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It has been another gloomy week for rugby league headlines ranging from Adam Reynolds’ non-concussion, the late and cheap shots on Johnathan Thurston, some long-term injuries to star players, and Martin Kennedy’s infraction notice for alleged use of a banned substance.
All were stories of major importance but I found myself hunting high and low for a positive yarn, something along the lines of The rejuvenated Wests Tigers.
No luck on that front so, with my weekly Roar column due, I decided to write my own.
After just two rounds, I like what I am seeing from a team and club that clearly looks to be responding to a revamped administration, as well as a new coaching and training staff, headed up by a shrewd league man in Jason Taylor.
OK, early wins against the suspension-weakened Gold Coast and an increasingly ordinary St George Illawarra aren’t necessarily premiership yardsticks, but you cannot do better than two from two.
Taylor has implemented some new structures in attack and understandably, they may take some time to work.
It has been the Tigers’ defence that has caught my eye. There seems to be a steely resolution there I haven’t seen in the Wests Tigers’ 16-year history. I’ll even predict that it’s going to be tougher breaching their defensive line than it was in 2005, the club’s premiership season.
In the second half last Monday night, the Tigers’ goal-line defence against possession-fuelled Dragons was impressive. They say that tackling is as much mental as a physical skill and you could see the pride in the orange and black wall, with players constantly arriving to help out their teammates. It clearly meant a lot to keep the visitors tryless in that second stanza.
Again, the Dragons’ attack wasn’t anywhere near as lethal as they will face from premiers Souths at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, but the Rabbitohs will find it hard yakka against this big, mobile and hard-hitting forward pack.
Providing the Tigers can steer clear of injury this season, they have the talent to finish in the lower part of the top eight.
All of the ingredients seem to be in place: plenty of pace and enterprise in the backline and a bruising forward pack headed by Aaron Woods, Suaso Sue, Ava Seumanufagai and Martin Taupau.
Veteran Robbie Farah looks to be working well with his rookie halves Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses, and then there’s electrifying fullback James Tedesco who will turn out to be one of the code’s best performers if Lady Luck affords him a smile. He has speed we probably haven’t even seen yet and his exceptional positional sense reminds me of the Manly try freak Brett Stewart.
There is still a heck of a lot of work to be done and more improvement needed but there is a lot to like about the rejuvenated Tigers.
Coach Taylor has a very smart football brain and it will be fascinating to study Sunday’s tactics against the club which sacked him as head coach at the end of 2009. He may not care that it is Souths he is up against, but he will be keen to see where his team is at after a few months under his guidance.
Perhaps it is asking too much for a Wests Tigers upset against the all-conquering and rampaging Rabbits but I’ll be watching for more developments in the joint venture club’s exciting new outlook.
It’s much more than a work in progress. Things are beginning to work.
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