https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2022-wests-tigers-season-preview-michael-maguire-tim-sheens-luke-brooks-jackson-hastings-adam-doueihi-squad/news-story/b29b61f6e4dc38221f7c6c4edad6fdd8
Tigers may have FINALLY found solution to $1.7m mystery. It could end a ‘decade of disaster’
Eamonn Tiernan from Fox Sports
February 7th, 2022 12:54 pm
The Wests Tigers have endured a “decade of disaster” but the club’s only premiership coach - Tim Sheens - has returned and two rugby league legends believe it marks the dawn of a new era.
Benny Elias and Mark Geyer have told foxsports.com.au why they believe 2022 will see a change in fortunes for the Tigers who have not played finals since 2011.
The return of Sheens and some shrewd recruiting has sparked a cautious degree of optimism in Tigerland heading into this season.
There are hopes Sheens will become a football whisperer for the under-pressure duo in coach Michael Maguire and halfback Luke Brooks.
THE TIM SHEENS EFFECT
Sheens famously led the Tigers to their only premiership in 2005 after bringing out the best in a baby-faced Benji Marshall.
Sheens left the club in messy circumstances in 2012 but enough water passed under the bridge and the prodigal son was welcomed back late last year.
The former Kangaroos coach is now the Tigers’ head of performance and he has total power over football operations, with Maguire reporting directly to him.
Elias, who played in two grand finals with the Balmain Tigers in the 1980s, backed the four-time premiership coach to once again have a profound impact on the club.
“Sheensy brings a lot more than just being the legendary coach,” Elias told foxsports.com.au.
“He’s won a premiership at the Wests Tigers, he knew what it took to get to win and hold that cup up in the air, he’s a total professional.
“He brings a lot of experience and finesse which is a great tonic for Madge (Maguire) to reflect on his ability as a coach and to shine.
“Sheensy’s cool, calm, collected way of approaching games, his experience in success and more importantly his experience with adversity and defeat when he was up there with the North Queensland Cowboys.
“He learnt so much up there being in a real rut with his coaching ability and they actually showed him the door.
“That was basically the end of Tim Sheens but we rejuvenated his career in early 2004 and he’s gone from strength to strength.”
Geyer - who played under Sheens at Penrith in the 1980s - echoed the sentiment and said the 71-year-old had already started turning the club around.
“His arrival has put everyone on their toes,” Geyer said.
“He’s very inclusive Timmy, even if you’re an under-20s player or NSW Cup player, you’re considered to be one of the real cogs of the arsenal.
“That’s one thing he’ll bring to Tigerland that they haven’t had in the past, Madge by all account is a very driven coach and that’s fantastic but you’ve also got to have an off button and I think they’ll complement each other beautifully.
“I just see them doing something that might be surprising this year.
“Sheensy doesn’t go to a place if he doesn’t think they’re going to be successful and I think in the back of his mind he knows this club is going to do better than recent years.”
MADGE AND HIS NEW SIDEKICKS
Maguire barely kept his job following a thorough review at the end of last season but his assistant coaches were shown the door.
Ben Gardiner and Nathan Cayless have been appointed his deputies this year and Elias said players have told him the pair have made an immediate impact.
“Madge has been under pressure for the past 18 months and rightfully so because the hard facts of life, especially in sport, is the scoreboard and the scoreboard has not been flattering,” Elias said.
“All I can say is the feedback I’m getting from the inside the camp and they all believe it’s an extraordinary difference to what they’ve been used to in the past few years.
“And that’s no criticism of the coaches that have left but they just seem to have a different dimension in their attitude towards attack and defence, it’s all changed and we needed to change.
“Those two assistants now have been a real breath of fresh air, they’ve changed the dimension and behaviour and with all that changes culture.
“We need to do some extraordinary things. Out of the box things. Because we’ve had a decade of disaster.
“We need to start doing things so differently to what we were doing before because our behaviour and our responses and our performances on the field have not been impressive.”
Geyer compared Maguire to Justin Langer, who controversially parted ways with Cricket Australia over the weekend.
Langer’s undoing was his intense style, which irked some players and eventually saw him leave his post despite recent success.
“They remind me a bit of each other Justin Langer and Madge Maguire, they have the same harsh exterior but deep down they’re just puppy dogs on the inside,” Geyer said.
“If Madge takes the foot off the accelerator by 10kms and lets the car idle a bit then the players will feel that, the players feel everything the coach does.”
LUKE BROOKS
The most scrutinised player in the NRL will once again head into 2022 under the microscope, but things could be different for Brooks this year.
The halfback, who has two years left to run on his $1.7 million deal, copped plenty of criticism during club’s failed 2021 season and he also joined the top 10 list of most games played without a finals appearance.
But he won the club’s player of the year award and remains committed to the Tigers, with two years left on his deal, despite being linked with a move this summer.
Elias believes the key to unlocking Brooks is to simply let him play his natural game.
“You’ve got to get the shackles off him and let him play what he sees and play more fluently,” he said.
“You talk about infectious, Jackson (Hastings) will make him such a great competitor and I think Jackson will do most of the talking and he’ll dominate in the halves and Brooks will be a much better player for it.”
Geyer said the secret to making Brooks reach his potential lay with Sheens - and allowing the 27-year-old to make mistakes.
“Brooks is always under pressure, he’s the whipping boy if they get beaten and he never gets the praise if they win,” Geyer said.
“It was only two or three years ago he was the halfback of the year in the Dally Ms, the kid can play.
“I really like his style of play, he’s tough, he’s tenacious, he’s skilful but I think sometimes he’s scared to try because of fear of failure and that’s where Timmy Sheens will rub that out of him, like he did with Benji back in ‘05, he’ll say ‘Mate you express yourself, I’d rather you fail in trying than fail in doing nothing at all’.
“Don’t lament on what could have been, the only time you should look back is to see how far you’ve come and he’s come a long way since he’s been a kid but he hasn’t made that next step to superstardom and he’s got it in him, he’s just got to have the confidence to go that one step further.
“Timmy Sheens is the perfect tonic for Brooks.”
JACKSON HASTINGS
Hastings played 13 NRL games for the Manly Sea Eagles and 34 for the Roosters - where he debuted in 2014 - before leaving the competition in 2018.
By his own admission, the playmaker had some maturing to do and he’s spent the past three years in the UK with Super League clubs Salford and Wigan.
Hastings won the Man of Steel award after being voted the Super League’s best player in 2019.
But the 25-year-old has returned to Australia for another crack at the NRL and signed a two-year deal with the Tigers.
“I think he’s one of the biggest signings of 2022,” Elias said.
“Jackson Hastings was the best player in England and he got to a grand final. His experience is second to none now and he understands what leadership and winning takes.
“He has a real winning DNA in him now, it makes him a much more positive person and I think that reflects on the team as a whole.
“He can also play 13 or 9 and he’s a great competitor.”
WHERE WILL THE TIGERS FINISH?
“The fish rots from the head, well the head is looking good,” Geyer said.
“They’ve got a great board, they’ve got an administration with Tim Sheens involved, they’ve got a coach who has won a comp before in Madge Maguire and basically this is the year of no more excuses, this is the year they’ve got to put up or shut up.
“They have to make the top eight, they’ve been ninth for the past 12 years it seems like, I think they’ve got to make the top eight for Madge to keep his job.”
Best 17:
1. Daine Laurie
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Oliver Gildart
4. Adam Doueihi
5. Ken Maumalo
6. Jackson Hastings
7. Luke Brooks
8. Stefano Utoikamanu
9. Jacob Liddle
10. James Tamou
11. Luke Garner
12. Luciano Leilua
13. Alex Twal
14. Tyrone Peachey
15. Thomas Mikaele
16. Joe Ofahengaue
17. Kelma Tuilagi
* Adam Doueihi and Tommy Talau are injured to start the year
* Asu Kepaoa is out until mid-season
* Shawn Blore is out for the year
Predicted finish: 8th
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