Weaknesses for 2007

[Alex28]

He has to earn a spot in first grade on merit - to me he hasn't done that.

He needs to pull his finger out and show that he wants a spot in first grade - not just him thinking he is owed a spot there. By now he should have given Hages no option but to put him in the squad. He hasn't been able to do that.

 

[antonius]

Smith said in an interview, that Tighe would get first crack at a centre spot. I take it that means he'll get a run at it in the trial games next year. However if Kidley, Doogs, Carmont and Franze are also in the mix, he'll have a battle on his hands. Alex is right, he had all last season to shake off the dissapointment of missing out during the early pre-season, he didn't do that, and in some games I saw him in he was hardly noticable, that isn't the way to fight your way into the top side. I thought he was hard done by early on not getting at least a trial game there, but he needed to prove Hages wrong, and unfortunately he didn't.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Smith said in an interview, that Tighe would get first crack at a centre spot. I take it that means he'll get a run at it in the trial games next year. However if Kidley, Doogs, Carmont and Franze are also in the mix, he'll have a battle on his hands. Alex is right, he had all last season to shake off the dissapointment of missing out during the early pre-season, he didn't do that, and in some games I saw him in he was hardly noticable, that isn't the way to fight your way into the top side. I thought he was hard done by early on not getting at least a trial game there, but he needed to prove Hages wrong, and unfortunately he didn't.

I can't hold it against tighe for having a poor season in reserve grade. He could have scored a try in every game he played and hagan wouldn;t have selected him unless players were injured. I blame hagan as much as tighe for his poor form.

 

[BG]

He has also guaranteed Tighe the 1st open center spot

Only that he'll get a run in the trials I would presume.

 

[BG]

Smith said in an interview, that Tighe would get first crack at a centre spot. I take it that means he'll get a run at it in the trial games next year.

Yup. Almost certainly meant that he'll get a shot at it during the trials. I find it impossible to believe that Smithy would have guaranteed him a first grade starting spot this far out from the season.

 

[roopy]

Tighe re-signed after talking to Smith about his future role at the club.
I'd say Smith assured him that he had a high opinion of him and would give him a chance to stake a claim for firstgrade during the trials.
Anything else would have been unbelievable. Even Tighe wouldn't have believed a promice to play him no matter what happened in the mean time.

 

[Alex28]

I can't hold it against tighe for having a poor season in reserve grade. He could have scored a try in every game he played and hagan wouldn;t have selected him unless players were injured. I blame hagan as much as tighe for his poor form.

Thats the whole thing - he hasn't even gone close to doing that. If he is the superstar that some people here think he is, he's doing a damn good job going incognito...

 

[Ben]

It could be a motivational thing for Tighe. He knows that he can play in the top grade, but despite performing consistently in 2005 he wasn't even given a mention this year. And how often does the leading tryscorer of one year be given little or no chance to prove himself the following year. For me, it just seems that Hagan's persistent selections of underperforming players is the problem.

 

[reginald.p]

Hagan's persistent selections of underperforming players is the problem.

Ok so you blame him for selecting underperforming players, but then also say he should of selected Tighe who himself was underperforming. :crazy:

 

[Burwood]

There was a great article in the Newcastle herald just before the finals kicked off that was about Daniel Abraham and his battle to get back into the first grade team. He talked about how he was very frustrated at the start of the year because he was being made to play in Premier League and was only making the occasional cameo appearance in First Grade, and how he felt that he was doing enough to be back in the team. He then spoke to Hagan who told him a few truths about his fitness etc after coming back from such bad injuries and realised that the best way to get selected each week was to put in the extra effort each week and make it so Hagan had no choice other than select him. At the back end of the season we started to see a lot more of Abraham so obviously his extra work had started to pay off.

The same thing would apply to Tighe- don't sit back in premier league and feel sorry for yourself. Get out there and make it so hagan had no choice other than select him. People can say that it wouldn't matter how well Tighe played- he would still not get selected. Well I guess we'll never know because it certainly looked he just layed down and didn't have the same attitude as Abraham.


It was also interesting reading an article on Tanner that came out after his charge down in the Manly game. He gets very little praises in this forum (and I am one of those that don't overly rate him), but he was getting big wraps from current and ex players. Comments along the lines of he does all of the little 1% jobs that nobody else notices, and the boys miss his effort when he isn't on the field. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Tanner "does a Carmont" next year and comes back from the off season a vastly improved player. He doesn't have the natural skill, but he does have the right attitude about training and putting in the extra effort to make up for this.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Like urself Burwood, I think that Tighes piss poor attitude is what screwed him @ the end of the day. I doubt that he was ever going to punt anyone but atleast he could of put himself in a position to capitalise on anyones injury/suspension which he quite simply didnt do.

 

[Burwood]

Yeah, I'm really hoping that he doesn't turn into another Craigie- lots of natural ability but a piss poor attitude. We are in a unique position where our entire backline is likely to be different next year so hopefully he grabs the opportunity with both hands.

 

[Ben]

Let's just hope that he puts in the extra bit during the off-season an plays his best in the trial games. Because on his best, he easilly overshadows Carmont in both attack and defence. He offers that bit of elusivness and speed that our backline has sorely missed since the departure of Tahu. Has a lot of natural talent and would be a big loss if he didn't take advantage of his talent with some hard work and determination to succeed. Maybe he needs to have a word with Newton, because his career has shown that even if you have no natural ability, if you apply yourself you can be a representitive.

 

[Alex28]

It could be a motivational thing for Tighe. He knows that he can play in the top grade, but despite performing consistently in 2005 he wasn't even given a mention this year. And how often does the leading tryscorer of one year be given little or no chance to prove himself the following year. For me, it just seems that Hagan's persistent selections of underperforming players is the problem.

F*** me...if the prospect of playing First Grade isn't motivation enough then he is in the wrong career...

Too many people use Hagan as an excuse for everything that goes wrong in the club. Occasionally the players have to take responsibility for their actions - or lack of actions.

If he can't get motivated enough to show week-in/week-out that he wants a First Grade spot bad enough to excel in First Division then I don't want him in First Grade.

 

[CJKnight]

Let me remind you of a couple of things Tighe HAS done in his 3 first grade games this year:

1. Ran down an opposition winger to make a try-saving tackle... from across the other side of the field. It wasn't even his man!

2. Scored a copy-book try off of a Johns cut-out pass.

3. Ran for a match-high 168m

4. Earned an "8" (out of 10) rating from Rugby League Week magazine.

He has definately proved that he has alot of potential. He has only played through injury to other players. At least we are assured of him getting a solid run under Smith.

He will know he has to perform well or there are at least 3 other centers we have bought that want his position.

 

[Alex28]

How did he go for the other 23 weeks?

 

[roopy]

Tighe has always been a 'confidence' player.
A good coach will use that and get some good footy out of him.
He just needs to be handled correctly.

I agree with BIHK in that it is half Hagan's fault that we had a talented guy wasting away in PL for want of a few well chosen words of encouragement and a chance to show his stuff.

 

[CJKnight]

According to the Knight's website...

Brad Tighe's Stats for:

3 games of First Grade: 1 try

21 games of Premier League:

12 tries,
39 goals

for a total of 126 points.

The Premier League highest point and tryscorer. Dustin Cooper was next at 66 points.

 

[Alex28]

Probably not as bad as he may have appeared, but really...if he can't dominate in First Division how can he expect to kill it in the top grade?

Could it be that once he had his chat with Brian Smith that he felt he didn't need to kill it down in First Division? I dunno...there has to be some reasons - but lacking motivation can't realistically be a reason for a professional footballer playing First Division.

 

[Ben]

Tighe played very well against the Raiders and picked up a try and the 168 metres as mentioned by CJ. On the back of that performance, he was reselected against the Dragons a week later, i think. He had an average performance against St. George and was subsequently dropped for Quinn who was coming back from injury.

What i am trying to say is that throughout Tighe's career he has been dropped and promoted continuously. He has not been able to string a couple of games together in the top grade and the only time he was able to, he was one of our best players.

Carmont has dud performances and seems to never get dropped. Although Tighe not performing sufficiently enough for Hagan has been a catalyst to his downfall, but there is no denying that Hagan's persistent selections of the 'regulars' has created an unstable environment for Reserve Graders to push for a first grade spot.