Prediction time

[TiggaPlease]

12th seems about right to me. Our 2nd row would be the weakest in the comp, combine that with lack of depth and mental strength and it has all the hallmarks of another typical Tigers season.

 

[Tiger05]

Thats not a prediction that is like the sun rising in the east

Exactly. You could almost guarantee that this will happen.

 

[Magpies Forever]

I hope we can jag a place 7th or 8th but no better but probably more realistic to say about 9 or 10. We need Brooks & Moses to consistently fire as organisers and Tedesco to be injury free. All I ask of the forwards is to hold their own against the opposition.

Our interchange selections remain interesting. I'd prefer to see Rankin on the interchange covering all backline inc halves, with some good forwards who can do short periods at full pace.

Its up to Taylor and most importantly his defensive coach to get this team firing and working together. Something that seems to have been missing in WT for quite a few years now.

 

[Trollhammaren]

So many blokes playing for contracts, surely they can fire up this year for a change!

7th-8th.

 

[Marshall_magic]

I'll go 6th, in the back half of last season Brooks & Moses demonstrated that they can run games which will hold us in good stead, plus the circus with Farah & Taylor is officially over. I think we're a real shot at playing finals.

 

[super_coach]

Our major weaknesses in 2016 have not been addressed. No goal kicker and a team that will struggle big time against any team that plays the power game. Okay we sacked our defensive coach and appointed two to fill the job, but will they have any more luck...I doubt it.

I actually think we will slide to about 12th, but any team with Teddy and Moses is capable of big things

 

[Clifferd]

If we are to be successful at all this year we need all our players firing not just the usual Tedesco, Moses.

Brooks need a rocket up his ass and play more direct otherwise piss him off for good. I think we may be better off when he's in control whether Moses likes it or not

Nofo needs to keep doing what he's good at, strong running and weaving out of dummy half

Jamal needs to be an absolute monster like his Bulldogs hay days.

Our forwards need to hold their own

We should be ok, I have faith

 

[simmo1]

We should do better than last year, and I can't really see any of the teams that finished below us improving more than we do (perhaps Roosters). I feel Dogs and possibly Brisbane will drop out of the 8, so semi final football should be seen as the absolute minimum.

Then again, we'll probably just have a promising start to the year followed by a 6-7 game losing streak, before finding form towards the end of the year and finishing 9th.

 

[BrotherJim05]

My predictions:
- Sue will move to back row, giving us a back row of Lawrence, ET, Sue and FR rotation of Woods, Grant, Ava and Felise. Liddle and Matt will rotate as hookers start of season. Our pack will start the season well, matching it with other big packs but as the weeks roll by and Origin begins we will start getting hammered. Ballin will be brought in at some point and some of the rookies will stand up. Woods coming back will bring our confidence back and we will start matching it with the best again.
- Moses, Idris and Nofa will form a lethal combination on the right side. Moses will take his game to the next level with the confidence playing inside Sue/Idris. Form will dip a bit due to off field talk of the three not being re-signed but eventually it will all settle. Majority of our games will be won by the stacks of points this combo will put on.
- Due to the ineptitude of our club, Simona won't be with us in 2017, or his form will drop because of the contract dramas. Naiqama/Simona/Rankin/Brooks will struggle with forming combinations and our left side will get found out. Suli will be brought in but due to the mess he will not shine and everyone will start bringing the knives out whether he is worth it.
- We will be right in contention due to our right side attack, but at the end of the year, all the contract mess will sorted and our left side will start to form combinations. Brooks form will randomly sky rocket past Moses and our halves will finally combine to form the most potent attacking team in Wests Tigers history. This will take us into the top 8 for the first time since 2011.
- Tedesco will have a mid-season drop in form due to a niggling injury, but just as finals hits he will take his game to the next level. His form will carry us right into Semi-finals where will narrowly loose due to rookies being over-awed.

 

[Clifferd]

Tbh that would be a pretty successful season in my books, anywhere in the top 8

 

[The Charlatan]

If we don't defend like shit? 6th-8th.

If we defend like round 26 last year? 12th-14th

 

[Tiger Ted]

Our defence under Taylor's tutelage has been disgraceful & has regressed.Its unlikely it will improve anywhere near enough for us to make the 8.

If we defend like round 26 we will finish 15th-16th.Last yrs wooden spooners have beaten us 3 out of the last 4 times we've played them.

 

[Tiger Woody]

Papers and Fox predict us for 14th...
Close to the mark i think...I'm guessing 12-13th..
That backline from 2016 has changed slightly...So cant see Idris fixing the defence..No Simona...Kevvy needs to be out on the wing...
Need the big 4 to really fire this year..
4 injuries already before a balls been kicked...

 

[Vozzy]

I looked at all the squads today quite frankly and only a few teams have squads where 1-17 look strong. Cowboys, Sharks, Storm, Raiders, panthers those teams if play well will always be to strong for us but the rest to me the squads all have like 4 stars with the rest your average first grader. Knights and Dragons have weaker looking squads then most. Knowing us we will probably beat the 4 I mentioned Cowboys storm sharks and raiders but we will lose to dragons and the Knights.

For me 5th through till like 12th is like flip a coin who turns up on the day. There we games last year where tigers lost but still tried hard like the 1 point loss to the storm or being down 26-0 to the storm and score 4 tries in second half to only lose 29-20. We were one win from making the 8 and there were like 3-4 games where 1 bad decision or a missed goal or rub of green didn't go our way. If we play like we did second half of last year we should scrape into the top 8.

 

[benched tiger]

If we are absolute rubbish we still should end up in front of the knights and saints by seasons end,at best scrape into 8.