To bag Hastings is rich, at least he tries.
He does, it’s pretty tough going on the halves when the forwards aren’t rolling forward. The Tigers pack would have to be the smallest in the comp now and despite some quality being in there the bench doesn’t give support in the size department. There seems to be a hodgepodge of halves and hookers on the bench, looks like they want to try out different combinations but don’t have the balls to pull the trigger. They need some size coming off the bench, Twal is a workhorse but they need a couple of big impact players, the forwards have been decimated. I don’t know why they aren’t utilizing their mobility but instead go one out up the middle into a bunched defense of bigger players up suspiciously early.
The Tigers have moved the ball to the edges very safely and skillfully but not often enough. The storm don’t just go one out until they are within the opposition’s 40, they exploit a loaded defense in the middle by going from one edge to the other in a safe controlled manner. They don’t over use it or try risky ball handling maneuvers unless it’s right on the try line. The tigers make more ground on one set play, going to the edge, than a whole set of going up the middle most of the time. Why are they trying to out muscle a bigger pack? They need to outplay them instead.
Offloads are another killer. When the Tigers offload, which is rare, the receiving player 9 times out of 10 runs straight back into the group of players that were just tackling the offloader. Other teams make use of offloads by immediately passing to put players through gaps or run through them next to the ruck. The tigers look shocked when they receive an offload and give the opposition time to respond and cover the holes.
