Fear not everyone!
The Chairman will be on NRL 360 tonight. I'm sure he will clear everything and put all our minds at ease (sigh)
Expecting him to make a fool of himself as always.
Where is Pascoe?
While the club bicker over their next No.7, one man whose place at the Tigers is no longer up in the air is forward Shawn Blore.
Blore, who previously captained the NSW State of Origin under-18s, was linked with a move to the Super League earlier this year but the 22-year-old has been told he is seen as part of the future at Wests Tigers.
"As soon as I saw (the rumours of a move) I went and had a conversation with Sheensy and Benji," Blore said.
"They reassured me my place was at the Tigers. That's all I needed to hear."
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
Wests Tigers hooker Jake Simpkin has landed on the radar of the Parramatta Eels, as the club searches for a stop gap for injured veteran rake Josh Hodgson.
Simpkin is contracted until the end of season 2024 and would need a release from the Tigers to join a rival club.
There is a view that Simpkin could excel in the right system.
But given the rising player discontent at Concord, and the fact Simpkin was a long-term project of former coach Micheal Maguire, that release might not be so difficult for the Eels to secure.
Tele
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers since 2018!
As a 7, I can't agree, Brooks at 6 yes, but at 7 Brooks just doesn't have the skillset or game awareness to execute the role, surely watching him for 10 years tells you thisNo glasses mate, I have seen Brooks try to play 7 for 10 years, I stand by my comment, Sezar is a better 7, maybe it's you have the blinkers on regarding BrooksAs a 7 Sezar is better than Brooks, so therefore that is an upgrade, obviously not the one we were hoping for thoughsome wanted anyone but brooks
this is who we can get Aiden Sezer lol
This is the clubs aggressive recruitment drive.
not an upgrade on Brooks take your hate blinkers off mate
Johnson, Pearce, Moses yes upgrades but not Sezer or Croft or Clune etc
Sezer was better 4 years ago (marginally) but I would MUCH rather Brooks in 2024 than Sezer.
Wests Tigers hooker Jake Simpkin has landed on the radar of the Parramatta Eels, as the club searches for a stop gap for injured veteran rake Josh Hodgson.
Simpkin is contracted until the end of season 2024 and would need a release from the Tigers to join a rival club.
There is a view that Simpkin could excel in the right system.
But given the rising player discontent at Concord, and the fact Simpkin was a long-term project of former coach Micheal Maguire, that release might not be so difficult for the Eels to secure.
Tele
I can see TDS wanting out shortly after we release Simpkin and we are left with no backup to Api...
Can anyone access this Brent Read article and post here please? Thanks
Wests Tigers hooker Jake Simpkin has landed on the radar of the Parramatta Eels, as the club searches for a stop gap for injured veteran rake Josh Hodgson.
Simpkin is contracted until the end of season 2024 and would need a release from the Tigers to join a rival club.
There is a view that Simpkin could excel in the right system.
But given the rising player discontent at Concord, and the fact Simpkin was a long-term project of former coach Micheal Maguire, that release might not be so difficult for the Eels to secure.
Tele
I can see TDS wanting out shortly after we release Simpkin and we are left with no backup to Api...
Classic Tigers….
this week again St Merge
assuming brooks is still out maybe
7. Api
6. wakeham
9. Simpkin
14. TDS
Wests Tigers players held a closed-door meeting on Monday morning when they vowed not to let the ongoing dramas at the club hijack their bid to avoid the wooden spoon against St George Illawarra on Thursday night.
Forwards John Bateman and Shawn Blore confirmed the players had addressed the dramas at the club, which reached a crescendo on Monday morning when chief executive Justin Pascoe held separate meetings with assistant coach Benji Marshall and recruitment boss Scott Fulton in a bid to repair their fractured relationship.
Marshall and Fulton have been at oddsover several key recruitment decisions and this masthead understands the former was scheduled to front the board on Monday night along with head coach Tim Sheens.
The players insist their only priority is to beat the Dragons on Thursday night to give themselves a chance to avoid a second successive wooden spoon.
“We had a little chat,” Bateman said.
“The boys are pretty blasé, like you have to be in this game. You move forward. It is not our job (to run the club) - I don’t get paid to do that.
“If I was, I would be behind a desk. We have more to focus on. Hard times, it has been tough times. We haven’t been able to get a win.
“I think you watch me and I am pretty competitive, I want to get the win. It’s about working hard. For some reason, we have not been able to get the wins over the line.
“The last couple of weeks have not been acceptable as a playing standard and a club. It is a massive, massive week for us playing the Dragons, who are just above us.
“No-one wants to finish bottom of the league.”
Certainly not Bateman, who has spent the vast majority of his career in England and Australia competing for premierships rather than wooden spoons.
Asked if he had ever been in a side that finished last, Bateman shot back: “Never. I don’t want to either. It is as simple as that. I came here to win.
“You go through the dressing room and everyone else wants to win as well. It is just about getting the win.”
Blore confirmed the players had discussed the club’s current plight on Monday morning, although he also insisted most of the team were unaware of the latest drama to envelop the club.
“I think most of the boys didn’t read the news anyway,” Blore said.
“We came together and said let’s just focus on us and what we can control. What we can control is this week and how we prepare.
“What happens between coaches and staff is not for players to worry about.”
The drama between Marshall and Fulton has taken some of the focus off what shapes as arguably the most important game of the Tigers season.
Should they lose to St George Illawarra, they will be four points adrift in last spot with six games to play. Another wooden spoon would heap more pressure on a club that has drifted from one disaster to the next in recent years.
The club desperately needs reinforcements and they have been linked with former Canberra half Aiden Sezer, who is in England and interested in a return next season.
Marshall and Fulton are apparently at odds over Sezer but Bateman backed the bid to bring him back to the NRL.
“I had a good year alongside him and he is a good player,” he said.
“If he were to come in, I think would be a great addition.”
As for what he had learned from the season, Bateman was brutally honest.
“It is shit losing,” he said.
I was looking for the subtitles. Glad you guys understood him. 😂
Wests Tigers hooker Jake Simpkin has landed on the radar of the Parramatta Eels, as the club searches for a stop gap for injured veteran rake Josh Hodgson.
Simpkin is contracted until the end of season 2024 and would need a release from the Tigers to join a rival club.
There is a view that Simpkin could excel in the right system.
But given the rising player discontent at Concord, and the fact Simpkin was a long-term project of former coach Micheal Maguire, that release might not be so difficult for the Eels to secure.
Tele
Might we offer up Simpkin for Saunders? Both on similar length contracts. We'd have to offer Saunders an upgrade for him to consider it.
Maybe before I get carried away with that idea...
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2019/01/04/19-stars-for-2019--jock-madden/
jock madden was once top of the pops as a junior as well.
What are we going to do for halves?!
As a 7, I can't agree, Brooks at 6 yes, but at 7 Brooks just doesn't have the skillset or game awareness to execute the role, surely watching him for 10 years tells you thisNo glasses mate, I have seen Brooks try to play 7 for 10 years, I stand by my comment, Sezar is a better 7, maybe it's you have the blinkers on regarding BrooksAs a 7 Sezar is better than Brooks, so therefore that is an upgrade, obviously not the one we were hoping for thoughsome wanted anyone but brooks
this is who we can get Aiden Sezer lol
This is the clubs aggressive recruitment drive.
not an upgrade on Brooks take your hate blinkers off mate
Johnson, Pearce, Moses yes upgrades but not Sezer or Croft or Clune etc
Sezer was better 4 years ago (marginally) but I would MUCH rather Brooks in 2024 than Sezer.
Sure, I can accept that but what makes you think a 34yo who couldnt get a gig in the NRL, spent 4 years in UK Super League, will do better?
Wests Tigers hooker Jake Simpkin has landed on the radar of the Parramatta Eels, as the club searches for a stop gap for injured veteran rake Josh Hodgson.
Simpkin is contracted until the end of season 2024 and would need a release from the Tigers to join a rival club.
There is a view that Simpkin could excel in the right system.
But given the rising player discontent at Concord, and the fact Simpkin was a long-term project of former coach Micheal Maguire, that release might not be so difficult for the Eels to secure.
Tele
Might we offer up Simpkin for Saunders? Both on similar length contracts. We'd have to offer Saunders an upgrade for him to consider it.
Maybe before I get carried away with that idea...
https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2019/01/04/19-stars-for-2019--jock-madden/
jock madden was once top of the pops as a junior as well.
What are we going to do for halves?!
I would love it if we did a Simpkin/Sanders swap. But it would be more like us to release Simpkin to "free up cap space" and then not get anything in return.
