Official Match Thread - Wests Tigers vs Sydney Roosters

[Louis N]

A new fullback and half. What’s needed is a completely new front row. Radley as hooker - he needs more minutes. His 2 games last season when he filled in for Jake showed that Friend wasn’t missed.

Our props do not dominate as they once did. Remember when JWH and Kennedy absolutely ran through the middle of the Tiges. JWH doesn't have the impact of days gone by when he would terrorise opposing packs. He's more of a workmanlike prop now with a high defensive rate who can play big minutes.

Napa has never been consistent in attack and it was his big hits made him. If he could develop ball skills he'd be much better. But very slow and doesn't have much footwork. Could be a case of now or never for Collins. It is throwing him in at the deep end but other teams are doing it with young guys. Whether we like him or not, (I've had my say) but we can use a player like Lodge. He looks like a better version of Marty and can play big minutes.

Bondi I agree with you about Radley. he took over from a good U'20's hooker in Garvey in that 2016 grand final. He was everywhere in that game and one of our best. So yes more game time please. The other guy I'd be seriously looking at is Butcher. He does slip a good ball in traffic. He would need back up, like any ball player, but it's a natural skill he has. We seem devoid of ball players and those who hit and spin like Butcher does. In 1987 Artie almost got us to a grand final with those hit and spin plays in the forwards. I thought Matterson would show some ball skills but he seems to have dropped off on that side of his game. A shame, he's more than just a runner.

[top_joe]

What a fckin loser hahaha

500 million dollar team lost to a reserve grade team

the salty tears are delicious

Welcome, I will take that one on the chin as I try to pull my foot out of my mouth.

Hope you stick around all season.

Go Chooks.

[bondi paul]

Our props do not dominate as they once did. Remember when JWH and Kennedy absolutely ran through the middle of the Tiges. JWH doesn't have the impact of days gone by when he would terrorise opposing packs. He's more of a workmanlike prop now with a high defensive rate who can play big minutes.

Napa has never been consistent in attack and it was his big hits made him. If he could develop ball skills he'd be much better. But very slow and doesn't have much footwork. Could be a case of now or never for Collins. It is throwing him in at the deep end but other teams are doing it with young guys. Whether we like him or not, (I've had my say) but we can use a player like Lodge. He looks like a better version of Marty and can play big minutes.

Bondi I agree with you about Radley. he took over from a good U'20's hooker in Garvey in that 2016 grand final. He was everywhere in that game and one of our best. So yes more game time please. The other guy I'd be seriously looking at is Butcher. He does slip a good ball in traffic. He would need back up, like any ball player, but it's a natural skill he has. We seem devoid of ball players and those who hit and spin like Butcher does. In 1987 Artie almost got us to a grand final with those hit and spin plays in the forwards. I thought Matterson would show some ball skills but he seems to have dropped off on that side of his game. A shame, he's more than just a runner.

Hi Louis
Yes it’s a real concern our props can’t or seem to dominate with any consistency , I was a huge fan of JWH even for all his stupidity but he seems so slow these days and no longer a leader.That penalty he gave away in the cows game to break the scores unforgiveable for a leader. I think the style of forward game Robbo has us playing has become ineffective for many reasons starting with poor service to support who are too shallow in attack.
This power game tactic by Robbo is easily negated.by teams coached to aim up as evident of the Tigers games and all the close games last year.i personally don’t agree with the grind tactic - Stuart in his time wore our players out. Frustration and panic along with dubious ref calls can create a mental chink. 26 rounds of this would do anyone’s heads in.
There is class in the side and with Johns and Taylor as assistants but Robbo still persists with a very similar game plan since he came to the club. So whatever Johns and Taylor do is not utilised maybe they are just yes men.
Individual brilliance won us many games in past seasons via Jennings and RTS etc whereas last season it was goal kicking.
On observation Robbo never seems to have no plan B - if we can near match our forward opponents we need to then give the ball some air - we have individuals with brilliance.
I think Collins needs to get a start sooner than later. He may not be big but what he lacks in size he makes up for it with some speed and enthusiasm unlike the two existing props. I’ve never been a Napa fan as a starting prop and the past two seasons no enthusiasm shown whatsoever. The change in the shoulder charge has negated his big hits. Napa seems to just go thru the motions as a disinterested employee and I think he is just a user.
There are big wraps on Butcher and he has had quite a bit of press
i cant recall if he got same game time last year. Collins did as well as Radley. So maybe 3 debutants in 2017 !
i think Radley maybe the future along with the recent signing of Baptiste. Robbos pattern in buying back up hookers nearly every season puzzling. The use mainly in the early season games.
Radley was hugely responsible for that U//20 GF win but Butcher got the wraps. I’ve watched both Radley and Collins interviewed and their attitude willingness to contribute a real feature.
We will have problems should Jake continue to get lengthy game time during the 2yr term of Cronks. Radley has a good football brain. We don’t have to be the only club with a hooker who does 40 plus tackles a week.
Politis and Robbo need to make some hard calls for the betterment of future team performances. I can cop a loss if the team puts in a good performance. Robbo doesnt seem to like having ball players in the forwards as evident of the one out hit ups for 5 tackles. I am over his grinding tactics and shallow attack which doesn’t suit our forwards like Napa and JWH. The shallow attack of players standing flat or on the shoulder of Friend made me think of the old rule where players needed to be five metres back from their dummy half. it’s not rocket science to play a bit deeper and spread the ball 2 wide of the ruck for the backs to get a run. I am concerned not only due to last 2 performances but the attitude shown in the cows game the same as I saw on the weekend along with poor tactics.

[ism22]

We have played one game!!!! I don’t think it is possible to make any broad statements about our consistency from this one game.

We prevented the Tigpies from scoring any tries right up until the last minute. Even then, they only scored because of this stupid pass that gave somebody a falcon, went forward and then by all logic (aside from a rule of the game that you rarely think about because players aren’t usually stupid enough to throw passes that falcon their teammates) the ball was out of play. In fact it wasn’t... Tigpies played on and they scored at a ridiculously convenient time, leaving us with no time to get back at them.

Tries like this happen and you cannot really defend against them. Something too stupid for anybody to comprehend happens, the ball ends up landing in the perfect place by fluke and everybody is like loool biggest fluke in the world but it’s a try. Move on from it! It’s only round one and I doubt it will impact our season. We will rebound...

The broader issue is that we bombed 3 or 4 certain tries and didn’t pass to our backs enough. Also, Cronk didn’t really work any magic with our backs... I was expecting him to be setting them up with a LOT of pinpoint accurate tries. IMO he is still adapting to playing ad-lib footy rather than clinical footy. I hope he can do this... FAST!!!!! Other than that, our defence was dominant and flawless. They scored zero tries down the middle despite our top forwards being rested for most of the match and IMO that is a terrific outcome.

Cords, Keary and JWH are clearly being wrapped in cotton wool. FPN is not even playing yet!!! How hard is it to comprehend the idea that preserving them in round 1 (while narrowly losing by 2 points) isn’t the end of the world?

Our forwards didn’t dominate? Well why did they go for 3 penalty goals when awarded possession near the tryline? Wake up. Losing stinks but for a first run with key forwards benched for most of the game and Keary MIA, we did alright to lose by 2. It’s disappointing that we weren’t thirsty for the win, but I think allowing our injured forwards and halves to ease back into things means a lot more than pushing our hardest in round 1 so that we can get up over the Tigpies. The game was not worth losing Keary, Cords and JWH for 2-3 months over. Preliminary final, maybe? Round 1... hell no!!!

[4 the all in brawl]

Sorry I don’t speak to losers.

10-8 baby

Woo-hoo

Hey mods don't ban this one...

Well done Tigers, enjoy the win and your moment in the sun.

Though one swallow doesn't make a summer and have you booked your holiday for September yet?

[Guest]

Hey mods don't ban this one...

Well done Tigers, enjoy the win and your moment in the sun.

Though one swallow doesn't make a summer and have you booked your holiday for September yet?

If only this makes sense

my team will be playing finals footy in September. Why would I book my holiday for then?

[4 the all in brawl]

If only this makes sense

my team will be playing finals footy in September. Why would I book my holiday for then?

We shall see TT.......

[eddie]

Hey mods don't ban this one...

You got plans for this troll Brawler ?

[Louis N]

"There is class in the side and with Johns and Taylor as assistants but Robbo still persists with a very similar game plan since he came to the club. So whatever Johns and Taylor do is not utilised maybe they are just yes men"

"On observation Robbo never seems to have no plan B - if we can near match our forward opponents we need to then give the ball some air - we have individuals with brilliance....Robbo doesnt seem to like having ball players in the forwards."

Thanks for a comprehensive post Bondi. You covered a heap of good ground and overall I am with you. I've just taken a couple of quotes from your comments to elaborate on.

Re Roosters attack - Apart from a glowing report on Nikorima's debut game with us, the attacking players don't get a lot of post game praise. Even some of Latrell's 'only he could do it' tries have been downplayed in the presser afterwards. While we all appreciate he needed to improve his condition and defensive positioning, a little bit of recognition for his undoubted talent wouldn't have gone astray. The same went for Maloney and Jennings. I think that Trent is more a defensive coach and man manager and in those ares he excels. Innovation and ability to quickly adjust a game plan - the gifts of Gibson - are not so evident. Regardless Robbo is one of the best coaches in the NRL but it's not only Freddie that thinks we're a bit too 'predictable'.

Re - ball playing forwards. The lack of ball playing in the forwards greatly limits our attack. JWH was developing a decent pass out the back and if they back him up, he does at least try these things. Latrell's wonderful try against the Titans in 2016 was a good example of JWH keeping the ball alive and Mitchell sensing opportunity and executing it superbly. In fact I think Mitchell has Beetson like ball playing ability and in days of old may have made a great second rower. You'd remember, Beetson started as a centre and migrated into the forwards.

Nat Butcher has shown he can slip a good ball in traffic. Doing it in first grade is another thing again, but we have to start somewhere. A few coaches have wizened to our gang tackling and are getting their forwards to back into the defence and keep the ball alive. The Tigers made good yards down the middle doing this to us. Our third man in wasn't alert to it. I saw Friend and Liu caught sleeping a few times there. My kingdom for another Sonny Bill. Angus Crichton is a good ball player as well as a great runner. It's probably related to his union days of keeping the ball alive. An attacking forwards assistant coach may help...Stuart had Cartwright for this. And for years we also had Artie on call. I'm hoping FNP might surprise us, or am I 'dreaming'.

[eddie]

The lack of ball playing in the forwards greatly limits our attack.

Nat Butcher has shown he can slip a good ball in traffic.

Another young forward who looks good in that department is Porter, but I don't know how far off first grade he is..............

[Chris]

You got plans for this troll Brawler ?

Nah, but I do. Hope he sticks around and behaves himself so I'm not forced to ban him.

[Guest]

Nah, but I do. Hope he sticks around and behaves himself so I'm not forced to ban him.

Scary

[Chris]

Scary

Hook, line, sinker.

[Louis N]

Another young forward who looks good in that department is Porter, but I don't know how far off first grade he is..............

Agree with that. He's been around the 20's for I think two years and now Wyong. I guess that will determine whether he goes any further. Tough but a little on the light side with good hands. Same weight as Cordner I think. Liu looked like he could develop ball skills but seems to have just concentrated on that power game.

[mightyrooster]

I still haven’t watchef the game as unfortunately, or perhaps that should now read fortunately, I was away for the first round attending a family special event. It was so frustrating trying to get updates online and here on the pen during the game. I still don’t know if I can bring myself to watch the game.