Time to step up

[Bricey]

With the tigers recruiting in the off season one of the best for years, just wondering who is on borrowed time in 1st grade.

Its time to step up for a few players that have showed their "promise" and "potentual" otherwise there will be players snapping at thier heals to take the spot.

for mine it has to be Bryce Gibbs. Too many dickhead penalties and often goes missing when the side needs the hard yards most. With Payton, Hindmarsh and Galloway as the front row options, If Bryce makes the bench, he HAS to perform not just the odd week, but every week!

 

[Stagger eel]

With the tigers recruiting in the off season one of the best for years, just wondering who is on borrowed time in 1st grade.

Its time to step up for a few players that have showed their "promise" and "potentual" otherwise there will be players snapping at thier heals to take the spot.

for mine it has to be Bryce Gibbs. Too many dickhead penalties and often goes missing when the side needs the hard yards most. With Payton, Hindmarsh and Galloway as the front row options, If Bryce makes the bench, he HAS to perform not just the odd week, but every week!

Jason Cayless ;-)

if Jason plays half the season, you blokes will be in with a REAL show..

 

[westie]

Don't post drunk. Dribble comes through the keyboard too.

 

[innsaneink]

A lot of his penalties are penalties ALL teams concede when the defense needs it - regrouping.
Most of your ''dickhead penalties'' delay an inevitable try against, some however dont, a gamble that pays off.
Gibbs doesnt go missing, he was the only forward in our pack to regularly average over 100m the 2nd half of last season.
He's probably our most improved forward.

 

[Magpies Forever]

Mid 2009 season I would readily put Gibbs name down in first place as a problem and with huge question mark on his future however in the later half of the season he did step up and deserves the benefit effort brings- as long as he keeps it up.

In the terms of established players in the club that remain after the great cull of 2009 I reckon it is one Benji Marshall that has to perform. 2009 saw him being played in the wrong position for a lot of the time and his performance was up and down all season. Taking that into account along with 3 preceding seasons of injury Benji will have to play consistently well in 2010 to live up to his reputation and his annual salary from WT.

I'd also place Heighington on a step up notice- he was pretty quiet in 2009 but Ellis's great performance masked Heighington's quiet one.

 

[Tigers_are_Pro]

A lot of his penalties are penalties ALL teams concede when the defense needs it - regrouping.
Most of your ''dickhead penalties'' delay an inevitable try against, some however dont, a gamble that pays off.
Gibbs doesnt go missing, he was the only forward in our pack to regularly average over 100m the 2nd half of last season.
He's probably our most improved forward.

You can't argue Gibbs doesn't give away some bonehead penalties, like laying down too long etc when not needed, but I totally agree with you on the second part.

Gibbs doesn't provide impact, which Bricey is probably after, but he's a good workhorse player. He'll make 100m next to every week and will chip in with a good 20+ tackles.

 

[DanOz]

I don't see that our recruitment was that great. Cayless and Tupou have an injury question mark, Taumata has issues, Flanagan is an unknown at NRL level, Brown, Moors, Daniella, Fitzhenry, Fulton are certainly no match winners, and we may spend big dollars on an old guy with behavioural problems of his own that hasnt played league in years and wont even give us an off season to get ready.

Who has to step up imo? Sheens. His positional selection has cost us dearly. Play Moltzen at halfback and Marshall at five eighth for the entire season, and give them time to develope a real combination.

 

[Magpies Forever]

I don't see that our recruitment was that great. Cayless and Tupou have an injury question mark, Taumata has issues, Flanagan is an unknown at NRL level, Brown, Moors, Daniella, Fitzhenry, Fulton are certainly no match winners, and we may spend big dollars on an old guy with behavioural problems of his own that hasnt played league in years and wont even give us an off season to get ready.

Who has to step up imo? Sheens. His positional selection has cost us dearly. Play Moltzen at halfback and Marshall at five eighth for the entire season, and give them time to develope a real combination.

Fully agree on the Sheens comment- I'd also go further and say the entire coaching staff of 2009- Sheens, Simmons and Gentle need to step up or out.

 

[Bricey]

Agree totally with Moltzen at 1/2, but after selling of mouse to the cowboys, who do we have as a genuine option at fullback?

Aside from playing malaney, who by most peoples opinion on the forum is that he is not ready for NRL level. Does moltzen head to fullback for the first few weeks and play taumata at 1/2, or does teflon bite the bullet, play moltzen at 1/2, mulaney in the 1, and have taumata off the bench?

Either option is not going to matter if the forwards don't do thier job in getting a roll on early in the set and provide a platform for the backs to work off, which brings me back to Bryce Gibbs

Not denying that he hasnt improved his game, but still think there is more in him. With the other props that are on the roster for this year, he could be the one to loose his place if everyone is fit and performing

 

[super_coach]

Recruitment best for years???? Iam not sure on that one, Cayles, Lotte (when its announced) and a few guys to bolster the depth dont turn a team that runs mid pack into a champion team in a season. Most of the teams below us have built up their playing roster in the off season and a few above have dropped slightly, this all adds up to a season of close games and we are not to good at the close games if you get my drift. If we had signed another top notch frontrower I would be excited but at present Iam not sure how we will go and my vibes are tending to be negative------so whats new!!!!

 

[Bricey]

Recruitment best for years???? Iam not sure on that one, Cayles, Lotte (when its announced) and a few guys to bolster the depth dont turn a team that runs mid pack into a champion team in a season. Most of the teams below us have built up their playing roster in the off season and a few above have dropped slightly, this all adds up to a season of close games and we are not to good at the close games if you get my drift. If we had signed another top notch frontrower I would be excited but at present Iam not sure how we will go and my vibes are tending to be negative------so whats new!!!!

Still didnt answer the question......

who needs to step up to make sure we DO make the finals IYO?

 

[innsaneink]

Think a lot of people are confusing quantity with quality when looking at the recruiting this season.
The new guys may all be great, the all may be duds as well - hopefully the former occurs.
Farah needs a big year, his back end of last season wasnt that flash

 

[Tigers_are_Pro]

If we line up with Marshall @ 6 and Moltzen @ 7 I think we'll make the top 8 easily, if not 4.

 

[blackandwhite]

Agree totally with Moltzen at 1/2, but after selling of mouse to the cowboys, who do we have as a genuine option at fullback?

Aside from playing malaney, who by most peoples opinion on the forum is that he is not ready for NRL level. Does moltzen head to fullback for the first few weeks and play taumata at 1/2, or does teflon bite the bullet, play moltzen at 1/2, mulaney in the 1, and have taumata off the bench?

I think you'll find Blake Lazarus would be ahead of Mullaney.

Mullaney is a very long way off NRL.

Lazarus was injured before the season kicked off, it remains to be seen how he comes back.

If he recovers well and stays healthy, he'll be the tigers fullback before too long.

 

[Martinplace]

If we line up with Marshall @ 6 and Moltzen @ 7 I think we'll make the top 8 easily, if not 4.

I agree, there are enough players on the roster to find a fullback, but I think our biggest weakness will again be the lack of a consistent goal kicker that gets us through the tight games.

 

[DanOz]

Another possibility is Sheens will move move Beau Ryan to fullback, with Tupou or Fitzhenry to the wing. Sheens initially was ear marking Ryan as Hodgson's replacement.

I find it hard to even type the name Fitzhenry...

 

[tomcat]

fitz wont be in first grade, believe me...

 

[bubblesunlimited]

Let's not forget Junior Moors asa front row option, he was very highly regarded at the Panthers.

We have a PLETHORA of backs depth, with Brown, Daniela, Tupou, Taumata and a few of the "kids" stepping up.

Mark Flanagan may be a smokey, who knows?

I just wish we got Lima.

 

[DanOz]

I just wish we got Lima.

Amen. I'd rather go for Joel Clinton than Lote Tuqiri.

 

[Eddie.]

.Seems to be a inflated sense of optimism over on the offical site. We will walk into the 8 and its a failure of a season if we are not in and around the Top 4. On Paper I tend to agree, not so much that we have an outstanding squad. Just the fact that a lot of other sides seem to be going backwards or losing depth, or are just plain mediocre.

Yes, we should make the 8, and on paper we should make the Top 4. However this is the Tigers here we are talking about and a Tim Sheens coached team we are talking about. A combination which hasnt had too many winning seasons over the decade Ok, we killed a bunch of lowly teams at the end of last season to make people feel all fluffy about our chances. If you want to take the cynical way of looking at it (which i usually do) we won 1 from our last 3 and bombed out again just as it seemed we would have a winning season.

Squad looks pretty decent and our signings look promising. Could rid of some dead wood which was long overdue but then undid the good work by needless signings in Fulton and Fitzhenry. Lima would of been the best signing in my eyes, as he has been performing in the NRL consistently for the last 4 years. Tuquiri and Cayless could be great although 2010 might not see the best of them as they try to re adjust. Still major questionsover our fullback and halfback, arguably the 2 most important positions in League these days.

Overall I still expect a season similar to the last 4. If we continue losing 6/8 of the 2 point cliffhangers we will continue to be dissapointed. need to learn how to win those ones because they have killed us the last 4 years.