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Last week at Leichhardt Oval it felt as if the Tigers’ season might be over.
After a 60-6 loss to the Raiders at GIO last Saturday, it now feels as if their season never began.
How distant do those early wins against the Warriors and Sea Eagles seem now?
For a brief moment there, it looked as if the Tigers might turn out to be as good as their best players in 2016.
Over the last couple of weeks, however, they’ve begged the question of just how far a team can decline.
In the modern era, player mobility means that you don’t tend to see the kinds of epic losing streaks that were possible in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Yet in a footy season that has been marked by dramatic losses the Tigers seem to have hit a particularly dark place.
While the Dragons may have been unable to manage a single point against last year’s grand finalists, at least they compensated with a win against the Titans at the end of their Queensland tour and a victory over the Roosters last week.
Similarly, while the Knights suffered a fairly humiliating defeat to the Broncos at Suncorp, even they managed to beat the Tigers the previous round at Hunter.
Compared to the Tigers’ run of losses, St George-Illawarra and Newcastle feel as if they’re positively thriving.
After a solitary try from Chris Lawrence at the 16th minute and a subsequent conversion from Jordan Rankin, the Tigers didn’t score again at GIO Stadium on Saturday.
Utterly at sea in the second half, they didn’t even feel as if they were putting up a real contest.
It was more like a demonstration game at a footy clinic, a lesson in all the ways you can dominate the opposition.
As a Tigers fan, that’s an especially difficult thing for me to say.
It was your classic example of entertaining footy gone wrong. With Ricky Stuart on the warpath, the boys needed to fight fire with fire.
Don’t get me wrong – I actually like Jason Taylor’s return to free-flowing football in principle.
In 2016 it’s a novel approach as well as a tribute to the kind of play that thrived under Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah in the buildup to the 2005 win.
But for the current Tigers squad it’s clearly not the best option.
In fact, it’s abundantly clear now that Jason Taylor is not the best option.
With Dene Halatau sent off in the first couple of minutes, Aaron Woods out for the count and Robbie Farah no longer captain, the problem with this team was suddenly, blindingly obvious.
Leadership.
As the Storm, Broncos and Cowboys have shown, a team with a visionary – or at least a competent – coach is generally a team with strong defensive capabilities.
Defence isn’t just about strength or strategy, it’s about the synergy that comes when a team has a unified sense of vision and purpose.
With a trio that should – or could – be one of the best spines in the business, there’s no other way to explain why the Tigers have put in the single worst performance this season.
It’s crazy to think that this is the home of James Tedesco, a world class fullback and arguably the most inspired choice for Origin no. 1.
It’s even crazier to think how easily Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks could slip from the Tigers’ grasp as they search for a better vehicle for their talents.
Given the complexity of the conflict between Taylor, Farah and the Tigers management, it’s hard to finally say who’s at fault.
While Robbie is a folk hero and a cult hooker he’s more than capable of melodrama.
At the end of the day, though, Robbie is more integral to the Tigers vision than Taylor, even at this late stage in his career.
What the Tiges need to do now is to find a leader who can provide them with stability and synergy.
Just imagine what someone like Bennett or Bellamy would be able to do with this team.
Let’s hope that club management gives Taylor the boot and brings in someone who can really deliver the players and fans what they deserve.
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