No one wants to get rid of Tago. But imo anyone that doesn't want to see his D sorted out is weird. We know he has it in him, so it needs fixing. It's as simple as that.
Yep. There is obviously some context around it (injury recovery, halfback chopping/changing every few weeks, defending full time against left-side/strong-side) - but the stats don't lie.
He's averaging 18.5 tackles per match, for 2.5 missed.
2021-2023 he was averaging 15.1 tackles, for 1.8 missed.
If they haven't already, teams will start to figure out that the more traffic they send his way, the higher chance of him producing a mistake.
Last week was diabolical. 10 tackles made, 4 tackles missed. 3 handling errors, and a penalty (sin-bin) which cost us 12 points. Against the worst team in the comp.
The week before was another 4 tackles missed, another 2 handling errors and 2 penalties.
Those not seeing it must have their head in the sand.
Our entire gameplan revolves around strong defence and discipline (with and without the ball). This stuff matters. And while Ivan isn't going to publicly blast him, I doubt it's gone unnoticed.
The week off will do him good. A week in NSW Cup would have worked too - just to concentrate for the full 80mins on hanging onto the ball, and making his tackles.