Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens is fully aware of the reasons for his sides slide towards the bottom of the ladder, but he can’t seem to do anything about it.
But how do you instill discipline into a group of players who should know better?
“We just gave too many penalties away,” Sheens said yesterday, after his players not only reached for the self-destruct button, but belted it continually until it broke.
“We walked them down there, we walked them down, we walked them down.
“We’re the most penalised side in the comp so we’ve got to do something about that.”
The veteran had just seen his players throw away a 16-4 lead against South Sydney with four minutes to go.
They lost 17-16 in golden point extra time, with Rabbitohs fullback Greg Inglis scrapping over one of the least convincing drop kicks you’ll see for some time.
For once it wasn’t the usual easy target Benji Marshall to blame. No, in fact, the New Zealand international was brilliantly boring.
That’s not a pot shot at the five-eighth, but a compliment.
Far too often Marshall tries to produce the spectacular when the mundane would be more effective. Yesterday, he made sure Wests completed sets, kicked long into space when it was required and made fantastic reads inside the Rabbits red-zone.
They played for field position instead of flick passes, and the pressure and their lead mounted because of it.
Only once did his natural instinct almost cost them. Leading 10-4 with 18 minutes to go, Marshall produced a chip-kick from his own 40m line on the fifth tackle.
South Sydney fullback Greg Inglis was wise to his plan and gathered up the bouncing ball. The set started close to the half-way line instead of deep in the Rabbitohs own half.
Luckily for Marshall the Bunnies didn’t make them pay on that instance. Instead, the barely believable loss boiled down to rookie errors. Strips, offsides and attempts to slow the speed of the ruck down.
Wests have conceded 39 penalties this season and have won just one of five penalty counts so far. The Eels, for all their woes, have been pinged by the pea just 26 times.
A 9-3 loss on the penalty count against St George Illawarra in round three was backed up by an 8-3 loss to Canberra the week after, and yesterday’s 9-5 tally in South Sydney’s favour.
Sheens would’ve shown his side these figures. He’d hope that the implications would be starting to sink in this morning.
adam
Guest
Every time the Rabbitohs dropped the ball, the Tigers were penalised for stripping. I can't believe they are that stupid. In light of the officating in the last two Souths games this year, if i hear one single Souths fan whinging about referee's at any stage this year I will blow up!
SpartanSM
Roar Rookie
The tigers need a consistent goal kicker, benji isn't a specialist goal kicker. every point counts.
oikee
Guest
Great game, and would have been good to see it go the extra 20 minutes (2x10 each way) instead of just golden point.
baller
Guest
haha not at all .....
Pete75
Guest
Insightful. Let me guess, you're a St. George fan?
roarr
Guest
Ahh what about with 6 mins to go when, 10m out from souths try line, he went for the big play on the first tackle and got his winger bundled into touch. Obviously in hindsight the field goal was what was needed, but at the very least, tuck the ball under the arm and finish the set. Put up some sort of attacking kick on the last and aim for a repeat set. The good teams use pressure to score their points... marshall uses his own talent. Half the time we praise him for being brilliant, the other half we complain of his lack of common sense.
Gareth
Guest
It's not a huge surprise that the Tigers are showing ill-discipline. You don't spend $500,000 on a backrower to be just another player, you spend that money on a leader and expect them to exert an influence on your young blokes. Whether that's a positive influence or not comes down to the player in question.
baller
Guest
choke choke choke...............