Your assessment is pretty spot on …. for me anyway.Just got home from the game and feel very frustrated. Ill have to watch a replay because at the game i genuinely didnt see what some of you were seeing.
1. Brooks wasnt horrible, I actually thought he had a great game other than a dropped ball and hitting Naden in the chin. When the ball went left Brooks speed straightened and engaged the defence well and definitely better than previous years. Whenever there was a Titans dropped ball it was usually Brooks scrapping for it and his kicking game was much improved with 2(?) restarts forced.
2. The Api hate amazes me. At the game, I was impressed and excited to have him. he does so much from dummy half that we havent had since probably Farah, but the way he engages the markers it was noticable that Titans defence compressed around the ruck when Api came on. The team needs to get used to him though and there seemed to be a few time some disjointed timing between runners and Api.
Other thoughts.
3. The first 15mins is a s dominant as Ive seen a Tigers team in many years.
4. Our defence in their half was much improved and at times brutal.
5. Ive ridden AD for most of last year so its only fair to say in attack he looked really good tonight.
6. Naden is a good one.
7 So is Klemmer, very happy to have him.
8. Nofoaluma is a grade 1 tosser. Down 18 to 6, when we got a scrum (then turned over after Titans challenge) Nofa literally did a dance. Just play football mate, you are losing.
9. Great to see Joffa get worked up. not sure who it was but he wanted to kill someone out there tonight. Foran?
10. Unbelievable unforced errors cost us the game. Laurie not competing the bomb, IP running out and then all the dropped ball.
11. For much of the game, I actually thought it is the best we have looked in over 4 years but stupid errors cost us badly.
12. Kepaoa looked strong as did Blore briefly. Im in two minds about TT.
This team will only improve as the season gets going.
We may not make the 8 and there will be roster gaps to fill over next few years to round up our weak spots fir sure.
We need to move on re. Nofoaluma and invest in younger brigade. He is just brain dead. I also have little confidence in the TT and Laurie long term. Very immature.
Also we need to finish our assignment of getting a first class half or 5/8 and fullback.
You seem to have found a lot of positives in a game where our opposition did not necessarily play well and easily beat us.
because there were a lot of positives. We dominated EVERY stat except one.....errors and i actually think that reflects the game well. At the ground I actually think we looked the better team but just kept making error after error. Away from dry stats, there are also a lot of things to be positive about.
https://www.nrl.com/draw/nrl-premiership/2023/round-1/wests-tigers-v-titans/
* Our defence at their end was fantastic and at times crunching, reminded me of the old Balmain 80's teams and a number of times we forced them to kick on the 30/40. Massive improvement on the last 4 years.
*Our middle defence was solid the entire game, we didnt have the opposition breaks through a tired middle like every game last two years.
* Our forwards made massive metres and in particular a lot of point contact meters. over the last 4 years we were happy if a forward made 100m. Other than Blore (injured) all of our starting pack made 100m (Stef 95m) and Joffa ran 125m off the bench. Klemmer ran 186m and Paps (who I wasnt impressed with) ran 160m. We would have killed for this in previous years.
* Positive signs for our halves. I thought Doueihi played well although needs to improve his passing but he constantly had the defence backpeddling all night and looked dangerous. I think the running game that both played last night is intentional and a coaching ploy. Brooks ran for 192m last night and Doueihi 167.
* As cool and fashionable as it is to put a boot into Brooks, there were positives from him as well. He did play differently and every time he was engaged in the attack (playing 6 not 7) his speed immediately straightened our attack and engaged the defence and his outside men had space immediately. it didnt help last night but it will. For 4 years we have seen the ball go wide to end up with the centre and wing shaking hands in about 2m of space against the line and expecting them to do something. Last night Brooks straightening at pace saw Naden and Staines looking dangerous (albeit clunky).
*Change in tactics was nice to see. After years of 5 hit ups and a bomb, there was not one single bomb last night and a massive improvement in short kicking and grubbers with three forced drop outs
* Staines was a positive for me. Looked for work and did some dirty runs in the middle. What i didnt like was he and Naden did this weird thing where they swapped at times in attack and I hated it. It stifled one attacking run where Staines at centre passed to early to naden without engaging his defender. Staines is not a centre nor is he a game breaker but big effort and has pace.
We were poor in many areas I thought. Brooks, Laurie and Doueihi are killing our attack because they are all natural runners who are trying to ballplay. None of them are organisers or plan implementers.
as Ive said about, i think this might be a tactical thing (coached). brooks 19 runs, AD 14, both nearly hit 200m run.
Leaving Api on the sidelines for the first 25 minutes was a huge mistake. We needed leadership in that first 20 when we were pummelling their line. His cool head would have resulted in at least 1 try.
I was very impressed with Api and excited to have him but he simply isnt fit. Returning from injury without any trials, he only lasted 47mins. he will get fit.
Nofoaluma and Talau should be dropped. They contribute nothing. Talau in particular is hopeless. Kepaoa is a beast and should be starting centre. Tupou should come onto the wing. He has proper star potential.
Im with you on Kepaoa.
I get its round 1, but I watched the Dolphins totally outplay a strong Roosters outfit this afternoon. I dont buy the 'need time to gel line' that many are peddling.
It was a very disappointing loss because it was actually there to win, but the errors killed us. it was disappointing, frustrating, you can say it was poor, you can say we were rubbish and you would get no argument from me. One thing that cant be said though is that its the same thing again (and you didnt). Its the same result but not the same thing. This IS a totally new team,playing totally new style of football, and I am grateful for that. just need to get it all to stick now.
@tiger5150 I like your positivity. The point about starting forwards making metres is well made. We have not had that for 10 years!
Agree that AD needs to improve his passing. I was sitting in the NE corner on about the 20 m line and you could see Talau getting frustrated on occasion that AD didn't pass it.
I disagree slightly on your comment that Brooks straightened the attack. Laurie straightens the attack. When DL gets the ball he is front on with the defensive line almost every time. He holds the ball in two hands out in front. He tries to beat the defender but he might also pass or kick. He's a quality player IMO but not a fullback.
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
We've had enough experience with Sheenius to know that he very rarely makes changes unless there is injury. The one that has to be made in my opinion is a swap of AD and Laurie.
@tiger5150 I like your positivity. The point about starting forwards making metres is well made. We have not had that for 10 years!
Agree that AD needs to improve his passing. I was sitting in the NE corner on about the 20 m line and you could see Talau getting frustrated on occasion that AD didn't pass it.
I disagree slightly on your comment that Brooks straightened the attack. Laurie straightens the attack. When DL gets the ball he is front on with the defensive line almost every time. He holds the ball in two hands out in front. He tries to beat the defender but he might also pass or kick. He's a quality player IMO but not a fullback.
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
We've had enough experience with Sheenius to know that he very rarely makes changes unless there is injury. The one that has to be made in my opinion is a swap of AD and Laurie.
i take your point with regards Brooks, and agree that he runs on a slight angle, but straighter than previous years IMO. i think what Im seeing in particular and what I mean by straightening the attack is most times when Brooks is playing on the left (really more of a 6 than 7), when he gets the ball, he was quickly hitting top speed so the actually speed of the attack increased, towards the line which has the effect of condensing the defense onto him, more space out wide for Naden & Staines. Our attack, particularly on the left played a much faster tempo than previous years and i think this is due to the way Brooks is playing.
@tiger5150 I agree with nearly all of this. I was on the 20m line so couldn't see a lot of our 2nd half attack but it looked to me that Brooks made most of his metres in a flurry at the end of the game. Forwards were mostly good - hit hard and ran hard. We gave them easy metres only a few times. We won't get pushed around this year but I hope Stef cuts down his mistakes.
We looked good moving the ball around and the Titans found that hard to cope with. Execution after creating the opportunity, plus our own errors was the problem. That game was winnable.
Bula was great for the Maggies. He's still pretty raw but if he continues to improve he's a real option for fb in the nrl side.
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
Wanted to jump in again to explain what I mean with Brooks "straightening" the attack. I agree with you (and Garry on the pod) that he ran on an angle. My point is that in the past on a backline move to the left Brooks would take the ball at the same pace as the backline move, whereas last night as soon he got the ball, he hit the gas and hit close to top speed at the line. The critical point that relates to what Ive been saying about Brooks "straightening the attack" is on at least (from memory) 4 occassions, he hit a left foot step into the defensive line, straight at a gap. Each time he nearly broke through and I think once he did. Coupled with his increased pace (IMO we played a faster tempo than previous years) meant that the defensive line had to compress to Brooks, leaving more space for Naden & Staines.
Forgot to note one of the highlights of last noght, meeting @Tigersteve. Nice to meet you Steve, hope your trip home was smooth.
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
Wanted to jump in again to explain what I mean with Brooks "straightening" the attack. I agree with you (and Garry on the pod) that he ran on an angle. My point is that in the past on a backline move to the left Brooks would take the ball at the same pace as the backline move, whereas last night as soon he got the ball, he hit the gas and hit close to top speed at the line. The critical point that relates to what Ive been saying about Brooks "straightening the attack" is on at least (from memory) 4 occassions, he hit a left foot step into the defensive line, straight at a gap. Each time he nearly broke through and I think once he did. Coupled with his increased pace (IMO we played a faster tempo than previous years) meant that the defensive line had to compress to Brooks, leaving more space for Naden & Staines.
I agree with most of what you are saying mate. He does that when he runs the ball but he also needs to be doing this on the majority of our sweep plays to create space for his outside men, specifically Laurie. On a number of occasions last night he ran his support players out of space.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
Forgot to note one of the highlights of last noght, meeting @Tigersteve. Nice to meet you Steve, hope your trip home was smooth.
Worst part of the day for you mate.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
Wanted to jump in again to explain what I mean with Brooks "straightening" the attack. I agree with you (and Garry on the pod) that he ran on an angle. My point is that in the past on a backline move to the left Brooks would take the ball at the same pace as the backline move, whereas last night as soon he got the ball, he hit the gas and hit close to top speed at the line. The critical point that relates to what Ive been saying about Brooks "straightening the attack" is on at least (from memory) 4 occassions, he hit a left foot step into the defensive line, straight at a gap. Each time he nearly broke through and I think once he did. Coupled with his increased pace (IMO we played a faster tempo than previous years) meant that the defensive line had to compress to Brooks, leaving more space for Naden & Staines.
I agree with most of what you are saying mate. He does that when he runs the ball but he also needs to be doing this on the majority of our sweep plays to create space for his outside men, specifically Laurie. On a number of occasions last night he ran his support players out of space.
Agree with you on this, but with the pace that he was running at the line, if he straightens at them before passing to outside, it also obviously drastically cuts down the time available and requires massive amount of trust in Laurie, Naden and Staines to be where they need to be and I'm not sure at this stage Brooks would have that level of trust in these guys nor in himself.
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
Wanted to jump in again to explain what I mean with Brooks "straightening" the attack. I agree with you (and Garry on the pod) that he ran on an angle. My point is that in the past on a backline move to the left Brooks would take the ball at the same pace as the backline move, whereas last night as soon he got the ball, he hit the gas and hit close to top speed at the line. The critical point that relates to what Ive been saying about Brooks "straightening the attack" is on at least (from memory) 4 occassions, he hit a left foot step into the defensive line, straight at a gap. Each time he nearly broke through and I think once he did. Coupled with his increased pace (IMO we played a faster tempo than previous years) meant that the defensive line had to compress to Brooks, leaving more space for Naden & Staines.
I agree with most of what you are saying mate. He does that when he runs the ball but he also needs to be doing this on the majority of our sweep plays to create space for his outside men, specifically Laurie. On a number of occasions last night he ran his support players out of space.
Agree with you on this, but with the pace that he was running at the line, if he straightens at them before passing to outside, it also obviously drastically cuts down the time available and requires massive amount of trust in Laurie, Naden and Staines to be where they need to be and I'm not sure at this stage Brooks would have that level of trust in these guys nor in himself.
Those last 3 words are a problem. He’s played almost 200 first grade games. He needs to trust himself and believe that those around him will hit there spots.
Forgot to note one of the highlights of last noght, meeting @Tigersteve. Nice to meet you Steve, hope your trip home was smooth.
Worst part of the day for you mate.
Well it was brief
I said the same thing in the other forum. When he took a pre-meditated run he was a legitimate threat. When he ran a backline play he invariably ran sideways and cut down the space for his backs. You should always straighten before you pass, but Brooks often does not.
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
Wanted to jump in again to explain what I mean with Brooks "straightening" the attack. I agree with you (and Garry on the pod) that he ran on an angle. My point is that in the past on a backline move to the left Brooks would take the ball at the same pace as the backline move, whereas last night as soon he got the ball, he hit the gas and hit close to top speed at the line. The critical point that relates to what Ive been saying about Brooks "straightening the attack" is on at least (from memory) 4 occassions, he hit a left foot step into the defensive line, straight at a gap. Each time he nearly broke through and I think once he did. Coupled with his increased pace (IMO we played a faster tempo than previous years) meant that the defensive line had to compress to Brooks, leaving more space for Naden & Staines.
I agree with most of what you are saying mate. He does that when he runs the ball but he also needs to be doing this on the majority of our sweep plays to create space for his outside men, specifically Laurie. On a number of occasions last night he ran his support players out of space.
There was a telling comparison when AD set up the Laurie try, where after either taking the line on or throwing a wide pass for every previous play, he straightened and put Laurie into the gap. AD wore a big shot for his trouble but that willingness to take the ball into the line (and his previous threat of the run) set up the defensive error that opened up space for Laurie to waltz over.
Can't tell you last time Brooks wore a shot a la Cronk or Sam Walker in an attempt to draw the defence in right until the last millisecond.
I said the same thing in the other forum. When he took a pre-meditated run he was a legitimate threat. When he ran a backline play he invariably ran sideways and cut down the space for his backs. You should always straighten before you pass, but Brooks often does not.
Brooks on the other hand is running most times yesterday on an angle with the ball tucked under his left arm. He is less likely to be front on to the defensive line and never carries the ball in two hands.
Wanted to jump in again to explain what I mean with Brooks "straightening" the attack. I agree with you (and Garry on the pod) that he ran on an angle. My point is that in the past on a backline move to the left Brooks would take the ball at the same pace as the backline move, whereas last night as soon he got the ball, he hit the gas and hit close to top speed at the line. The critical point that relates to what Ive been saying about Brooks "straightening the attack" is on at least (from memory) 4 occassions, he hit a left foot step into the defensive line, straight at a gap. Each time he nearly broke through and I think once he did. Coupled with his increased pace (IMO we played a faster tempo than previous years) meant that the defensive line had to compress to Brooks, leaving more space for Naden & Staines.
I agree with most of what you are saying mate. He does that when he runs the ball but he also needs to be doing this on the majority of our sweep plays to create space for his outside men, specifically Laurie. On a number of occasions last night he ran his support players out of space.
There was a telling comparison when AD set up the Laurie try, where after either taking the line on or throwing a wide pass for every previous play, he straightened and put Laurie into the gap. AD wore a big shot for his trouble but that willingness to take the ball into the line (and his previous threat of the run) set up the defensive error that opened up space for Laurie to waltz over.
Can't tell you last time Brooks wore a shot a la Cronk or Sam Walker in an attempt to draw the defence in right until the last millisecond.
That is how I like AD to play, when he straightens the attack and creates space for his outside men he shows signs of being a good half. He also needs to this more consistently
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
Forgot to note one of the highlights of last noght, meeting @Tigersteve. Nice to meet you Steve, hope your trip home was smooth.
thanks mate. Nice to meet you too. Pity it wasn’t inclusive of a win!
