Match Discussion: Round 21 vs Penrith @ CommBank Stadium, Parramatta / Burramattagal

[Front-rower2]

Toa needs to go. He isn't up to first grade. Don't care if he is busted or not. I don't even know if the ESL would be calling him up for a start.

 

[TheDefinitionOfMadness]

I think that shows just how far off the pace we are. Although they're not in the top 4 (yet) I think the Penrith of the last 6 weeks or so are the measuring stick in the comp this year. Canberra are the only team I can see troubling them. If they stay injury free there's every chance they'll win 5 in a row.

I don't think we were that bad and were certainly much improved from last week. Penrith just beat us up in defence and dominated us. After about 25 minutes you could have turned the sprinklers on at the end we were running to. I don't remember us being there. They completely dominated every aspect of the game.

Anyway it shows the players in our team that if they think they're doing absolutely everything they can do on the field and at training, well they're not even close. And I mean that in effort and fitness, as well as skills.

I would like to give a pat on the back to Taruva. He was taking at least 1 hit up in the middle a set, and making plenty of ground against much bigger guys. I know he doesn't have the defensive workload the other forwards do, but he put the forwards to shame with his carries. Unfortunately that does take away from his ability to get involved in support play and set plays and shifts, which is really what his job in attack should be about.

 

[WA Tiger]

Well I’m gonna hit the gym and beat the shit out of myself. A bit of self flagellation might get me over the disappointment of that game just enough to allow me to sleep tonight

Watch those deadlifts.. I went back to them this morning after just doing squats for 3 months ..I got bitten. Lower back. It’s not too bad. I’m pretty sure

 

[WA Tiger]

It’d be good to have a playmaker that sees 2 steps ahead AND make his high balls more competitive by putting a bit less distance on them..like every one of Cleary kicks.. instead of the receiver being allowed to run 20m anyway.. Luai was demoted from kicking duties.. How is that fkn possible.. he looks at the ground after he kicks the ball.tell me he needs to do that

 

[WA Tiger]

Turn the sprinklers on indeed

 

[WA Tiger]

It’d be good to have a playmaker that sees 2 steps ahead AND make his high balls more competitive by putting a bit less distance on them..like every one of Cleary kicks.. instead of the receiver being allowed to run 20m anyway.. Luai was demoted from kicking duties.. How is that fkn possible.. he looks at the ground after he kicks the tell me he needs to do that

Someone who’s genuinely cocky on the field and knows they are better and loves to take on attempts at intimidation as a playmaker..Coz that’s where critical errors come from from our halves - intimidation or just not having it or both...Madden?

 

[Speedy Gonzales]

Our forwards suck ass. You can’t have players like seyfarth, bird, twal and sukkar all in the same 17 it just doesn’t work.
It was awful viewing, we barely made like 30-40 meters each set

 

[Tiger05]

I don’t blame him for them either, he has just been ordinary, first try Latu read it wrong and moved up too quick, second on the whole right side was out of sync and Toa was up too far, and the third try Toa got stood up in the Penrith 20 and they went the length of the field. I’m over watching him fail every week, if he’s injured put him out for a couple of weeks

He has been ordinary for a fair few weeks. He was class at the start of the season. If he is injured he shouldn't be in the team.

 

[Tiger05]

Panthers had a lot of possession in our 20, and we couldn’t get down their end, we completed at over 80 but lacked penetration, our pack was monstered by the Panthers and our right edge was really off defensively, left edge was pretty good. 4 out of the six panthers tries went down our right side, one kick (Tago) and Liam Martin’s try on the left. We missed 47 tackles too much.

We just couldn't match them. We need to score points. If you cannot score points it just makes it too easy for the opposition. They have gas in the tank and come at you. You also push stuff to try and score and make mistakes.

Luai’s lack of discipline keeps hurting us, six agains and that brain fade of a leg pull (sure the game was over but it’s one of those things that he’s gonna do one day at a critical time cause it’s in his game. Get rid of it ) I know he’s giving 100%, but he needs to get the silliness out of his game. It hurts us in every game

It's a massive problem. He needs to be disciplined every game.

I reckon he can really play but that type of stuff is unacceptable.

 

[Tiger05]

It’d be good to have a playmaker that sees 2 steps ahead AND make his high balls more competitive by putting a bit less distance on them..like every one of Cleary kicks.. instead of the receiver being allowed to run 20m anyway.. Luai was demoted from kicking duties.. How is that fkn possible.. he looks at the ground after he kicks the ball.tell me he needs to do that

He put in some good kicks but is getting paid to be perfect.

 

[WA Tiger]

We just couldn't match them. We need to score points. If you cannot score points it just makes it too easy for the opposition. They have gas in the tank and come at you. You also push stuff to try and score and make mistakes.



It's a massive problem. He needs to be disciplined every game.

I reckon he can really play but that type of stuff is unacceptable.

I missed all that.. Those 6 agains are hard to pinpoint.. Worse Luai isn’t regretfull at all...

 

[Chins]

We outclassed you and that's ok at this time of the year. You have improved and are on the right path

 

[WA Tiger]

We outclassed you and that's ok at this time of the year. You have improved and are on the right path

Pilease!

 

[Tigerm]

Presser: NRL Round 21 vs Panthers | Wests Tigers

Jarome Luai and Benji Marshall chat to the media after their Round 21 clash against the Panthers

www.weststigers.com.au

 

[Tiger Ted]

We outclassed you and that's ok at this time of the year. You have improved and are on the right path

We r shithouse.Huge mismatch.Professionalism vs amateurism.

 

[Tiger05]

We r shithouse.Huge mismatch.Professionalism vs amateurism.

We cannot attack. We therefore don't put any pressure on the opposition and we get rolled over.

To be fair Benji did state he wanted to attack.

We need to use Latu a lot more.

Turuva can hold his head high though. He was great. He has been great all season. Taylan May was also good. That is about it though.

Benji just doesn't appear to be getting the job done as a coach. We are not playing good footy.

 

[Tigerm]

We cannot attack. We therefore don't put any pressure on the opposition and we get rolled over.

To be fair Benji did state he wanted to attack.

We need to use Latu a lot more.

Turuva can hold his head high though. He was great. He has been great all season. Taylan May was also good. That is about it though.

Benji just doesn't appear to be getting the job done as a coach. We are not playing good footy.

We all agree, that losing sucks.
And while I agree with your comments on Benji, he is learning as well and the facts are, we are doing better this season than we have for a long time. That's a fact.
We have been poor for over a decade, Benji has only been here for a season and a bit, I think we had bad management who couldn't organise a chook raffle and we found it hard to attract decent players, which is why, Richo has been so good for us.
Benji, for what ever the reason, has attracted the best signings we have seen in years, he will be safe for next year, the team will be settled and he should rightly be measured then.
But, what does success look like for us, we used to bitch about getting 9th spot, we'd all love that ATM, but I think we have the team, if we can keep them together, I do see top 8 coming, but I do think the weak link is the assistants (especially the attack) on his coaching staff.

 

[Tiger Ted]

We all agree, that losing sucks.
And while I agree with your comments on Benji, he is learning as well and the facts are, we are doing better this season than we have for a long time. That's a fact.
We have been poor for over a decade, Benji has only been here for a season and a bit, I think we had bad management who couldn't organise a chook raffle and we found it hard to attract decent players, which is why, Richo has been so good for us.
Benji, for what ever the reason, has attracted the best signings we have seen in years, he will be safe for next year, the team will be settled and he should rightly be measured then.
But, what does success look like for us, we used to bitch about getting 9th spot, we'd all love that ATM, but I think we have the team, if we can keep them together, I do see top 8 coming, but I do think the weak link is the assistants (especially the attack) on his coaching staff.

I so wish I could be as optimistic as u but this team/club is perpetually so damn disappointing.I had much hope early in season that we’d finally turned the corner but unsurprisingly my expectation was delusional as they’ve reverted to their normalized mediocrity.I firmly believe this squad coaching staff & CEO are so incompetent finals footy will continue to be a pipedream indefinitely.

 

[Wizardman]

Penrith were as dialed in as I've seen them this year. As we have seen for the last 5 years or so, it is damn hard to beat a Penrith that plays like they did yesterday.

That said, our improvement as a squad plateaued from just before Easter Monday. We have not improved since then which is a great concern. If you look at Parra with a lot of no-names, they are definitely an improving side by the game. I have not seen improvement beyond Easter. We threw the ball around a great deal yesterday....but f**k, we NEVER looked dangerous doing it.

1:Turuva: Solid game from the man with some great runs which really should be putting our forwards to shame. Not a threat in the opposition 20 though.

2. Izaac: Serviceable club debut. I didn't expect much from him.
3. May: Okay second game back. He was pretty well contained this week though.
4. Toa: The Toa/Skelton side in defence is a huge worry. He has turned back into shit both sides of the ball. I'd drop him and put Douehi there next week. Hopefully his defence settles Skelton a bit.
5. Skelton: Horrid in defence yesterday. While he is worth persevering with, he is not a true first grader yet.
6. Luai: I might be the only person who truly doesn't give a f**k if he pisses off to Perth. While I have no doubt he has help lifted the standards of the playing group to an extent, he is playing nowhere near his price tag......and never will.
7. Fainu: I have to call a spade a spade here.....he was complete shit. Pretty much a ghost and it has not been the first time with him in the seven. We all know his potential. By buying Madden, it is the clearest signal that the club is backing him. He needs to back himself and get more involved. Im tired of hearing people say cliubs in our spot are playing for nothing. The rest of the season is very crucial for us to have Fainu finish the season with some confidence for 2026....we need a shitload more from him.
8. May: A usual massive effort from him. Time for us to really reduce his minutes where we can considering where we are on the ladder.
9. Api: Pretty average....Im glad we are giving him less minutes to pretty much have him fresh.
10. Twal: Twal is pretty much as honest as they come......but I don't think any other club in the comp starts him. His go forward is just not up to scratch.
11. Seyfarth: non-impactful game and has not impacted a game in a while. We need another backrower badly.
12. Sukkar: Not first grade standard.
13. Doueihi: Was ok but him being at lock really does weaken at pack.

14. Hope: No superstar by any means but there pretty much to give Api a rest and to do some tackling.
15: Bird: Is no longer first grade standard....he has played a season too long. I doubt he'd even get a SL contract.
16. Pole: He went okay....he should be starting.
17. Finau: Average.......had a few poor misses in d.

Our pack is by far our biggest issue. We need some trade movement badly there.

 

[WA Tiger]

Penrith were as dialed in as I've seen them this year. As we have seen for the last 5 years or so, it is damn hard to beat a Penrith that plays like they did yesterday.

That said, our improvement as a squad plateaued from just before Easter Monday. We have not improved since then which is a great concern. If you look at Parra with a lot of no-names, they are definitely an improving side by the game. I have not seen improvement beyond Easter. We threw the ball around a great deal yesterday....but f**k, we NEVER looked dangerous doing it.

1:Turuva: Solid game from the man with some great runs which really should be putting our forwards to shame. Not a threat in the opposition 20 though.

2. Izaac: Serviceable club debut. I didn't expect much from him.
3. May: Okay second game back. He was pretty well contained this week though.
4. Toa: The Toa/Skelton side in defence is a huge worry. He has turned back into shit both sides of the ball. I'd drop him and put Douehi there next week. Hopefully his defence settles Skelton a bit.
5. Skelton: Horrid in defence yesterday. While he is worth persevering with, he is not a true first grader yet.
6. Luai: I might be the only person who truly doesn't give a f**k if he pisses off to Perth. While I have no doubt he has help lifted the standards of the playing group to an extent, he is playing nowhere near his price tag......and never will.
7. Fainu: I have to call a spade a spade here.....he was complete shit. Pretty much a ghost and it has not been the first time with him in the seven. We all know his potential. By buying Madden, it is the clearest signal that the club is backing him. He needs to back himself and get more involved. Im tired of hearing people say cliubs in our spot are playing for nothing. The rest of the season is very crucial for us to have Fainu finish the season with some confidence for 2026....we need a shitload more from him.
8. May: A usual massive effort from him. Time for us to really reduce his minutes where we can considering where we are on the ladder.
9. Api: Pretty average....Im glad we are giving him less minutes to pretty much have him fresh.
10. Twal: Twal is pretty much as honest as they come......but I don't think any other club in the comp starts him. His go forward is just not up to scratch.
11. Seyfarth: non-impactful game and has not impacted a game in a while. We need another backrower badly.
12. Sukkar: Not first grade standard.
13. Doueihi: Was ok but him being at lock really does weaken at pack.

14. Hope: No superstar by any means but there pretty much to give Api a rest and to do some tackling.
15: Bird: Is no longer first grade standard....he has played a season too long. I doubt he'd even get a SL contract.
16. Pole: He went okay....he should be starting.
17. Finau: Average.......had a few poor misses in d.

Our pack is by far our biggest issue. We need some trade movement badly there.

(Luai) “And never will”…tick
I really hope Latu’s insipid performance was not inspired by the the “rules” Luai lays down before each game1/ I do the kicking regardless 2/ etc etc ..and his overbearing presence .. This sense of restriction and not getting it wrong next to the “great one” may be thwarting Latu’s natural game.. it’s not beyond possible… the difference with Latu compared to the last time he killed it is huge..and that was when Luai was out and AD was 6 and before that nothing much from Latu