Match Discussion: Round 14 vs Bulldogs @ Bankwest Stadium

[League WTF]

@League WTF - Benij is our best attacking half and our worst defensive half. I think Brooks is our best half overall and he hasn't created basically anything all season. Reynolds is crap but better defensively than Benji and to be fair he has put in a fair few decent kicks.

The truth is our halves are crud.

Yes, but we should still field our best players. Reynolds is better than Brooks in the halves and I don’t really blame Benji for last week as the whole team was flat. BJ wasn’t exactly helping in defence either and Ponga would have burned Reynolds too with his speed.

 

[League WTF]

We are no longer playing for top 8, we are playing to not get the spoon.
I think Brooks has not fired a shot all year, I would have preferred Josh & Benji.

Yes, the Brooks experiment has gone too far.

I had hopes and even wished that last week’s hiding was what we needed to turn our season around.

But after seeing this team...maybe you’re right, we’re now only playing to avoid the spoon.

 

[Pezz70]

Our team is low on confidence and Madge is sticking to this halves combo???

We have a big issue in attack. Even if we do beat the bulldogs this week based on efforts, individual brilliance, luck or fluke, we won’t get far.

How many games have we lost to a decent team because of the lack of points? 110% defensive efforts were shown but we just don’t have the points to win it. You can’t win games with defence alone. The boys are tired and it’s showing...

Our spine is a big issue and is getting worse without Grant. I don’t even get excited when we get to the opposition half because I know we don’t have the points or the attacking structure in our spine.

Say what you want about Benji but at least he has 7 try assists next to his name while Brooks had 1 all season. And we desperately need a fullback who can support our halves, punch holes and put the opposition in 2 minds. This gives our halves more options.

I’m not saying that AD is bad and I actually feel sorry for him. Putting the kid at fullback is destroying him slowly. I love the kid but I just think he’s been put in the wrong position. Defensive wise, more teams are running straight at him.

Glad Liddle has returned in time because Mbye is not a hooker. I hope he can stay injury-free though. On the other hand, Mbye has played his best football with us at fullback, but I know that won’t happen for some strange reasons.

Reynolds is someone we need at the moment as he brings a lot of energy and has points in him. He should partner Benji for us to make a crack this season. They are the best we’ve got now. Defend all you want, but if we can’t score points...it’s already game over.

Benjis attack does not make up for his defence in anyway shape or form. Have a look at the stats I posted they tell a story. You cannot consistently win when you are having more than 20 points scored against you. This has happened 7 out of the nine times Benji has run out this year. There’s still a massive deficit between his value in attack and the liability in defence. I’m a Benji fan, but it’s time to bite the bullet, he is a liability, he is not a future prospect and he’d be better off in a coaching/mentoring role. I’d be setting him up with the clubs halves from junior reps right through to NRL with him and Farah in a mentoring role helping young players to lay and adhere to expectations. Benjis influence on the future of the tigers is not as a player.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

Brooks, Marshall, Reynolds, it's the left/right playing half 5/8 that hasn't helped.

Marshall at least has the brains and speed with ball in hand to do something left or right,
Reynolds at least has the instinct to follow the ball and backs up the forwards,
Brooks plays to instruction and sticks to his side of the field, kicking game is poor but can tackle.

He is No 3 which is a worry if come 2021 he is the last man standing of the 3.

 

[Pezz70]

Yes, but we should still field our best players. Reynolds is better than Brooks in the halves and I don’t really blame Benji for last week as the whole team was flat. BJ wasn’t exactly helping in defence either and Ponga would have burned Reynolds too with his speed.

Benji and Reynolds generally play right side, so exchanging Brooks for Reynolds is not necessarily wise. I think we’re better off keeping Brooks in the side, having Garner play left edge, Garner like Lawrence before him runs neat lines on that side, Luciano is more a battering ram, I’d consider playing Luciano in the centre 3rd in attack, and swap him
And Garner in defence. I think there’s points in having Garner and Brooks on the left in attack, they just have to improve the execution and be selective about their attack in terms of choosing when to use Garner. The beauty of Garners lines is that you can use Doueihi out the back. I think Madge has backed away from this aspect of attack to give Douehi a chance to settle in at fullback, we haven’t seen a great deal
Of Douehi in attacking plays I think
Madge has gone for a very simplistic, mistake free approach in attack. Time to throw a bit of caution to the wind.

 

[Pezz70]

Brooks, Marshall, Reynolds, it's the left/right playing half 5/8 that hasn't helped.

Marshall at least has the brains and speed with ball in hand to do something left or right,
Reynolds at least has the instinct to follow the ball and backs up the forwards,
Brooks plays to instruction and sticks to his side of the field, kicking game is poor but can tackle.

He is No 3 which is a worry if come 2021 he is the last man standing of the 3.

I don’t disagree with a lot of what you say but just see no future in playing Benji. Pretty sure the 8 is beyond reach this year, we need to sort combinations for next year and just cop what’s coming in the meantime.

 

[Tigerm]

Benji and Reynolds generally play right side, so exchanging Brooks for Reynolds is not necessarily wise. I think we’re better off keeping Brooks in the side, having Garner play left edge, Garner like Lawrence before him runs neat lines on that side, Luciano is more a battering ram, I’d consider playing Luciano in the centre 3rd in attack, and swap him
And Garner in defence. I think there’s points in having Garner and Brooks on the left in attack, they just have to improve the execution and be selective about their attack in terms of choosing when to use Garner. The beauty of Garners lines is that you can use Doueihi out the back. I think Madge has backed away from this aspect of attack to give Douehi a chance to settle in at fullback, we haven’t seen a great deal
Of Douehi in attacking plays I think
Madge has gone for a very simplistic, mistake free approach in attack. Time to throw a bit of caution to the wind.

You rightly criticise Benji for some of his efforts, then say keep Luke around, who has been poor to very poor all season.
At least Benji & Josh have the experience to adapt to any situation and play what they see.
You are also right that Benji is not our future, but neither is Luke (unfortunately) I think this is his 7th season and hasn't really progressed at all.
The trouble is, we have no one to confidently replace any of them, though maybe Mbye should of had a shot this year before we release him and Benji retires (I assume he will).

 

[League WTF]

Benjis attack does not make up for his defence in anyway shape or form. Have a look at the stats I posted they tell a story. You cannot consistently win when you are having more than 20 points scored against you. This has happened 7 out of the nine times Benji has run out this year. There’s still a massive deficit between his value in attack and the liability in defence. I’m a Benji fan, but it’s time to bite the bullet, he is a liability, he is not a future prospect and he’d be better off in a coaching/mentoring role. I’d be setting him up with the clubs halves from junior reps right through to NRL with him and Farah in a mentoring role helping young players to lay and adhere to expectations. Benjis influence on the future of the tigers is not as a player.

I agree with you that Benji shouldn’t play on next year. But the truth is...he is our best attacking weapon at the moment and I’m only focused on this year. Defence is a team effort. It’s easy to point fingers and I can easily point a few too.

If we are to make the finals this year, we need him and Reynolds. They can put on points and earn repeat sets. The whole team lifts if we can do that. With Brooks, he might get better next year...again...who knows?

Being a WT supporter for so long, I’ve stopped dreaming about next year and getting sick of hearing not having the players. We have better players than before and we’re not using them properly.

Although Reynolds and Mbye are not worth their contracts, they have been in the finals a number of times. They should have been in our spine...not sitting in the bench or filling gaps in the centre and hope that other players come through.

I guess I’m just tired of hearing all the “next year” talks, or about developing better players who always tend to leave us once they do. We should be focusing on this year alone. Let next year worry about itself. Madge might not even be here next year.

Now that we still have a chance, we should do whatever we can to aim up and put our best players out there. I get it if we’re trying to avoid the spoon, otherwise go hard or go home!

 

[Pezz70]

You rightly criticise Benji for some of his efforts, then say keep Luke around, who has been poor to very poor all season.
At least Benji & Josh have the experience to adapt to any situation and play what they see.
You are also right that Benji is not our future, but neither is Luke (unfortunately) I think this is his 7th season and hasn't really progressed at all.
The trouble is, we have no one to confidently replace any of them, though maybe Mbye should of had a shot this year before we release him and Benji retires (I assume he will).

yep no individual has been outstanding in the halves , but looking over the stats (which I also acknowledge aren’t the be all and end all) the team has performed better as a whole with Brooks and Reynolds in the halves. Bear in mind too that most of these games have been with Grant at dummy half. I’m no freak footy brain, Benji still pretty good with ball in hand and his bombs are fantastic. One thing is clear from all of our discussions is that the halves and spine need urgent attention

 

[Pezz70]

I agree with you that Benji shouldn’t play on next year. But the truth is...he is our best attacking weapon at the moment and I’m only focused on this year. Defence is a team effort. It’s easy to point fingers and I can easily point a few too.

If we are to make the finals this year, we need him and Reynolds. They can put on points and earn repeat sets. The whole team lifts if we can do that. With Brooks, he might get better next year...again...who knows?

Being a WT supporter for so long, I’ve stopped dreaming about next year and getting sick of hearing not having the players. We have better players than before and we’re not using them properly.

Although Reynolds and Mbye are not worth their contracts, they have been in the finals a number of times. They should have been in our spine...not sitting in the bench or filling gaps in the centre and hope that other players come through.

I guess I’m just tired of hearing all the “next year” talks, or about developing better players who always tend to leave us once they do. We should be focusing on this year alone. Let next year worry about itself. Madge might not even be here next year.

Now that we still have a chance, we should do whatever we can to aim up and put our best players out there. I get it if we’re trying to avoid the spoon, otherwise go hard or go home!

Defence take one loose cog and the whole system breaks down. My thoughts are that Benji has a bung shoulder and he is reluctant because of it. He has also lost a couple of yards of pace and this affects his speed in the line.

I’m pretty sure 2020 is over for the Tigers hence the assertion that would should start looking at developing combinations for next year.

 

[WA Tiger]

AD needs to be hitting the weights to help his attitude in defence..With his headstrong personality he may just be an anti weights person but he needs to wise up and bulk up

 

[Tiger05]

All the talking about our halves shows how crap they are. I reckon Benji has been great for us the last couple of seasons, he is our best game manager and creative half but his defense is terrible. Brooks and Reynolds are like two headless chooks.

Then AD has to learn his role.
Then Grant is leaving. I'm less worried about this. Mbye/Liddle/Simpkins can fill the role. In stating that Grant has been our best spine player all season.

 

[League WTF]

Defence take one loose cog and the whole system breaks down. My thoughts are that Benji has a bung shoulder and he is reluctant because of it. He has also lost a couple of yards of pace and this affects his speed in the line.

I’m pretty sure 2020 is over for the Tigers hence the assertion that would should start looking at developing combinations for next year.

That’s why I agree Benji shouldn’t play on next year.

I was mainly referring to last week’s game which was poor by everyone and was weighing up the best options available at the moment to make a dent.

Maybe you’re right and we should look towards next year...again. It just sucks knowing that we haven’t used everything in the tank.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

I'd sign Benji for next year, he can;
run the team, direct the play, etc, etc.

Just like Alfie Langer.

He doesn't have to worry about bung shoulders, missing tackles, etc etc.

Unless he signs with Fox or Nine.

 

[Tigerm]

That’s why I agree Benji shouldn’t play on next year.

I was mainly referring to last week’s game which was poor by everyone and was weighing up the best options available at the moment to make a dent.

Maybe you’re right and we should look towards next year...again. It just sucks knowing that we haven’t used everything in the tank.

I’m not sure if it’s too early to be talking about next year.
We are in a fight to avoid the spoon, I think the 8 is long gone, but still not impossible.
So we still need to concentrate on this year for a bit longer to see how it is playing out.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

And because we are discussing 6's & 7.

Earlier this season during a discussion about Cleary, Peter Sterling told TripleM radio: "I want the number 7 to touch the ball three or four times in an attacking set of six."

This link is a great read.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08...eary-daly-cherry-evans/12534920?section=sport

 

[BrotherJim05]

A lot of you are talking as if there is still hope for the season. It's over...we are not making the 8.

We are going to see a lot of weird selection choices from Madge over the next few weeks as he will want to test combinations and see how far he can push certain players.

This is all now just a dress rehearsal for next year

 

[Tiger05]

@BrotherJim05 - I think Madge is still trying to make the finals this season and I think the players are as well but I agree that it's over.

 

[Tiger Ted]

@BrotherJim05 - I think Madge is still trying to make the finals this season and I think the players are as well but I agree that it's over.

Total pipedream.They will b lucky to win 2 more matches.

 

[Ron's_Mate]

Star Wests Tigers centre Joey Leilua has taken personal leave just days before their must-win clash against the Bulldogs.

Leilua told Tigers officials of his decision on Wednesday. The club will confirm the news shortly.

Leilua - who returned from a hefty suspension against the Knights last Saturday - has since travelled back to Canberra.

He is now out of the club's biosecurity bubble and will have to quarantine for 14 days if he wants to play again this season.

The news comes as the Tigers cling to their slim finals hopes by a thread. They must beat the Bulldogs on Sunday to remain any hope of slipping into the top eight.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/jo...al-leave-from-the-tigers-20200813-p55lce.html