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NRL season in review: Wests Tigers

James Tedesco will line up in blue. (Digital Image by Robb Cox © nrlphotos.com)
Roar Guru
29th July, 2015
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As promised in the Round 20 review earlier this week, we now commence a series of season reviews as teams are eliminated from finals contention.

With 14 competition points required and only six games remaining, the Wests Tigers are now incapable of reaching the magic 28 points that has traditionally been the minimum required for a finals berth.

What went wrong, what were the highlights and the lowlights, and what’s the prognosis for 2016 and beyond?

What went wrong: Second-year syndrome
Just under 12 months ago, as the Wests Tigers board ummed and ahhhed about whether or not to retain coach Mick Potter, I wrote this story.

The central argument was that with an extraordinary core of young players – including Aaron Woods, Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses and Curtis Sironen – under contract for a number of years, success should be easier than failure for the Tigers.

But the thing about young players is that they tend to be inconsistent. This year a number of those core young players have struggled for form, or struggled to get on the field altogether.

In particular, young halves Brooks and Moses have been unable to stamp themselves on games despite a forward pack that has regularly played to at least a draw. Without sufficient playmaking from the 6 and 7, the team has been unable to manufacture enough points to compete.

More importantly, both Brooks and Moses have been routinely targeted and exposed in defence. Targeting a smaller man in defence is nothing new but unless Brooks and Moses can find a way to be effective they will eventually be forced out of the league.

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Best player: James Tedesco
When the Canberra Raiders unsuccessfully tried to lure Tedesco south to the nation’s capital with a reportedly colossal contract offer, it was seen by many as the act of a desperate club willing to take a risk on an injury plagued and largely unproven player.

When Tedesco then seriously injured himself soon after his about-face it seemed like the Raiders had dodged a bullet.

A season later and Tedesco looks every bit the representative-calibre player he was billed as. He leads the team in tries and is second in try assists, line breaks and line break assists. Moreover he has played every minute of every game this year to hopefully put his injury history in the past.

Season highlight: I’ll, ahh, get back to you
Honestly, not much to report here. The club did record huge, though completely out of character, wins against the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs in Rounds 8 and 14 respectively, but aside from that there was little to write home about.

Season lowlight: Watching Blake Austin
Roster management in a league with a salary cap is a tricky business, with inevitable swings and roundabouts. But that knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to stomach watching a player that you reluctantly released turn into one of the signings of the season while the players you preferred to him go into hard reverse, as Moses and Brooks did this year.

Blake Austin’s rise from handy utility to a State of Origin contender was truly remarkable and was enjoyed very much by fans of the Canberra Raiders.

Roster management
As of this writing the Tigers have announced no new signings for 2016, though they have extended the deals of Kevin Naiqama and Tim Simona.

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On the other side of the transactions ledger, they will be losing two key veterans in Keith Galloway (Leeds) and Pat Richards (Catalans), as well as under 20s star Te Maire Martin (Penrith).

Both Galloway and Richards will be noticeable losses for the team. Although both on the wrong side of 30 by season’s end, each still have something to offer – if only veteran leadership.

Prognosis: All about those halves
Everything I wrote about the talent in the Tigers core squad 12 months ago remains essentially true; we’re just a year further down the road. But that doesn’t have to be the end of the world.

The question now is whether this time next year the Wests Tigers can look back at 2015 as a necessary evil in the rise to the top, or whether it’s just another lost year among many for a club that has only made the finals twice since their premiership in 2005.

In the best case scenario, this season will go down as a development year with Brooks, and particularly Moses, having adapted to the rigours of a full NRL season and propel their team into the eight in 2016.

In the worst case scenario, Brooks and Moses will continue to struggle and the club will waste yet another 12 months.

The most likely scenario is something in between, with definite improvements but not enough to put the team in the finals.

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