JamMastahShane
Juniors
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- 44
22 July 2004
A king hit on Wests Tigers veteran forward Mark O'Neill has dominated the headlines this week.
And Tigers coach Tim Sheens said his players would cop another on-field thumping if they let the hysteria surrounding O'Neill distract them against the red-hot Bulldogs at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday night.
O'Neill is still feeling the effects of the well documented hit by Melbourne's Danny Williams in the Tigers' last round NRL win over the Storm and has been indefinitely sidelined.
"We're not considering that (O'Neill's return) at this stage, it's just a wait and see situation at this stage," Sheens said.
While his players' thoughts are with O'Neill, Sheens said the Tigers had no choice but to adopt a business-as-usual approach against the second-placed Bulldogs.
The Tigers (11th; 8-10) finally broke a four-game losing streak in the last round 32-18 win over Melbourne - but they line up against a Bulldogs (2nd; 13-4) outfit on a six-match winning run.
"They are a side if they are on their game and we're not, we will be embarrassed again," said Sheens, referring to their recent 50-0 (to the Dragons) and 54-0 (the Roosters) thrashings.
"It (O'Neill) hasn't been an issue for us at all, we'll just get on with the business at hand.
"The old `keep your eye on the road and out of the rear view mirror' is the story - our attitude is to just keep looking forward to the next game.
"It's too important a stage of the season for us to be distracted by little issues like that."
Sheens said the O'Neill-Williams controversy would affect Melbourne more than the Tigers this weekend.
"All the drama this week... it's had nothing to do with us, that's had more to do with Melbourne," he said.
"We've lost Mark O'Neill so we... have prepared accordingly.
"The win (against Melbourne) was much needed from our point of view and with the short week because of the Friday game you don't have time to stop and think about things."
Statistics are on the Tigers' side - they have won three of the last four games against the Bulldogs.
"But we are not kidding ourselves, we are talking about a class outfit this week, they are a top three (side)," Sheens said.
"But we have prepared well, we have high expectations."
The Tigers have lost skipper Darren Senter (hamstring) for one week but are reveling in the full-time return of veteran utility Mick Buettner who has come back from a career-threatening knee injury.
Buettner has slotted into the halves with Queensland halfback Scott Prince against the Bulldogs.
"Mick's gradually finding his feet, he's not quite where he has been in his career, but he has certainly worked hard to get back on and he's invaluable to us," Sheens said.
"He's looking at each game as being his last, he's playing it that way - he'll wait and see at the end of the season to see how he feels."
The Bulldogs have been buoyed this week by goal kicking winger Hazem El Masri re-signing for another three years, knocking back lucrative offers from three NRL clubs and a huge French rugby union deal.
Brought to you by AAP
A king hit on Wests Tigers veteran forward Mark O'Neill has dominated the headlines this week.
And Tigers coach Tim Sheens said his players would cop another on-field thumping if they let the hysteria surrounding O'Neill distract them against the red-hot Bulldogs at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday night.
O'Neill is still feeling the effects of the well documented hit by Melbourne's Danny Williams in the Tigers' last round NRL win over the Storm and has been indefinitely sidelined.
"We're not considering that (O'Neill's return) at this stage, it's just a wait and see situation at this stage," Sheens said.
While his players' thoughts are with O'Neill, Sheens said the Tigers had no choice but to adopt a business-as-usual approach against the second-placed Bulldogs.
The Tigers (11th; 8-10) finally broke a four-game losing streak in the last round 32-18 win over Melbourne - but they line up against a Bulldogs (2nd; 13-4) outfit on a six-match winning run.
"They are a side if they are on their game and we're not, we will be embarrassed again," said Sheens, referring to their recent 50-0 (to the Dragons) and 54-0 (the Roosters) thrashings.
"It (O'Neill) hasn't been an issue for us at all, we'll just get on with the business at hand.
"The old `keep your eye on the road and out of the rear view mirror' is the story - our attitude is to just keep looking forward to the next game.
"It's too important a stage of the season for us to be distracted by little issues like that."
Sheens said the O'Neill-Williams controversy would affect Melbourne more than the Tigers this weekend.
"All the drama this week... it's had nothing to do with us, that's had more to do with Melbourne," he said.
"We've lost Mark O'Neill so we... have prepared accordingly.
"The win (against Melbourne) was much needed from our point of view and with the short week because of the Friday game you don't have time to stop and think about things."
Statistics are on the Tigers' side - they have won three of the last four games against the Bulldogs.
"But we are not kidding ourselves, we are talking about a class outfit this week, they are a top three (side)," Sheens said.
"But we have prepared well, we have high expectations."
The Tigers have lost skipper Darren Senter (hamstring) for one week but are reveling in the full-time return of veteran utility Mick Buettner who has come back from a career-threatening knee injury.
Buettner has slotted into the halves with Queensland halfback Scott Prince against the Bulldogs.
"Mick's gradually finding his feet, he's not quite where he has been in his career, but he has certainly worked hard to get back on and he's invaluable to us," Sheens said.
"He's looking at each game as being his last, he's playing it that way - he'll wait and see at the end of the season to see how he feels."
The Bulldogs have been buoyed this week by goal kicking winger Hazem El Masri re-signing for another three years, knocking back lucrative offers from three NRL clubs and a huge French rugby union deal.
Brought to you by AAP
