@tiger5150 I agree mate with all that. It looks disjointed .
we created soooo many chances yesterday . The attack is definitely there . There’s just something missing . Is it brooks ? Could be! But if the answer is Brandon Wakeham , what is the question.
I think we looked better with Staines at fullback . He straightens the attack , whilst lacking a passing game . But at least he can engage the outside defenders .
too often yesterday , the defence just slid off the halves and either bad passes or players out of position .
We’ve seen enough of Brooks/ Laurie . We won’t hook brooks , and I honestly don’t think he deserves it after yesterday and last week . He’s in good form , creating opportunities , half breaks , repeat sets .
Api is doing his own thing at the moment. That should click soon .
But as I said last week ,and last year about AD, if you’re good for letting in 2 tries a game , now you need a minimum 10 points just to break out the positive .
And at them moment Laurie isn’t safe at all , he stifles the outside backs and whilst was way better on kick returns today , scooting sideways around the defense and straightening is not going to work moving forwards . Teams will shut that down real quick .
Give Staines a go , and if it doesn’t work , hook brooks .
The spine needs a reshuffle . And I’ve seen enough of Laurie , and Brooks.
We need a reliable fullback as a very minimum .
as it’s really hard to build pressure when you and your opposition know that they can put your fullback under immense pressure very easily .
@avocadoontoast don't think Canberra are going that well though as a form reference.
First two games I think due to coaching nobody knows who is at first receiver etc we have looked clunky is it AD is it Brooks who knows and Api seems to not know.
Do think Brooks in both games has played like a running 6 not a 7. If he is signed for 2024 and beyond it will be as a 6 not a 7
Maybe this week they will bring in wakeham to play 7 Brooks to play 6 and move Douhie to centre who knows.
I am kind of expecting
1. Staines
2. Tupou
3. Naden
4. AD
5. Laurie
6. Brooks
7. Wakeham
The uncomfortable truth is that if you swapped the two teams half backs today then the result is flipped.
And that’s 100% on Sheens.
Completely disagree. Hastings did nothing other than shovel on. On a couple of occassions he actual crashed their attack as he passed to a player behind another. On one occassion Gagai had to kick because Hastings passed it to him, behind two players with no support. Hastings had 1 run and was crunched. Both our halves were better than Hastings today and that is not praise.
No, he got the result. End of story.
He didnt panic, kicked for twice the distance Doueihi did and directed a side limping badly to victory.
It is what we miss, but alas...he is too slow apparently.
Not what I saw. I saw a bloke stand back and point. I saw a bloke hardly run all game and a bloke with zero try assists, zero LBA, zero line breaks. IMO Gamble led them today.
I see Jackson Hastings with zero repeats sets, I see Brooks with 2 forced drop outs and one 40/20 plus a one on one steal.
I get that people hate Brooks and Sheens, but .............
Funny that, what I saw was Hastings executing in the red zone and organising attacking plays which ultimately won his team the game.
All this despite key players in his team going down like flies around him.
Nobody hates any Tigers players or coaches but some people can see what staring them in the face.
you might have been watching a different game or alternatively seeing what you wanted to see. Newcastle first two tries, Hastings a simple catch and pass to Gamble who set both of those tries up. Knights third try Hastings didnt touch the ball. Zero LBAs, Zero TA, Zero Line Breaks, Zero forced drop outs, Zero repeat sets, missed two kickable conversions that gave us the chance to snatch a golden point we didnt deserve.
newcastle werent good. Hastings wasnt good. We were worse. If Hastings as our possible saviour is staring you in the face, i suggest you look the other way.
Hastings is an average half back and is not and never will be our possible saviour.
Hope that helps.
@jedi-tiger The best we've looked was with AD at 6 and Wakeham at 7. There's no chance it will happen but it was the only time we looked decent.
Agree in principle but probably a moot point. Sheenius loves the guy so he won't be moved any time soon.@avocadoontoast all on him is it Avo ? I think he has 16 other friends out there in those 20 games but not going to change your mind
I'm saying that he doesn't make us a better team, and the stats back it up. He is in the top 10 earners in the game (not his fault) and has played almost 200 games. As a halfback on that money and with that experience, he should be making the players around him better. I'd argue he makes the players around him worse. Our attack in the trial vs Canberra with Wakeham at 7 was chalk and cheese.
I had some hope he'd be able to turn it around, but he's even more clueless this year. You can keep defending him and that's fine, but ultimately it's a futile exercise because he's a dud and has been for years.
The only time Brooks played well regularly was under Ivan's coaching which saw more one out, straight running from hard running forwards and quick play the balls. Maybe we need to return to that?
Absolutely agree. Sheens has gone all in on Brooks, he won't drop him.
@avocadoontoast we looked good that game but Canberra did run out some young blokes too and it was just a trial.
we will see if any changes this week .... was going to head to belmore but not so keen after yesterday lol
The uncomfortable truth is that if you swapped the two teams half backs today then the result is flipped.
And that’s 100% on Sheens.
Completely disagree. Hastings did nothing other than shovel on. On a couple of occassions he actual crashed their attack as he passed to a player behind another. On one occassion Gagai had to kick because Hastings passed it to him, behind two players with no support. Hastings had 1 run and was crunched. Both our halves were better than Hastings today and that is not praise.
No, he got the result. End of story.
He didnt panic, kicked for twice the distance Doueihi did and directed a side limping badly to victory.
It is what we miss, but alas...he is too slow apparently.
Not what I saw. I saw a bloke stand back and point. I saw a bloke hardly run all game and a bloke with zero try assists, zero LBA, zero line breaks. IMO Gamble led them today.
I see Jackson Hastings with zero repeats sets, I see Brooks with 2 forced drop outs and one 40/20 plus a one on one steal.
I get that people hate Brooks and Sheens, but .............
Funny that, what I saw was Hastings executing in the red zone and organising attacking plays which ultimately won his team the game.
All this despite key players in his team going down like flies around him.
Nobody hates any Tigers players or coaches but some people can see what staring them in the face.
you might have been watching a different game or alternatively seeing what you wanted to see. Newcastle first two tries, Hastings a simple catch and pass to Gamble who set both of those tries up. Knights third try Hastings didnt touch the ball. Zero LBAs, Zero TA, Zero Line Breaks, Zero forced drop outs, Zero repeat sets, missed two kickable conversions that gave us the chance to snatch a golden point we didnt deserve.
newcastle werent good. Hastings wasnt good. We were worse. If Hastings as our possible saviour is staring you in the face, i suggest you look the other way.
Hastings is an average half back and is not and never will be our possible saviour.
Hope that helps.
On that, you and I can agree.
Seems to me as well, based on the squads reaction to him that he might be not a great bloke or at least not liked. Certainly wasnt the usual go over for a cuddle like with most ex-teammates. I obviously dont know Hastings but Ive long had the suspicion that he is one personality in front of a camera with his nice guy, love for everybody thing and different away from the camera's. Whilst there has been a lot of criticism for Talau & Klemmer for the interaction after hastings interview yesterday, to me that was peak Hastings, knows he is on camera, and goes for the feel good story on his terms.
I know its a bad look, particularly after such a bad loss, but I was glad that TT & Klem stood up. Nobody invited Tommy into Hastings little camera shoot.
@tiger5150 I agree mate with all that. It looks disjointed .
we created soooo many chances yesterday . The attack is definitely there . There’s just something missing . Is it brooks ? Could be! But if the answer is Brandon Wakeham , what is the question.I think we looked better with Staines at fullback . He straightens the attack , whilst lacking a passing game . But at least he can engage the outside defenders .
too often yesterday , the defence just slid off the halves and either bad passes or players out of position .
We’ve seen enough of Brooks/ Laurie . We won’t hook brooks , and I honestly don’t think he deserves it after yesterday and last week . He’s in good form , creating opportunities , half breaks , repeat sets .
Api is doing his own thing at the moment. That should click soon .
But as I said last week ,and last year about AD, if you’re good for letting in 2 tries a game , now you need a minimum 10 points just to break out the positive .
And at them moment Laurie isn’t safe at all , he stifles the outside backs and whilst was way better on kick returns today , scooting sideways around the defense and straightening is not going to work moving forwards . Teams will shut that down real quick .
Give Staines a go , and if it doesn’t work , hook brooks .
The spine needs a reshuffle . And I’ve seen enough of Laurie , and Brooks.
We need a reliable fullback as a very minimum .
as it’s really hard to build pressure when you and your opposition know that they can put your fullback under immense pressure very easily .
I HATE to say this, but I think it is coaching.
Its all well and good to criticise Brooks & AD for our impotence in their 20m (or anywhere else for that matter), but where are the players in motion, compressing defences to get the extra man, Laurie chiming etc? It simply looks like U/8's ball through the hands and hope that someone can beat a man and its not working. There seems to be no plays. Is that because Brooks or Api arent calling them, because no one remembers them or they dont have any? at this level defences dont just open up, they need to be pulled apart and no halfback can do that on their own.
The uncomfortable truth is that if you swapped the two teams half backs today then the result is flipped.
And that’s 100% on Sheens.
Completely disagree. Hastings did nothing other than shovel on. On a couple of occassions he actual crashed their attack as he passed to a player behind another. On one occassion Gagai had to kick because Hastings passed it to him, behind two players with no support. Hastings had 1 run and was crunched. Both our halves were better than Hastings today and that is not praise.
No, he got the result. End of story.
He didnt panic, kicked for twice the distance Doueihi did and directed a side limping badly to victory.
It is what we miss, but alas...he is too slow apparently.
Not what I saw. I saw a bloke stand back and point. I saw a bloke hardly run all game and a bloke with zero try assists, zero LBA, zero line breaks. IMO Gamble led them today.
I see Jackson Hastings with zero repeats sets, I see Brooks with 2 forced drop outs and one 40/20 plus a one on one steal.
I get that people hate Brooks and Sheens, but .............
Funny that, what I saw was Hastings executing in the red zone and organising attacking plays which ultimately won his team the game.
All this despite key players in his team going down like flies around him.
Nobody hates any Tigers players or coaches but some people can see what staring them in the face.
you might have been watching a different game or alternatively seeing what you wanted to see. Newcastle first two tries, Hastings a simple catch and pass to Gamble who set both of those tries up. Knights third try Hastings didnt touch the ball. Zero LBAs, Zero TA, Zero Line Breaks, Zero forced drop outs, Zero repeat sets, missed two kickable conversions that gave us the chance to snatch a golden point we didnt deserve.
newcastle werent good. Hastings wasnt good. We were worse. If Hastings as our possible saviour is staring you in the face, i suggest you look the other way.
You don’t just judge it on THE play where a team scores.
It is all the lead up to it that counts.
It’s about attacking certain lanes in logical sequences to engage specific defenders to either tire them out or otherwise occupy them so that the big play can be aimed at the team’s weaknesses. Someone has to do the boring lead up work so that the big plays can result in line breaks, repeat sets or tries. Hastings is a guy who does this boring work. Wests Tigers haven’t had a player do it, before him, since Lui.
The uncomfortable truth is that if you swapped the two teams half backs today then the result is flipped.
And that’s 100% on Sheens.
Completely disagree. Hastings did nothing other than shovel on. On a couple of occassions he actual crashed their attack as he passed to a player behind another. On one occassion Gagai had to kick because Hastings passed it to him, behind two players with no support. Hastings had 1 run and was crunched. Both our halves were better than Hastings today and that is not praise.
No, he got the result. End of story.
He didnt panic, kicked for twice the distance Doueihi did and directed a side limping badly to victory.
It is what we miss, but alas...he is too slow apparently.
Not what I saw. I saw a bloke stand back and point. I saw a bloke hardly run all game and a bloke with zero try assists, zero LBA, zero line breaks. IMO Gamble led them today.
I see Jackson Hastings with zero repeats sets, I see Brooks with 2 forced drop outs and one 40/20 plus a one on one steal.
I get that people hate Brooks and Sheens, but .............
I understand most Wests Tigers fans do not appreciate the role of a halfback, due to us rarely ever having one but come on…
Hastings made sure the team attacked the correct side at the right times. He pinned us down with his kicking and put Gamble into positions to seal opportunities.
In contrast, Luke failed time upon time upon time again to provide Doueihi with the same opportunities. His individual efforts such as the repeat sets amount to nothing as he doesn’t have the class nor the creative brain to capitalise on the opportunities that are created.
As a footballer, he is talented and does some good stuff most weeks.
As a halfback, he is a park level player.
pretty condescending to assume that most Wests Tigers fans cant understand the role of a halfback, but you do.
You do understand that we are playing left and right though dont you?
The extreme, overwhelming majority agree Brooks is not a halfback.
His supporters, both within the club, and in the stands are the ones I can’t understand. Their acceptance of failure is crazy. Their excuses are embarrassing. He is a pathetic halfback and always has been. Hastings is no world beater but he plays for Tigers yesterday and they win.
The uncomfortable truth is that if you swapped the two teams half backs today then the result is flipped.
And that’s 100% on Sheens.
Completely disagree. Hastings did nothing other than shovel on. On a couple of occassions he actual crashed their attack as he passed to a player behind another. On one occassion Gagai had to kick because Hastings passed it to him, behind two players with no support. Hastings had 1 run and was crunched. Both our halves were better than Hastings today and that is not praise.
No, he got the result. End of story.
He didnt panic, kicked for twice the distance Doueihi did and directed a side limping badly to victory.
It is what we miss, but alas...he is too slow apparently.
Not what I saw. I saw a bloke stand back and point. I saw a bloke hardly run all game and a bloke with zero try assists, zero LBA, zero line breaks. IMO Gamble led them today.
I see Jackson Hastings with zero repeats sets, I see Brooks with 2 forced drop outs and one 40/20 plus a one on one steal.
I get that people hate Brooks and Sheens, but .............
I understand most Wests Tigers fans do not appreciate the role of a halfback, due to us rarely ever having one but come on…
Hastings made sure the team attacked the correct side at the right times. He pinned us down with his kicking and put Gamble into positions to seal opportunities.
In contrast, Luke failed time upon time upon time again to provide Doueihi with the same opportunities. His individual efforts such as the repeat sets amount to nothing as he doesn’t have the class nor the creative brain to capitalise on the opportunities that are created.
As a footballer, he is talented and does some good stuff most weeks.
As a halfback, he is a park level player.
pretty condescending to assume that most Wests Tigers fans cant understand the role of a halfback, but you do.
You do understand that we are playing left and right though dont you?
The extreme, overwhelming majority agree Brooks is not a halfback.
His supporters, both within the club, and in the stands are the ones I can’t understand. Their acceptance of failure is crazy. Their excuses are embarrassing. He is a pathetic halfback and always has been. Hastings is no world beater but he plays for Tigers yesterday and they win.
More than one thing can be true at once. I am not a binary "Brooks" supporter in that i think he did some good things yesterday, played well in patches but also it is undeniable that we were a disorganised rabble in attack and Brooks is responsible for a large chunk of that. I am also of the strong opinion that if Hastings played for us we still lose yesterday......but I also recognise that that is simply my opinion and that other fans may have a different opinion that they are entitled with me being condescending to them or dismissive of them.
The uncomfortable truth is that if you swapped the two teams half backs today then the result is flipped.
And that’s 100% on Sheens.
Completely disagree. Hastings did nothing other than shovel on. On a couple of occassions he actual crashed their attack as he passed to a player behind another. On one occassion Gagai had to kick because Hastings passed it to him, behind two players with no support. Hastings had 1 run and was crunched. Both our halves were better than Hastings today and that is not praise.
No, he got the result. End of story.
He didnt panic, kicked for twice the distance Doueihi did and directed a side limping badly to victory.
It is what we miss, but alas...he is too slow apparently.
Not what I saw. I saw a bloke stand back and point. I saw a bloke hardly run all game and a bloke with zero try assists, zero LBA, zero line breaks. IMO Gamble led them today.
I see Jackson Hastings with zero repeats sets, I see Brooks with 2 forced drop outs and one 40/20 plus a one on one steal.
I get that people hate Brooks and Sheens, but .............
I understand most Wests Tigers fans do not appreciate the role of a halfback, due to us rarely ever having one but come on…
Hastings made sure the team attacked the correct side at the right times. He pinned us down with his kicking and put Gamble into positions to seal opportunities.
In contrast, Luke failed time upon time upon time again to provide Doueihi with the same opportunities. His individual efforts such as the repeat sets amount to nothing as he doesn’t have the class nor the creative brain to capitalise on the opportunities that are created.
As a footballer, he is talented and does some good stuff most weeks.
As a halfback, he is a park level player.
pretty condescending to assume that most Wests Tigers fans cant understand the role of a halfback, but you do.
You do understand that we are playing left and right though dont you?
The extreme, overwhelming majority agree Brooks is not a halfback.
His supporters, both within the club, and in the stands are the ones I can’t understand. Their acceptance of failure is crazy. Their excuses are embarrassing. He is a pathetic halfback and always has been. Hastings is no world beater but he plays for Tigers yesterday and they win.
More than one thing can be true at once. I am not a binary "Brooks" supporter in that i think he did some good things yesterday, played well in patches but also it is undeniable that we were a disorganised rabble in attack and Brooks is responsible for a large chunk of that. I am also of the strong opinion that if Hastings played for us we still lose yesterday......but I also recognise that that is simply my opinion and that other fans may have a different opinion that they are entitled with me being condescending to them or dismissive of them.
I have already said he did good things yesterday and that’s my problem with him. He can play the game. He does something good and then the next set, fails to capitalise on the good work. It’s been the same thing for 10 years. He’ll show glimpses of being able to do it, even winning the odd game for us, but always resorts to form when the torch is applied.
I apologise to anyone who found my post blunt or even condescending, but in no way do I distance myself from the remark that the excuses made for this guy are embarrassing. The blame for his incompetence as it pertains to game control and close out has been attributed to 4 different coaches, Robbie Farah, Benji Marshal, Mitchel Moses, James Tedesco a whole host of runners, both outside and inside, every forward pack, referees, the media and a toxic fan base. Literally hundreds of people are to blame. He is the most vilified sportsman in the country, and also the unluckiest. Every year we get bored senseless during the off season with promises that this year is his year, this team is his, the new structures and processes are designed to unleash him…etc etc etc…Then reality strikes. 10 years of crap. Nothing has changed. He just doesn’t have it. He peaked a long time ago and refuses to grow as a player….and still on the WTF, on LU and on this forum, people are prepared to persist with him. His detractors are referred to as haters. I find that far too simplistic and even condescending in its own right. All the receipts are on the side who want him gone, yet he continues to be protected…the game report on the official website described his effort as standout. It’s just not good enough.
It is embarrassing.
Sack Sheens. Now before the season is well and truly done and dusted.
I was wondering who would be the first…Sack Sheens. Now before the season is well and truly done and dusted.
