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Season 2026

Tigerm

Coach
Messages
15,305
R5 - Slimes-A
R6 - Knights-H
R7 - Broncs-H
R8 - Faiders-H
R9 - Sharks-A
R10 - Storm-A
R11 - Sea Eagles-A
R12 - Bye
 

Tigerm

Coach
Messages
15,305
TOUCHING SACRIFICE BEHIND ‘UNBELIEVABLE’ RETURNING TIGER

Last week, the Tigers were a chaotic mess at times in attack.

There was lots happening and you couldn’t fault the effort or energy, but the attack inside the opposition 20 was disorganised and in periods resembled touch footy.

That was before halves Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi went off injured.

So, without their leader in Luai the Tigers were expected to struggle against a red-hot Warriors outfit.

The opposite turned out to be true. Doueihi made a miraculous recovery from his hamstring injury, putting in a man-of-the-match performance with a staggering 226 run metres, five tackle busts and two try assists.


But ask the Tigers halfback who was behind Friday’s upset win and he’d tell it was actually new halves partner Jock Madden. He may not have generated too many headlines, but Madden was just as important to the surprise 32-14 victory.

Doueihi was at his destructive best running the football, but that wouldn’t have been possible without Madden shouldering most of the responsibility steering the team around.

The former Bronco kicked for 615 metres and generally straightened up the Tigers’ attack, something that was missing last week against South Sydney.

“Unbelievable,” Doueihi said of Madden’s performance in an interview with Fox League.

“He’s been knocking on the door for a few weeks now and he’s been great. From the first day he arrived in the off-season, he’s been really good for us in terms of straightening up our attack.

“His talk (is great). I just let him do his thing tonight. His kicking game is one of his biggest strengths. He just allowed me and Reamy to be free. It worked really well.”


Tigers coach Benji Marshall echoed Doueihi’s message, and even revealed a selfless sacrifice Madden made in the lead-up to Friday’s game which spoke volumes to how important this opportunity was to him with Luai injured.

“He’s been on the bench for two games with us, biding his time. (He) had a great pre-season.

“I thought he was the difference tonight,” Marshall said.



Jock Madden starred for the Tigers in place of the injured Jarome Luai.
Jock Madden starred for the Tigers in place of the injured Jarome Luai.Source: The Daily Telegraph


“He put Adam in position so he could just run. He did all the kicking, took all the pressure off Adam and let him just play, you know, so (that’s) Jock Madden I’m talking about.

“His grandfather passed away last week, and he didn’t make the funeral because he wanted to play for the team.


“He said his grandfather would have wanted him to play. So, we’re really proud of him.

“We’re really proud of him for that, and his grandfather would have been really proud of him.”

Alex McKinnon, meanwhile, wrote in his column for foxsports.com.au earlier in the weekthat he was excited to see Madden get his shot and declared he is “what the Tigers are missing”.

“He’s a mature half that showed a couple of glimpses last time he was there, but he never really got his opportunity,” McKinnon wrote.

“I strongly believe Madden has got that experience to manage a game. He kicks well and competes and I think it’s what the Tigers are missing.

“Someone to be able to steady the ship and control the contest with their long-range kicking game.”


Madden is contracted at the Tigers until the end of 2027 and has his path to regular NRL footy blocked without injuries, but McKinnon went as far as to claim he could be the halfback that partners Jarome Luai for the “next five years”.

That is how highly he thinks of Madden, and if not with the Perth Bears and PNG Chiefs soon to enter the league McKinnon believes the former Bronco could put himself in the shop-front window for rival clubs in the next few weeks.

“He’s got an opportunity to put his best foot forward and prove he belongs in the NRL,” McKinnon added.

“There are multiple new teams coming into the competition and with the game becoming a lot more fast, I really think that suits Madden’s style of play.”

---------------
Interesting but a good problem to have.
But it's only one game.
 

Tigerm

Coach
Messages
15,305

Tigers building

The Wests Tigers impressive victory over the Warriors this week gave them a 2-1 start to the season. They arguably should have won the fixture they dropped narrowly to the Rabbitohs as well.

The Tigers significantly have scored 93 points across their three matches, well up on their season average for last year.

It is in fact the most points they've scored in the first three rounds of a season since the Balmain days of 1985.

-------------
What a sad stat.
 

Tiger Ted

Bench
Messages
3,967

Tigers building

The Wests Tigers impressive victory over the Warriors this week gave them a 2-1 start to the season. They arguably should have won the fixture they dropped narrowly to the Rabbitohs as well.

The Tigers significantly have scored 93 points across their three matches, well up on their season average for last year.

It is in fact the most points they've scored in the first three rounds of a season since the Balmain days of 1985.

-------------
What a sad stat.
Underscores how long we’ve been a shithouse club.The fans deserve so much success for how this entire club from top to bottom has Fkd us around for what seems an eternity
 
Messages
1,449

Tigers building

The Wests Tigers impressive victory over the Warriors this week gave them a 2-1 start to the season. They arguably should have won the fixture they dropped narrowly to the Rabbitohs as well.

The Tigers significantly have scored 93 points across their three matches, well up on their season average for last year.

It is in fact the most points they've scored in the first three rounds of a season since the Balmain days of 1985.

-------------
What a sad stat.
In fairness, 31 pts a game today would have been the equivalent of 50 in 1985, so hats off to that 85 side.
 

Tigerm

Coach
Messages
15,305
1985 team

Player​
123451
NPC
679QF
NPC
101112SF
NPC
13F
NPC
141516171819202223242526mapsfmisf
Garry JACKFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFB FB FBFBFB FBFBFBFBFB
John DAVIDSONWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Ross CONLONCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCC
Gavin HANRAHANCCCCCCCCCCCC W
Russel GARTNERW WWWWWWW WWWWWWWW WWWWW WWWW
Paul BEAVENFEFEFEFEFE BBFEBCCB BFE
Scott GALEHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHB
Paul CLARKEFRFRFRFRFR FRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR B
Ben ELIASHHHHHHHHHHHH HHH HHHH HHHH
Steve ROACHFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR FRFRFR FRFR FRFRFRFRFR
David BROOKS2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R
Kevin HARDWICK2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2RL2RL2R 2RLLLLL B B2R2RL
Wayne PEARCELLLLLLLLLL L LLL LLLLLLLL
Rod PETHYBRIDGEBW B B W FBFBFB FBFBFB
Brett DAVIDSONBB
Michael MARKETOBB BB B BB B BB BBBBFRFRFR
Bruce PARNELL B B
John OWENS B BBBBBBB2R 2RB2RB2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2RBBB
Gary BRIDGE BFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFE FEFEFEFEFEFEBFEFEFE FEFE
Kerry HEMSLEY FRB BBFRFRB BFRFRFRFRFR FRFR B
Ron RYAN B FB B
Bill KAIN B B B BB B2R
Garry SCHOFIELD BCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Neil WHITTAKER HBB HHHHHB BH
Brett McCLURE B
Jamie DAVIDSON BW
Stephen HUMPHREYS FB BFBW BBB
Paul SIRONEN B B
Michael CAMPBELL B FE
James BELL BB B B
 

Tigerm

Coach
Messages
15,305
1985 team

Player​
123451
NPC
679QF
NPC
101112SF
NPC
13F
NPC
141516171819202223242526mapsfmisf
Garry JACKFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFBFB
John DAVIDSONWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Ross CONLONCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Gavin HANRAHANCCCCCCCCCCCCW
Russel GARTNERWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Paul BEAVENFEFEFEFEFEBBFEBCCBBFE
Scott GALEHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHBHB
Paul CLARKEFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRB
Ben ELIASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Steve ROACHFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFRFR
David BROOKS2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R
Kevin HARDWICK2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2RL2RL2R2RLLLLLBB2R2RL
Wayne PEARCELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Rod PETHYBRIDGEBWBBWFBFBFBFBFBFB
Brett DAVIDSONBB
Michael MARKETOBBBBBBBBBBBBBBFRFRFR
Bruce PARNELLBB
John OWENSBBBBBBBB2R2RB2RB2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2RBBB
Gary BRIDGEBFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEBFEFEFEFEFE
Kerry HEMSLEYFRBBBFRFRBBFRFRFRFRFRFRFRB
Ron RYANBFBB
Bill KAINBBBBBB2R
Garry SCHOFIELDBCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Neil WHITTAKERHBBHHHHHBBH
Brett McCLUREB
Jamie DAVIDSONBW
Stephen HUMPHREYSFBBFBWBBB
Paul SIRONENBB
Michael CAMPBELLBFE
James BELLBBBB
Not too shabby.
 

Ron's_Mate

Bench
Messages
4,327
The turning point for the Wests Tigers? Think back to Easter Monday last year
Christian Nicolussi
Sports reporter

This time last year, Lachie Galvin was banished to the NSW Cup and ran out for the Western Suburbs Magpies instead of playing for Wests Tigers in the Easter Monday clash against Parramatta.

It was one of many low points in the recent history of the Wests Tigers. But it was also a time the Tigers finally stood for something – a time they came together, made it clear what they were going to accept, and went all-in on the senior playing group and coach Benji Marshall.

One year on, excitement is brewing in Tiger Town again. There will be a healthy sprinkling of black, white and orange in the stands at CommBank Stadium on Monday when they take on the injury-hit Parramatta.

Tigers teams of old would not have clawed their way back from 10-0 down against a white-hot Warriors team to win in Auckland, like they did last weekend.

Tigers teams of old would not have raced in five tries by half-time at Leichhardt Oval, like they did against the Cowboys in round two.

To appreciate what is happening at the club right now, you have to go back to that afternoon 12 months ago when security flanked Galvin at Pratten Park.

Galvin and his manager Isaac Moses were at war with the Wests Tigers, with Marshall, with former CEO Shane Richardson, with co-captains Jarome Luai and Api Koroisau, and pretty much everyone else in the playing group.

The local junior had made it clear he did not see his future at the Tigers, only for all hell to break loose.
From our partners

Parramatta were keen to sign Galvin. Phil Gould and the Bulldogs eventually won out. A handful of Tigers fans started picking up the phone and telling the club’s reception what they thought of the kid.

It got nasty. Galvin ran out in front of a few hundred diehards for the Magpies a few hours before the Tigers did battle against the Eels up the road.

Only one Tigers player, Tallyn Da Silva, showed up to publicly support his mate.

Galvin had told Richardson and Marshall he wanted to play that weekend, even if it was in reserve grade. The club was worried about the reception Galvin would have received from his own fans had he remained in first grade.

The then 19-year-old was eventually brought back into the fold, but only lasted a few more weeks before joining the Dogs. Time will tell if Galvin can be a success at the Bulldogs.

For the Tigers, the Galvin stand-off was a classic line-in-the-sand moment. They decided they were no longer going to be pushed around, on or off the field. They started to play with a certain aggression. They developed a chip on their shoulder.

That resilience and toughness and not wanting to back down in the heat battle – even an eagerness to race into every melee – was happening most weeks after Galvin exited.

At the height of the Galvin saga, Luai and Koroisau, and Sunia Turuva, all premiership winners, made it crystal clear what they thought of Galvin’s reluctance to buy into what they were building. If Galvin missed the memo, he only had to check his Instagram account.

By getting so hot under the collar, Luai, Koroisau and Turuva also got the message across to the rest of the group as to what would and wouldn’t be tolerated.

And if you did not want to be a part of the revolution, make sure one of the multiple exit doors at the $78m Concord facility did not hit you on the way out.

Benji was the boss, and the senior players would happily drive the standards.

If the Tigers go on to something special in the next year or five, the starting point will be Easter Monday, 2025.

The intensity has certainly lifted. Just ask Jock Madden, who returned to the club this year after leaving at the end of 2022.

“The competitiveness among the boys,” Madden says, when you ask him the biggest difference between the present-day Tigers and the 2022 version. “At training, everyone wants to win; we also want to be a team that turns up for each other and has each others’ backs.”

When you ask Marshall this week about Galvin saga that enveloped the club this time last year, the coach says he had genuinely forgotten about it.

“In the review at the end of the year [when discussing] the team we wanted to be, that was probably the biggest turning point; what we were prepared to accept and not accept,” Marshall told this masthead.

“I hadn’t even thought about [Easter Monday]. I had actually forgotten about it until you mentioned it. The standards for the playing group, the coaching staff, the club, and what we’re prepared to accept, that’s changed. That’s the line in the sand.”

The Tigers are finally on the up.

 

Tigerm

Coach
Messages
15,305
The turning point for the Wests Tigers? Think back to Easter Monday last year
Christian Nicolussi
Sports reporter

This time last year, Lachie Galvin was banished to the NSW Cup and ran out for the Western Suburbs Magpies instead of playing for Wests Tigers in the Easter Monday clash against Parramatta.

It was one of many low points in the recent history of the Wests Tigers. But it was also a time the Tigers finally stood for something – a time they came together, made it clear what they were going to accept, and went all-in on the senior playing group and coach Benji Marshall.

One year on, excitement is brewing in Tiger Town again. There will be a healthy sprinkling of black, white and orange in the stands at CommBank Stadium on Monday when they take on the injury-hit Parramatta.

Tigers teams of old would not have clawed their way back from 10-0 down against a white-hot Warriors team to win in Auckland, like they did last weekend.

Tigers teams of old would not have raced in five tries by half-time at Leichhardt Oval, like they did against the Cowboys in round two.

To appreciate what is happening at the club right now, you have to go back to that afternoon 12 months ago when security flanked Galvin at Pratten Park.

Galvin and his manager Isaac Moses were at war with the Wests Tigers, with Marshall, with former CEO Shane Richardson, with co-captains Jarome Luai and Api Koroisau, and pretty much everyone else in the playing group.

The local junior had made it clear he did not see his future at the Tigers, only for all hell to break loose.
From our partners

Parramatta were keen to sign Galvin. Phil Gould and the Bulldogs eventually won out. A handful of Tigers fans started picking up the phone and telling the club’s reception what they thought of the kid.

It got nasty. Galvin ran out in front of a few hundred diehards for the Magpies a few hours before the Tigers did battle against the Eels up the road.

Only one Tigers player, Tallyn Da Silva, showed up to publicly support his mate.

Galvin had told Richardson and Marshall he wanted to play that weekend, even if it was in reserve grade. The club was worried about the reception Galvin would have received from his own fans had he remained in first grade.

The then 19-year-old was eventually brought back into the fold, but only lasted a few more weeks before joining the Dogs. Time will tell if Galvin can be a success at the Bulldogs.

For the Tigers, the Galvin stand-off was a classic line-in-the-sand moment. They decided they were no longer going to be pushed around, on or off the field. They started to play with a certain aggression. They developed a chip on their shoulder.

That resilience and toughness and not wanting to back down in the heat battle – even an eagerness to race into every melee – was happening most weeks after Galvin exited.

At the height of the Galvin saga, Luai and Koroisau, and Sunia Turuva, all premiership winners, made it crystal clear what they thought of Galvin’s reluctance to buy into what they were building. If Galvin missed the memo, he only had to check his Instagram account.

By getting so hot under the collar, Luai, Koroisau and Turuva also got the message across to the rest of the group as to what would and wouldn’t be tolerated.

And if you did not want to be a part of the revolution, make sure one of the multiple exit doors at the $78m Concord facility did not hit you on the way out.

Benji was the boss, and the senior players would happily drive the standards.

If the Tigers go on to something special in the next year or five, the starting point will be Easter Monday, 2025.

The intensity has certainly lifted. Just ask Jock Madden, who returned to the club this year after leaving at the end of 2022.

“The competitiveness among the boys,” Madden says, when you ask him the biggest difference between the present-day Tigers and the 2022 version. “At training, everyone wants to win; we also want to be a team that turns up for each other and has each others’ backs.”

When you ask Marshall this week about Galvin saga that enveloped the club this time last year, the coach says he had genuinely forgotten about it.

“In the review at the end of the year [when discussing] the team we wanted to be, that was probably the biggest turning point; what we were prepared to accept and not accept,” Marshall told this masthead.

“I hadn’t even thought about [Easter Monday]. I had actually forgotten about it until you mentioned it. The standards for the playing group, the coaching staff, the club, and what we’re prepared to accept, that’s changed. That’s the line in the sand.”

The Tigers are finally on the up.

I agree, whether it fully happens this year is unknown, but I do think we've finally got a very competitive squad.
 

Tiger Ted

Bench
Messages
3,967
The turning point for the Wests Tigers? Think back to Easter Monday last year
Christian Nicolussi
Sports reporter

This time last year, Lachie Galvin was banished to the NSW Cup and ran out for the Western Suburbs Magpies instead of playing for Wests Tigers in the Easter Monday clash against Parramatta.

It was one of many low points in the recent history of the Wests Tigers. But it was also a time the Tigers finally stood for something – a time they came together, made it clear what they were going to accept, and went all-in on the senior playing group and coach Benji Marshall.

One year on, excitement is brewing in Tiger Town again. There will be a healthy sprinkling of black, white and orange in the stands at CommBank Stadium on Monday when they take on the injury-hit Parramatta.

Tigers teams of old would not have clawed their way back from 10-0 down against a white-hot Warriors team to win in Auckland, like they did last weekend.

Tigers teams of old would not have raced in five tries by half-time at Leichhardt Oval, like they did against the Cowboys in round two.

To appreciate what is happening at the club right now, you have to go back to that afternoon 12 months ago when security flanked Galvin at Pratten Park.

Galvin and his manager Isaac Moses were at war with the Wests Tigers, with Marshall, with former CEO Shane Richardson, with co-captains Jarome Luai and Api Koroisau, and pretty much everyone else in the playing group.

The local junior had made it clear he did not see his future at the Tigers, only for all hell to break loose.
From our partners

Parramatta were keen to sign Galvin. Phil Gould and the Bulldogs eventually won out. A handful of Tigers fans started picking up the phone and telling the club’s reception what they thought of the kid.

It got nasty. Galvin ran out in front of a few hundred diehards for the Magpies a few hours before the Tigers did battle against the Eels up the road.

Only one Tigers player, Tallyn Da Silva, showed up to publicly support his mate.

Galvin had told Richardson and Marshall he wanted to play that weekend, even if it was in reserve grade. The club was worried about the reception Galvin would have received from his own fans had he remained in first grade.

The then 19-year-old was eventually brought back into the fold, but only lasted a few more weeks before joining the Dogs. Time will tell if Galvin can be a success at the Bulldogs.

For the Tigers, the Galvin stand-off was a classic line-in-the-sand moment. They decided they were no longer going to be pushed around, on or off the field. They started to play with a certain aggression. They developed a chip on their shoulder.

That resilience and toughness and not wanting to back down in the heat battle – even an eagerness to race into every melee – was happening most weeks after Galvin exited.

At the height of the Galvin saga, Luai and Koroisau, and Sunia Turuva, all premiership winners, made it crystal clear what they thought of Galvin’s reluctance to buy into what they were building. If Galvin missed the memo, he only had to check his Instagram account.

By getting so hot under the collar, Luai, Koroisau and Turuva also got the message across to the rest of the group as to what would and wouldn’t be tolerated.

And if you did not want to be a part of the revolution, make sure one of the multiple exit doors at the $78m Concord facility did not hit you on the way out.

Benji was the boss, and the senior players would happily drive the standards.

If the Tigers go on to something special in the next year or five, the starting point will be Easter Monday, 2025.

The intensity has certainly lifted. Just ask Jock Madden, who returned to the club this year after leaving at the end of 2022.

“The competitiveness among the boys,” Madden says, when you ask him the biggest difference between the present-day Tigers and the 2022 version. “At training, everyone wants to win; we also want to be a team that turns up for each other and has each others’ backs.”

When you ask Marshall this week about Galvin saga that enveloped the club this time last year, the coach says he had genuinely forgotten about it.

“In the review at the end of the year [when discussing] the team we wanted to be, that was probably the biggest turning point; what we were prepared to accept and not accept,” Marshall told this masthead.

“I hadn’t even thought about [Easter Monday]. I had actually forgotten about it until you mentioned it. The standards for the playing group, the coaching staff, the club, and what we’re prepared to accept, that’s changed. That’s the line in the sand.”

The Tigers are finally on the up.

The fanciful commentary about us is laughable.Ud think it was rd 26 & we are entrenched in the top 4.Weve achieved nothing yet.Weve won 2 games(1 was against a woeful cows at the 8th) & lost 1 in an ordinary performance against souths in there worst game this season.
 

Tiger05

Coach
Messages
11,427
The fanciful commentary about us is laughable.Ud think it was rd 26 & we are entrenched in the top 4.Weve achieved nothing yet.Weve won 2 games(1 was against a woeful cows at the 8th) & lost 1 in an ordinary performance against souths in there worst game this season.

Agreed but our roster looks much improved and the win last week was not how we typically play.

They have to though perform consistently over the rest of the season.
 
Messages
1,449
The turning point for the Wests Tigers? Think back to Easter Monday last year
Christian Nicolussi
Sports reporter

This time last year, Lachie Galvin was banished to the NSW Cup and ran out for the Western Suburbs Magpies instead of playing for Wests Tigers in the Easter Monday clash against Parramatta.

It was one of many low points in the recent history of the Wests Tigers. But it was also a time the Tigers finally stood for something – a time they came together, made it clear what they were going to accept, and went all-in on the senior playing group and coach Benji Marshall.

One year on, excitement is brewing in Tiger Town again. There will be a healthy sprinkling of black, white and orange in the stands at CommBank Stadium on Monday when they take on the injury-hit Parramatta.

Tigers teams of old would not have clawed their way back from 10-0 down against a white-hot Warriors team to win in Auckland, like they did last weekend.

Tigers teams of old would not have raced in five tries by half-time at Leichhardt Oval, like they did against the Cowboys in round two.

To appreciate what is happening at the club right now, you have to go back to that afternoon 12 months ago when security flanked Galvin at Pratten Park.

Galvin and his manager Isaac Moses were at war with the Wests Tigers, with Marshall, with former CEO Shane Richardson, with co-captains Jarome Luai and Api Koroisau, and pretty much everyone else in the playing group.

The local junior had made it clear he did not see his future at the Tigers, only for all hell to break loose.
From our partners

Parramatta were keen to sign Galvin. Phil Gould and the Bulldogs eventually won out. A handful of Tigers fans started picking up the phone and telling the club’s reception what they thought of the kid.

It got nasty. Galvin ran out in front of a few hundred diehards for the Magpies a few hours before the Tigers did battle against the Eels up the road.

Only one Tigers player, Tallyn Da Silva, showed up to publicly support his mate.

Galvin had told Richardson and Marshall he wanted to play that weekend, even if it was in reserve grade. The club was worried about the reception Galvin would have received from his own fans had he remained in first grade.

The then 19-year-old was eventually brought back into the fold, but only lasted a few more weeks before joining the Dogs. Time will tell if Galvin can be a success at the Bulldogs.

For the Tigers, the Galvin stand-off was a classic line-in-the-sand moment. They decided they were no longer going to be pushed around, on or off the field. They started to play with a certain aggression. They developed a chip on their shoulder.

That resilience and toughness and not wanting to back down in the heat battle – even an eagerness to race into every melee – was happening most weeks after Galvin exited.

At the height of the Galvin saga, Luai and Koroisau, and Sunia Turuva, all premiership winners, made it crystal clear what they thought of Galvin’s reluctance to buy into what they were building. If Galvin missed the memo, he only had to check his Instagram account.

By getting so hot under the collar, Luai, Koroisau and Turuva also got the message across to the rest of the group as to what would and wouldn’t be tolerated.

And if you did not want to be a part of the revolution, make sure one of the multiple exit doors at the $78m Concord facility did not hit you on the way out.

Benji was the boss, and the senior players would happily drive the standards.

If the Tigers go on to something special in the next year or five, the starting point will be Easter Monday, 2025.

The intensity has certainly lifted. Just ask Jock Madden, who returned to the club this year after leaving at the end of 2022.

“The competitiveness among the boys,” Madden says, when you ask him the biggest difference between the present-day Tigers and the 2022 version. “At training, everyone wants to win; we also want to be a team that turns up for each other and has each others’ backs.”

When you ask Marshall this week about Galvin saga that enveloped the club this time last year, the coach says he had genuinely forgotten about it.

“In the review at the end of the year [when discussing] the team we wanted to be, that was probably the biggest turning point; what we were prepared to accept and not accept,” Marshall told this masthead.

“I hadn’t even thought about [Easter Monday]. I had actually forgotten about it until you mentioned it. The standards for the playing group, the coaching staff, the club, and what we’re prepared to accept, that’s changed. That’s the line in the sand.”

The Tigers are finally on the up.


The tigers showed they wouldn't be pushed around? As I remember it, Galvin got exactly what he wanted, and we got a paltry $165k that couldn't be used as cap money. I think we got royally screwed.

I've been burnt by this club too many times to count. I'll reserve my judgement until about round 16, with hope in my heart as always.
 

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