Trials

[Nutz]

As mentioned above Galvin showed enough to be given first crack at 7 or 6. I'd persist with him and try and let him mature into a role. Whatever role that turns out to be. At least he seemed interested and had a go. He did not look out of place. This will also make him happy and more likely to stay, if he does turn out to be good.

I wasn't aware that Tupou had signed with the Dolphins in the off season. Now that I do know I'd send him back to reserve grade. He's a development player, probably needing 3 years to become a decent first grader, if he makes it. I don't see any point in helping the Dolphins out. His spot would be better filled with a more experienced winger. Or another development player who's staying put.

Is Bateman injured? In Australia? If so why hasn't he played any minutes. We sorely need him.

From what I've seen so far, if we can avoid the spoon again it will be a win of sorts. We have a more difficult draw than last year.

I read somewhere that he has an ankle injury...I think.

 

[TheDefinitionOfMadness]

I agree. The lads look anorexic. Seriously one of my favourite tiger players is Seyfarth but gee he looks puny compared to the opposition.
At the end of the day, rugby league winners are usually.....
*Bigger,
*Faster,
*More agile,
*Tougher, not only physically but also mentally
*Smarter/football brains and,
*More determined
Seriously, how many of these traits are our players displaying. Not many I fear.
Also, when we recruit or develop, we have to be on the lookout for players that are naturally big and fast, they're the ones that usually have good careers in footy.
I know last night was a trail but it was the majority of our first grade side. I didn't see one thing last night that suggests we have turned the corner.

This has been a problem for some time. Every team seems to have 1 or 2 genuine flyers. We haven't had one since Josh Ado-Carr, that I can think of. We also always look much smaller than just about every other team. I completely agree regarding looking for these traits in recruitment.

 

[Nutz]

I wonder if I should loan Benji my stock whip to get these players moving.

 

[TheDefinitionOfMadness]

I wonder if I should loan Benji my stock whip to get these players moving.

Give it to him mate. He's going to need it more than you

 

[BrotherJim05]

I'll be very shocked if we don't get the spoon again

 

[WA Tiger]

No Bateman. I believe a winning team has a couple of leaders demanding excellence..

 

[Tigerm]

Marshall: A lot of work to do

We catch up with Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall following his team's defeat to the Dragons in Mudgee.

www.weststigers.com.au

 

[Nutz]

Thomas Mikaele impressive meat pie, offloads and barging runs in trial against Canberra.

 

[Wizardman]

Thomas Mikaele impressive meat pie, offloads and barging runs in trial against Canberra.

That man has NEVER kicked on in all the places he has been to since.....and he has been to a few clubs after us too.

 

[Nutz]

That man has NEVER kicked on in all the places he has been to since.....and he has been to a few clubs after us too.

Maybe playing in an inferior english comp has given him sone confidence because he was outstanding in the trial.
Good luck to him. He replaces another log Lucy who's gone to the Dragons

 

[Tiger Ted]

I'll be very shocked if we don't get the spoon again

The spoon is glaringly ours to lose.I know it was a trial but the listless performance that was devoid of effort & care was unforgivable.Im just glad I haven’t yet bought the membership pertaining to the 5 games at LO.

 

[Pezz70]

Absolute crap from the boys last night. We have not improved one f**king ioata from last year.

*IP....this needs to be said....why on Earth have we got nowhere near his best footy from the bloke? At Parra, he was close to being the best backrower on the world. We have seen NOTHING like that form at this club.

*Api.......get better! When Simpkin looks more stable than you, time to get back to basics and put the ball on your halves chest.

*Sullivan.....where the f**k was he last night? I'll give kudos to Sezer for a least having a dig but I think he has played himself out of a round one spot with that performance......a lot of wraps....just not delivering.


We are in for a long year. As I said earlier in the year, if we hit 12th or higher, it genuinely would be classed as a successful year for us.

Papaali has been butchered at the tigers, he killed it on the edges at Parra because he was consistently give good ball while running in a team that could throw some decent attacking shape at the opposition, at the Tigers he’s just a battering ram on the edge, there’s nothing going with him to make the opposition make any decisions in defence, they know when and where he’s gonna get it and they bash him. There needs to be more going on.

 

[Perth Tiger]

I haven't commented much on the trial, the less said the better. But I hope the instructions was to just hit it up and complete sets the whole game to not give away any of our shape before the season because that attack was so dreadful it had to be on purpose.

As usual we looked weaker, smaller and slower than the opposition so that is concerning.

I will say that Galvin didn't look out of place which is impressive for a kid in his first game against men, it might be his first game above schoolboy level.

In saying that I hope we don't rush him and take the long view. I cant see how his body would cope with a full season so I would rather him play the last 10 games of the season rather than start round 2, burn out half way through the season and potentially cop a bad injury due to fatigue.

 

[Wizardman]

Papaali has been butchered at the tigers, he killed it on the edges at Parra because he was consistently give good ball while running in a team that could throw some decent attacking shape at the opposition, at the Tigers he’s just a battering ram on the edge, there’s nothing going with him to make the opposition make any decisions in defence, they know when and where he’s gonna get it and they bash him. There needs to be more going on.

It is pretty damning that two world class backrowers who would be killing it at the vast majority of clubs in the NRL are used as virtual battering rams at our club. It is so frustrating! Honestly, the last backrower who looked world class at our club before Ryan Matterson was Gareth Ellis. That is a huge knock on our coaching staff to fail to use some pretty good resources to our advantage.

 

[Ned Kelly]

I'll be very shocked if we don't get the spoon again

Sadly we look like getting a threepeat.

Do we continue to go worse than the previous years with less wins?

Time for a bit of coach spin....We just need to improve on a couple of areas. Defense and attack. Oh and attitude.

Then if we can strengthen a couple of positions, wingers, centres, halves and forwards we will be competitive.

 

[WA Tiger]

Not sure how Benji should handle this. I don’t think he should get crazy angry.. His strengths I think, lie in the explanation and giving a shit..The scary Benji tho’ would be fkn scary and prob needs a stretch out right about now. Make the team feel alive. Not too much tho,but just enough

 

[Benchtiger]

Has anyone else got the feeling that the season is over even though it has not started yet.

 

[WA Tiger]

I’m not giving up until I see Galvin at 6 the 2 tall kids on the wing..and at least when the game carries 2 points..It didn’t look good but it was a trial and you will find most of the good runs come from a shit game.. which that was..This is the first test for Benji..at least lets see how he reacts

 

[Ned Kelly]

Has anyone else got the feeling that the season is over even though it has not started yet.

It's usually round 2 when I call the season over for the Tigers.

It does have that feel though.

I get the feeling I will be tuning in each week to see how Galvin goes. I would be happy if the broadcast stayed wide vision just so I could watch him constantly positioning himself in the best possible place to set something up. I know he has only played one trial and he is only 18 but I get the feeling he is our best bet for leading the team around the field.

I like WA's suggestion about the tall kid on the wing.

 

[simmo05]

It's usually round 2 when I call the season over for the Tigers.

It does have that feel though.

I get the feeling I will be tuning in each week to see how Galvin goes. I would be happy if the broadcast stayed wide vision just so I could watch him constantly positioning himself in the best possible place to set something up. I know he has only played one trial and he is only 18 but I get the feeling he is our best bet for leading the team around the field.

I like WA's suggestion about the tall kid on the wing.

I'm coming up from Melbourne for the Anzac weekend broncos game. If they are coming last I'm just going to stay at the beach,