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‘I’m glad to be back’: Sheens gets straight to work at Tigers
By Christian Nicolussi
November 8, 2021 — 7.46pm
Tim Sheens emerged from nearly nine hours of meetings in Tiger Town and declared: “I’m tired, but I’m glad to be back.”
Wests Tigers’ sole premiership-winning coach jetted in to Sydney late on Sunday and was on deck at the Tigers’ Concord headquarters just after 9am on a balmy morning in the Inner West.
He arrived with good friend and recruitment manager Warren McDonnell and was quickly greeted by a few players and chairman Lee Hagipantelis.
Having left England at the start of the northern hemisphere winter, Sheens opted to remain indoors all day rather than venture out in the harsh Sydney sun to watch the club’s youngsters train up the road at 11.30am.
The only hiccup for Sheens came at the end of the day, when he could not work out how to start his new car and set off the alarm.
“It’s been a fair trip for me and I’m tired,” Sheens told the Herald. “But it’s good to be here. The set-up here is probably better than it was before. It’s still too early to talk about things, and I’ll need my feet under the desk for at least a week or so. But I’m glad to be back.”
Sheens, 71, has some big challenges facing him as the club tries to avoid an 11th straight season without playing finals football.
Luke Brooks has been a hot topic, but the halfback was nowhere to be seen on Monday, and is not due to return to training until next Thursday. He has already reiterated to the Tigers he will not be seeking an early mark to join Newcastle as Mitchell Pearce’s replacement.
Immortal Andrew Johns, who has come on board to help the Knights, made it clear he was keen to work with Brooks in The Sun-Herald and said: “He looks like he needs a change, and getting out of Sydney would be good for him.”
Those comments, for the record, did not go down well at the Tigers, especially given Brooks has two more years to run on his deal and under the game’s rules cannot be seen to be enticed by rival clubs.
As for Sheens, Hagipantelis made it known he was honoured to have the club icon back at the joint venture.
“We’re extraordinarily lucky Tim has come back home,” Hagipantelis told the Herald. “It was very exciting to see him, and everything old is new again.
“The man has a presence. It’s the first time I’ve met him face to face. John Skandalis was a part of the 2005 alumni and you could see the interaction between them straight away, you can see how the players respond to him.
“The man has that much gravitas and experience and the way he holds himself, he draws people in - he has an absorbing personality.
“There are not too many who can compare as far as experience and his qualifications are concerned. He’s not the silver bullet ... but he’ll be an important part of this whole process.”
The big question will be how Sheens and coach Michael Maguire work together. Maguire played nearly a dozen first-grade games under Sheens at the Raiders in the early 1990s. Back then, the coach started work at 6am and was still going at it after 6pm.
“I’ve done a lot of Zoom conferences with both Tim and Michael in recent months and there’s a real synergy that exists,” Hagipantelis said. “The two of them have a long history, and it seems they’ve clicked back to where they were back in the day.
“Both are completely cognisant and aware of what their roles are, and at the end of day it’s their service to the WT that is imperative, and we’re all on the same page. It’s very exciting chapter for the Wests Tigers.”
Robbie Farah, Wests Ashfield chief Simon Cook, superstar five-eighth Adam Doueihi and new English recruit Oliver Gildart were just some of the high-profile people who took the time to greet Sheens.
The NRL draw will be released on Tuesday with the Tigers to host Melbourne in round one at CommBank Stadium - the Storm will be without suspended trio Brandon Smith, Cameron Munster and Harry Grant - but then play the Knights in Newcastle, followed by the Warriors at Campbelltown, Gold Coast at Cbus Stadium and Cronulla at the new Shark Park.
www.smh.com.au
By Christian Nicolussi
November 8, 2021 — 7.46pm
Tim Sheens emerged from nearly nine hours of meetings in Tiger Town and declared: “I’m tired, but I’m glad to be back.”
Wests Tigers’ sole premiership-winning coach jetted in to Sydney late on Sunday and was on deck at the Tigers’ Concord headquarters just after 9am on a balmy morning in the Inner West.
He arrived with good friend and recruitment manager Warren McDonnell and was quickly greeted by a few players and chairman Lee Hagipantelis.
Having left England at the start of the northern hemisphere winter, Sheens opted to remain indoors all day rather than venture out in the harsh Sydney sun to watch the club’s youngsters train up the road at 11.30am.
The only hiccup for Sheens came at the end of the day, when he could not work out how to start his new car and set off the alarm.
“It’s been a fair trip for me and I’m tired,” Sheens told the Herald. “But it’s good to be here. The set-up here is probably better than it was before. It’s still too early to talk about things, and I’ll need my feet under the desk for at least a week or so. But I’m glad to be back.”
Sheens, 71, has some big challenges facing him as the club tries to avoid an 11th straight season without playing finals football.
Luke Brooks has been a hot topic, but the halfback was nowhere to be seen on Monday, and is not due to return to training until next Thursday. He has already reiterated to the Tigers he will not be seeking an early mark to join Newcastle as Mitchell Pearce’s replacement.
Immortal Andrew Johns, who has come on board to help the Knights, made it clear he was keen to work with Brooks in The Sun-Herald and said: “He looks like he needs a change, and getting out of Sydney would be good for him.”
Those comments, for the record, did not go down well at the Tigers, especially given Brooks has two more years to run on his deal and under the game’s rules cannot be seen to be enticed by rival clubs.
As for Sheens, Hagipantelis made it known he was honoured to have the club icon back at the joint venture.
“We’re extraordinarily lucky Tim has come back home,” Hagipantelis told the Herald. “It was very exciting to see him, and everything old is new again.
“The man has a presence. It’s the first time I’ve met him face to face. John Skandalis was a part of the 2005 alumni and you could see the interaction between them straight away, you can see how the players respond to him.
“The man has that much gravitas and experience and the way he holds himself, he draws people in - he has an absorbing personality.
“There are not too many who can compare as far as experience and his qualifications are concerned. He’s not the silver bullet ... but he’ll be an important part of this whole process.”
The big question will be how Sheens and coach Michael Maguire work together. Maguire played nearly a dozen first-grade games under Sheens at the Raiders in the early 1990s. Back then, the coach started work at 6am and was still going at it after 6pm.
“I’ve done a lot of Zoom conferences with both Tim and Michael in recent months and there’s a real synergy that exists,” Hagipantelis said. “The two of them have a long history, and it seems they’ve clicked back to where they were back in the day.
“Both are completely cognisant and aware of what their roles are, and at the end of day it’s their service to the WT that is imperative, and we’re all on the same page. It’s very exciting chapter for the Wests Tigers.”
Robbie Farah, Wests Ashfield chief Simon Cook, superstar five-eighth Adam Doueihi and new English recruit Oliver Gildart were just some of the high-profile people who took the time to greet Sheens.
The NRL draw will be released on Tuesday with the Tigers to host Melbourne in round one at CommBank Stadium - the Storm will be without suspended trio Brandon Smith, Cameron Munster and Harry Grant - but then play the Knights in Newcastle, followed by the Warriors at Campbelltown, Gold Coast at Cbus Stadium and Cronulla at the new Shark Park.
‘I’m glad to be back’: Sheens gets straight to work at Tigers
A jet-lagged Tim Sheens was on deck for 9am at Wests Tigers’ Concord HQ, emerging after nine hours of meetings on his first day to give an optimistic summary of the situation at the club.
