In another frustrating performance, the Wests Tigers have gone down 16 to 6 against the Canberra Raiders at Campbelltown Stadium.
Although the effort was much better this week, a disappointing second half from the team unraveled all the good work from the first half showing that there is still a lot of soul-searching to be done as the Tigers continue their seemingly never-ending rebuild. Here is my reaction to the loss:
A terrible decision by the referee
I try not to blame the ref for the result of a game but my god, the Tigers should be furious at the referee’s decision not to penalize Jack Wighton for elbowing Josh Reynolds in the throat.
Wighton knew exactly what he was doing and the ref demonstrated grievous disregard for the duty of care he owes to the players.
Josh Reynolds could have been seriously hurt and the Canberra half deserves a suspension for the hit.
The referee chose to ignore the incident and Canberra went onto score in that set even though it should have been a Tigers ball. Absolutely disgraceful stuff!
The best defensive display this season
After a terrible defensive effort against the Titans, the Tigers really bounced back with a massive effort to keep the Raiders to two tries considering how much ball the Green machine had.
Players like Harry Grant and Alex Twal both got through a mountain of work, both recording 66 tackles.
The Raiders are an impressive attacking team so the Tigers should take away a lot of confidence but the key is to take this attitude into the Cowboys game next week.
The Tigers need an organizing Halfback
For the Tigers to go to the next level as a team, they need an organizing half that can run the team. Luke Brooks plays his worst footy when the responsibility falls solely on him.
Against the Raiders, besides the Reynolds cross-field kick, I thought that the kicking game was poor and was a big reason why the Raiders won.
The Tigers effort was there but they need to be a lot smarter as a team in offense.
The Tigers failed to register a goal-line drop-out and looked disjointed on the Raiders Try-line. An experienced play-maker who can come in and run the offense would do wonders for the Tigers.
In terms of roster management, I think the Tigers will struggle to attract an elite player of this description due to salary cap issues but there is a rumor going around linking the club to Aidan Sezer.
Although not a world-beater, Sezer would bring some much-needed experience and leadership to a team that is missing a game manager.
The biggest attraction for the club would be Sezer’s reliability in terms of 5thtackle options which the Tigers desperately need.
Sezer can also kick goals which is a massive reason as to why the Tigers should sign him.
The Daily Telegraph has also reported that the Tigers have expressed interest Broncos playmaker Thomas Dearden who has massive wraps on him.
Either player would be a great signing for the club.
Too many mistakes in the second half
The Tigers really shot themselves in the foot with the errors they made in the second half. The Tigers invited the Raiders back into the contest with these mistakes and you simply can’t afford to give good NRL teams that many opportunities because they will make you pay.
The possession rate ended at 52% to the Raiders and the Tigers had to make almost 100 more tackles than their opposition; 462 tackles to the Raiders who only had to make 376.
With the new rules in place, fatigue makes it almost impossible to wins games with this amount of ball the Raiders enjoyed.
Harry Grant should be using his energy to generate momentum for the team but the poor ball control means that he was to use all his energy defending.
In comparison, Cameron Smith against the Knights who played the full 80 minutes in the middle only had to make 42 tackles because the Storm are masters at controlling the flow of the game.
When the Tigers finally got field position in the second half, you could tell they were mentally gassed because they spent so much time defending.
Less errors, especially coming out our own half, is vital next week against the Cowboys.
An amazing game from Adam Doueihi
One of the best aspects of this season for me has been Adam Doueihi’s development as Fullback and the young back really impressed against the Raiders.
I thought that Doueihi had a really strong game against the Titans minus a few positional mistakes and the Lebanese international impressed again tonight.
He generated a lot of momentum for the team, recording 282 metres from 24 runs and looked the most dangerous in attack for the Tigers.
The more I watch Doueihi play, the more convinced I am that he is the long-term fullback option for the Tigers.
Hopefully, Doueihi can continue to improve his game and become an elite level number 1 in the competition.
The biggest thing I would love to see from Doueihi is more explosive speed off the mark in the middle of the field when he takes on tired defenders.
An impressive second game from Tommy Talau
I thought that Tommy Talau had a really strong game considering his limited experience playing on the wing.
The young back was solid under the high ball and really impressed with his strong straight carries. Like Doueihi, Talau will only get better with experience and it’s great to see him holding his own against a top 4 team.
Talau recorded 143 metres and 6 tackle breaks which is very impressive considering this was his second game in first grade.
My big hope for Talau by seasons end is that he can nail down one of the centre spots because the young player has a bright future in the game.
A disappointing return from Packer and a poor game from Mbye
Russell Packer was very disappointing in his return to first grade registering a sin-binning which led to the Raiders second try and a high shot which led to the Raiders going beyond a converted try effectively sealing the game.
Packer’s performance is a symptom of a much a larger problem for the Tigers which is that the club simply isn’t getting enough value for money out of a few senior players.
Packer still has two years to run on quite a sizeable contract and Moses Mbye, according to media reports, is earning 900k and doesn’t come off contract until the end of 2022.
Although Mbye has a lot of upside in defense, his contribution in attack has been non-existent this year.
It really amazes me how nobody from the media has ever linked these terrible decisions to Ivan Cleary who has really sabotaged the possibility of a quick rebuild under Maguire.
I just can’t see the Tigers becoming a genuine title threat until these players’ salaries are off the books.
Josh Reynolds gets a lot of abuse about his contribution to the team but at least you can see he’s trying his guts out on the field when he gets an opportunity which is all Tigers fans can ask for at the end of the day.
Based on the Raiders game, I can’t say the same for Mbye and Packer.
The Tigers forwards aren’t laying a platform
The Wests Tigers forwards aren’t making enough metres up the middle of the field which really limits the opportunities to attack for players like Brooks, Grant and Doueihi.
In terms of running metres, the Tigers currently rank at 9thplace in the NRL which isn’t alarming at first glance. However, it is important to remember that players like David Nofoaluma, Adam Doueihi and BJ Leilua have done a great job of generating momentum in the ruck with their runs.
In terms of the forwards, Aloiai and Twal were the only players who ran for over 100 metres against the Raiders.
Brooks had a bad game tonight and I don’t want to make excuses for his but it’s hard to look great in attack when you’re always on the back foot.
Since the return to the footy, the Tigers bench has also been poor in terms of impact and against the Raiders, Lawrence, Chee-Kam, Packer and Seyfarth failed to run for more than 50 metres which is well below the mark.
Although I do think that Thomas Mikaele and Josh Aloiai are important players in the team moving forward, I think the Tigers are one or two quality forwards away from competing against the best teams.
As a fan, it’s hard to comment about team selection because we don’t see the players train but surely Shawn Blore isn’t far off from a first -grade call up.
The young forward is a powerful runner and has a great motor in defense. Blore can also play both in the middle at lock or in the back-row which gives him great utility value.
If I were part of the Tigers, I would also be doing everything possible to get Stefano Utoikamanu over from Parramatta early because impact off the bench and ability to generate a pick play the ball is exactly what the forwards are lacking.
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