Rumours (signings, sackings & other NRL stuff)

[Ned Kelly]

Just watched the doco. What a tragedy.
I can't see what else Madge could do with this lot. Most are reserve graders at best.
Being an ex Magpies supporter, watching those two Tommy Raudonikis tribute games broke my heart. So sad.

 

[Fordy20]

thanks for running the numbers. It I read it correct the win/loss is about the same whether playing with or with out Brooks at around 41%.

I wasn't clear in my post, the number in brackets is our win percentage when Brooks was playing. Having Brooks in the side almost doubles our chances of winning.

 

[stryker]

Hanley, Schofield, Courier, all played alright for the tigers. Chariots Offiah went alright. Gareth Widdop and George Williams have done pretty well. They’re just the ones of the top of my head, probably a couple more were ok. Defence can be an issue

I mean in the current age.
Widdop is the exception.

 

[Ned Kelly]

What a night. Just watched NRL 360 and they reckon most of our players are reserve graders. Only A D possibly making the bench for Melbourne. Gotta agree.

 

[stryker]

What a night. Just watched NRL 360 and they reckon most of our players are reserve graders. Only A D possibly making the bench for Melbourne. Gotta agree.

AD is not consistent enough for Melbourne currently, however he would be the most likely.
Agree on the rest though. They are a few years away from being good consistent first graders.

 

[Tigerm]

Hanley, Schofield, Courier, all played alright for the tigers. Chariots Offiah went alright. Gareth Widdop and George Williams have done pretty well. They’re just the ones of the top of my head, probably a couple more were ok. Defence can be an issue

Yep, Ellery Hanley went all right as well.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

This comes under other stuff:

I found this interesting this morning:
Canterbury Bulldogs' General Manager of Football Phil Gould concedes there's no way the club could have bagged the signature of Matt Burton had they tabled the same deal to him today.

Last November, the Bulldogs pulled off a massive coup in luring the young gun away from the Panthers as Trent Barrett went about a rebuild in Belmore.

Burton's potential was never in doubt, but with relatively little first-grade experience under his belt at the time - stuck behind the likes of Ivan Cleary's minor premiership squad - Burton had little currency on the NRL market.


Fast-forward not a year, and the 21-year-old has arguably proven himself to be one of the league's hottest targets.

Gus' big admission over Burton's Bulldogs deal

'Would not commence with what he's worth today'

wwos.nine.com.au

Unfortunately there's no reserve grade but how many other Matt Burton's are there out there? Perhaps the Tigers could do a total review of reserve graders, guys who are forever 18th & 19th man, guys who were stars coming through the junior ranks but have not been given a chance by the 1st grade coach and see if they can pick someone up cheap but worth giving a go. Guys like Erin Clark from the Titans

Oh wait, the Tigers have Zac Cini 21 (who deserves more game time), Reece Hoffman 20 (who scored a try on debut in 1st grade but hasn't been sighted since), Jock Madden 21 (Aust Schoolboys rep). Tigers let Sam McIntyre go and I thought he was coming along nicely, ran hard and more so than some powder puffs forwards the Tigers have. Tigers let Kane Bradley go and yet they gave the likes of Jennings game time, this mob have to do something.

 

[Vozzy]

What a night. Just watched NRL 360 and they reckon most of our players are reserve graders. Only A D possibly making the bench for Melbourne. Gotta agree.

And the thing is before half of those players who got to Melbourne were also reserve grades who were coached into first graders. I'm starting to believe we have players who have low ceilings and also unless they are not solid first graders Madge can turn a player from shit to consistant. When you have Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis, Like Keary and Reynolds you don't need to neccesarily coach players individually

 

[Tiger05]

When you have Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis, Like Keary and Reynolds you don't need to neccesarily coach players individually

This is the way it will always be. You need the cattle.

 

[Tigerm]

And the thing is before half of those players who got to Melbourne were also reserve grades who were coached into first graders. I'm starting to believe we have players who have low ceilings and also unless they are not solid first graders Madge can turn a player from shit to consistant. When you have Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis, Like Keary and Reynolds you don't need to neccesarily coach players individually

Yep, if a coach needs to coach a FG player on how to play, then the player shouldn’t be in FG.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

Yep, if a coach needs to coach a FG player on how to play, then the player shouldn’t be in FG.

100% agree, it's as bad as having a life saver sitting by the pool at the Olympic swimming.

 

[Mario chalmers]

Got bored and ran the numbers. Win/Loss % where Brooks has NOT played in bold.

Win: 23.5% (41.3%)
Loss: 76.5% (58.7%)

Ah sorry you were clear, I just mis-read.

The data doesnt make it any clearer other than to show we are shit both with and without Brooks!

The only thing I think we can all be sure on is that there is nobody talking on field to provide leadership of any kind. That is generally the halfback but it doesnt come naturally to Brooks.

 

[benched tiger]

That’s a problem with the modern game, so called athletes are being selected in first grade that don’t necessarily have the skills or knowledge of the game itself. Commentators get excited when a player simply draws and passes a ball these days, when past generations 9 out of 10 players could do it easily.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

That’s a problem with the modern game, so called athletes are being selected in first grade that don’t necessarily have the skills or knowledge of the game itself. Commentators get excited when a player simply draws and passes a ball these days, when past generations 9 out of 10 players could do it easily.

The old ARL comp had 3 grades, then from memory the 3rd grade changed to U23's and again from memory I think it allowed a few over aged players who were coming back from injury. In NSW the 2nd tier NSW Cup was always pretty strong, then the NRL introduced the U21's - all of these helped the athletes with their development and naturally allowed the young brilliant stars to jump many grades and go straight to 1st grade.

How often does Andrew John get excited during a game saying , wow did you see that and gems like that's unbelievable. As an old timer, I've seen the likes of Russel Fairfax, Brent Kenny, Steve Ella and who could forget his cousin Mark Ella plus so many other talented footballers do the same things and yet John's carries on as though it's the second coming.

 

[Ned Kelly]

The Roosters are interested in Conner Watson. Good to know we are no chance so soon .

 

[stryker]

Why was my post deleted?
The reasons given are beyond ridiculous.
f**k me you moderators are bitches.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

The old ARL comp had 3 grades, then from memory the 3rd grade changed to U23's and again from memory I think it allowed a few over aged players who were coming back from injury. In NSW the 2nd tier NSW Cup was always pretty strong, then the NRL introduced the U21's - all of these helped the athletes with their development and naturally allowed the young brilliant stars to jump many grades and go straight to 1st grade.

How often does Andrew John get excited during a game saying , wow did you see that and gems like that's unbelievable. As an old timer, I've seen the likes of Russel Fairfax, Brent Kenny, Steve Ella and who could forget his cousin Mark Ella plus so many other talented footballers do the same things and yet John's carries on as though it's the second coming.

They all do lol.

Brett Kenny, Sterlo, Ray Price, Junior, Big Mal, Brandy, Baa baa and Matt Geyer- these players were consistently good over a long period of time. Beggars belief, incredible fortitude and courage.

Not a two-season Charlie amongst them. These days players are in and out of form much more often. In the old days, a good player was never out of form for years and years on end. Same for cricketers.

And they were as tough as tough can be.

Jason Taylor could get hit by a Mack Truck and get up and dust himself off -and I’ve met him and hes not a massive human.

 

[gordsy]

Everyone talks about Bellamy being a genius and whilst that is no doubt true most overlook the culture and standards set by Cronk, Smith and Slater. They lead the way and those that came in either adapted or were quickly gotten rid of. It's very hard for one player to change the culture but if you have an influx of four or five guys with a winning, work hard mentality then it becomes a lot easier to implement.
Whilst he had his faults if we could sign a few blokes with the same attitude as Chris Lawrence we'd be doing a heck of lot better than we are now.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

Footy legends concerned by lack of player leadership at Wests Tigers​

A new documentary has shed new light on the Wests Tigers dressing room, and some footy legends have noticed a concerning trend.

Balmain legends Benny Elias and Steve Roach have slammed the lack of leadership among the Wests Tigers’ playing group at the moment.

The Tigers have struggled this season but remain in the hunt for finals, needing to win at least three out of the last four games of the season to have any chance of securing a spot in the top eight.

A new documentary series produced by Fox Sports and Kayo — Wild Wests: Tales from Tiger Town — has shed new light on the Tigers tumultuous season with fly-on-the-wall footage in the Tigers’ dressing room and coach’s box.

And after the second episode aired on Monday night, featuring a string of mid-season losses and a sole win over St George Illawarra, experts have noticed a glaring issue with the Tigers.

Coach Michael ‘Madge’ Maguire is constantly seen trying to rev up his players with motivational speeches in the sheds before the game and at halftime.

More often than not, each match ends with him tearing shreds off his troops for their lacklustre performances and for showing a lack of intent and determination on the field.

But Elias, who was part of the legendary Balmain Tigers side in the 1980s and early 1990s, believes more leadership should be coming from the players instead of the coach.

“On game day, I’m a little bit surprised at how much the coach needs to speak because I think you do all your speaking and hard work Monday to Friday and on match day, you turn up and you really don’t need any more,” he told Fox League’s NRL 360.

“To see him go down and use the microphone so often has really surprised me because as a player, all I need is my mate Blocker (Roach) or Junior (Wayne Pearce) or Siro (Paul Sironen) or my teammates whisper: ‘BE I’m going to be on your left or right hand side, my shoulder’s no good, please protect me’ and that was it.

“The speeches at halftime or before the game — if you’re not prepared and you need to be motivated, you’re in trouble.

“The way Madge the coach talks, is the way the players should be feeling and believing and acting.

“He’s the one that has the passion. He’s the one that’s ready to go out on the paddock and rip shreds off the opposition.

“That is the impact of the coach, but it should really be the player having that attitude.

“I was fortunate to be coached by some great coaches — Gus Gould, Warren Ryan, Bob Fulton, Jack Gibson — they never screamed.”

NRL 360 host Paul Kent agreed the Tigers are desperate for a player to take responsibility and take some of the burden off Maguire’s shoulders.

“Michael Maguire is the lone voice in that dressing room because they’re crying out for leaders, for blokes to stand up and be men and commit themselves,” he said.

Roach said in his playing days, he received feedback best when it came from a teammate, but the Tigers are lacking a leader within the playing group.

“When I was playing … honestly, I didn’t hear anything the coach said at halftime,” he said.

“Yelling and screaming, I’m telling you, it doesn’t work.

“You need leaders. James Tamou — at the back end of his career, I hear him in the media saying, ‘I’m going to get in there and tell them what to do’, but the poor bloke didn’t get to do it (in the win against the Bulldogs).

“He didn’t play in the first half, he played five or six minutes in the second half.

“So if that’s your leader and that’s the person leading the way — trying to tell you what we should be doing next, the next job, all that sort of stuff — you’re in trouble, because he’s not on the field.”

Maguire’s expletive-filled speeches in the documentary after losses to the Cowboys and Titans didn’t go unnoticed by Newcastle Knights legend Matty Johns either.

“What struck me — and it’s a huge problem for Madge and the Wests Tigers — it’s the lack of a really strong standout leader in their playing ranks,” he told The Matty Johns podcast.

“Because when you have at least one strong leader in the playing ranks, the coach has to do less talking.

“What you see in the sheds at halftime and before the games is just Madge talking.

“Madge has got to fill the void. No one standing up in the playing ranks laying down the law.

“If there isn’t a strong leader among the players then the coach has to do 90 per cent of the talking and that’s what burns players out.”

Footy legends concerned by lack of player leadership at Wests Tigers

Balmain legends Benny Elias and Steve Roach have slammed the lack of leadership among the Wests Tigers’ playing group at the moment.

www.news.com.au

I don't watch Foxtel but gee, the Tigers hopefully pocketed a bucket load of cash for opening their doors and then letting the Foxtel (i.e. News Corp) have their fun taking their pot shots. Those shots may be warranted but all it does is makes the club, management and team a laughing stock.

That said, Tamou is coming out looking so bad he should perhaps announce his retirement based on his medical condition, lack of leadership is surely a proven condition.

 

[Tigerm]

Footy legends concerned by lack of player leadership at Wests Tigers

Balmain legends Benny Elias and Steve Roach have slammed the lack of leadership among the Wests Tigers’ playing group at the moment.

www.news.com.au

I don't watch Foxtel but gee, the Tigers hopefully pocketed a bucket load of cash for opening their doors and then letting the Foxtel (i.e. News Corp) have their fun taking their pot shots. Those shots may be warranted but all it does is makes the club, management and team a laughing stock.

That said, Tamou is coming out looking so bad he should perhaps announce his retirement based on his medical condition, lack of leadership is surely a proven condition.

Agree, re the leadership of the group, I think we have a few leaders don't we? AD seems to do a lot of talking in the clip?

As for the Madge rants, we only get snippets, with him being in the scenes the most, BUT, I wonder how other coaches do it? Bellamy is called Bellyache and players laugh that you need a raincoat when he is going off?

I have never certainly coached anywhere near this level, but when you are committed as much as most coaches are, it's hard not to get excited when the players are not doing what they have trained for? Bearing in mind, these guys are doing this fulltime and earning big coin. At times, it seems they are incapable of basically being able to tackle, catch and pass.