter who was coaching our current fit roster they would struggle, and even a fighting fit roster is bottom 8 at the best.
Things like lack of pace, no goal kicker and gaps in the spine have to be addressed before Madge or any other coach can be fairly appraised.

What we really need is a way to attract quality players to the club without paying double the rate. I think Madge has been great, but Not sure his methods equates to having a long stay at any one club.

Talau for Jennings (last year) ...Momo for Marsters (last year) ...Hoffman for Mbye this year (and his favoured position. Who knows what that kids capable of. I thought he looked ok on debut out of position courage/focus wise with the high ball and aggression wise taking the ball up) ...Lucy for captain. He’s old enough wise enough and most important disciplined enough ..re not losing it like his Bro and a communicator and he sets the tone with his carries I read that Nofo convinced him to come to WT when they were in the Samoan team and a big plus was “being able to have input and the idea of leadership” .. & any one of a couple of players for Brookes ( it didn’t matter who he simply HAD to be replaced and at the start of this year when his form fell off a cliff.Im sure Madge could have worked something out with the players at his disposal but he didn’t) ...You have to 1 pinpoint the weakness and then 2 have the balls to make the change to (a) see if it works and (b) as good sometimes, to breathe new life and enthusiasm into the team. Otherwise players can get stale when they know their position is safe regardless of (A) if we win or lose (hence the smiles after losses or missed try from Jennings)...or (B) how they play.

We came 9th last year and we missed the 8 by a small margin and Momo was on the sideline for most of the year with all those missed kicks! .How could madge not drop Marsters and at least try Momo way earlier, or Momo for Jennings. We have just had 2 losses by small margins and I can’t remember now but previous games that were I think not huge margins...
he drops Brookes in round 10...sorry that’s right he didn’t drop Brookes. The point is we are going to get benefits now that we should have had ages ago that could have won us those games. eg Talau (only played 3-4 games by round 10 and only because of injury to Jennings), Benji -the improved version and perhaps eventually Hoffman but who would know if he doesn’t play and hopefully Walters partnering Benji today (can’t be worse but I’m expecting vast improvement)

Madge probably had stability on his mind from the start but with glaring cracks forming which we all saw that philosophy had to change somewhat .End of the day he didn’t have the courage or the sense- I’m honestly not sure which. The cattle were always there - for the backs anyway.

 

[Fordy20]

It all comes down to the cattle you have at you disposal. It would not matter who was coaching our current fit roster they would struggle, and even a fighting fit roster is bottom 8 at the best.
Things like lack of pace, no goal kicker and gaps in the spine have to be addressed before Madge or any other coach can be fairly appraised.

Madge has done a great job with the forwards despite the issues with the cap. You can tell he's working on the backs when he dropped Jennings, let Thompson go and chased Saab. He's also blooded the younger blokes as well. The spine will have to wait until the cap is in better shape.

One thing that hasn't worked is giving a coach a two years. We need to lock up Madge with an extension now or there's a very real chance he will end up at Melbourne and we'll be in the wilderness again, praying for another coach to save us from perennially finishing outside the 8.

 

[WA Tiger]

Thanks guys for being good sports. And putting up with my ravings. Let’s hope we win tomorrow. That’s right we have to don’t we and against warriors too..

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Our strength is as a collective, we have very few or zero superstars.

Yet we very nearly brought the Panthers to their knees, didn’t have our worst game v bunnies, but we lack that gradual onwards crisp improvement we are searching for.

I think Madge is trying hard to find the answers and what he’s looking for is the extra step up from each player and he wants it on the incline each and every game.

This is because we don’t have the one to five other individual game breakers many other clubs enjoy.

We just have to cook the a la carte meal with a trip to Aldi and what we find in the back of the fridge and pantry. Hopefully, none of our squad have reached used by.

And he went from feeling his way to making courageous decisions. That means the less able players are given a shot to put pressure on the top tier.

Absolutely no one is a walk in to play every week. Bj got the worst spray of his career but they bothrespect each other. That’s good coaching.

McQueen will not be the best player out there, but he will die trying to be.

Against all this, he tells us and the players we have it in us to be a top 4 or 5 side.

He’s an Uber impressive coach. Hes learnt from his errors last year. I’d offer him 3 more years. With the cash coming, he’s worth the investment.