You can’t help but think that Wests Tigers coach Jason Taylor is likely not well versed with the work of Albert Einstein.
Perhaps someone from the Tigers should pull Taylor aside and recite to him the genius’ famous quote on insanity.
“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
From the outside looking in, Taylor looks like an infant child flapping his arms wildly up the deep end of the pool. He’s barely staying afloat.
Taylor’s dealings with the media are evident of this. He frequently fronts the press with a similar demeanour; he goes straight into defensive mode when posed legitimate questions about his team’s performance, and seems to have a greater misplaced optimism than even Bill Shorten.
JT, fronting the media after yet another Tigers defeat (this time to a lowly Parramatta side) came out with perhaps the quote of the year, infuriating Tigers fans in the process. “You guys (the media) and everybody out there is focused on the competition table and the scoreboard at the end of the game.”
Instead of concentrating on what you would think would be the two primary measurements for success for a sporting team, Taylor says his team focuses on “performances”. Call me crazy, but in the world of competitive sport, there comes a time when a direct correlation between the ladder, the scoreboard and the performance of a team becomes clear!
Sitting in stone, motherless last, with a record of 5 and 11, probably provides a decent reflection of the state of the “performances” that Taylor alludes to.
Taylor’s entire demeanor when speaking to the media lacks confidence. On Monday night, after his side copped a 12-4 smashing in the penalty count, fans were understandably angry. When watching the post-match conference, fans were looking for Taylor to show something that hasn’t been cited since Tim Sheens occupied the head coach role. Passion.
While every fan appreciates that coaches need to toe the line in post-match conferences given the fines imposed by the NRL for hitting out, there’s a vast difference between stating the facts (which is all Taylor did) and showing even an ounce of displeasure at being wronged.
Fans wanted the anger of Geoff Toovey, the stone face of Wayne Bennett, the borderline-serial-killer mentality of Des Hasler. Something. Instead, what they got was yet another mediocre on camera display from Taylor, where he again gave fans no reason to like, let alone trust him.
You can’t help but think that if this is the way he goes about the business of dealing with the media; does he carry the same manner in his dealings with the players?
The attitude that Taylor seems to instil in the club was evident in a recent interview with veteran prop Keith Galloway, where Galloway was asked if a change in attitude was needed following a last up drubbing at the hands of the Panthers. Galloway answered the question with a shrug of the shoulders and defended their approach with a feeble “we’re trying hard” and “the effort is there”.
Which brings me back to my original point. Taylor seems to abide by the “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again” philosophy, rather than the (arguably more productive) school of thought from Einstein.
In a game where change is the only constant; where rules change daily depending on interpretation (don’t get me started!), where offensive plays and defensive lines need to continually adapt, surely, at three quarters through the season, Taylor must admit his current method isn’t working.
With the exception of games where Robbie Farah has been missing, Taylor has stuck with a bench made up entirely of forwards.
The only time he has used a player you could consider a utility on the bench is when Mania Cherrington has been used as a second hooker when Dene Halatau starts the game at 9.
Josh Drinkwater showed on Monday night that he is a capable half, who may well provide the stability that the Tigers attack has lacked all year. Mitch Moses, while showing signs of brilliance, has been underwhelming in his first full season in first grade.
Given the pack that the Tigers possess in terms of size, stamina, and coverage for other positions, it makes sense to trial something different. Why not start Drinkwater at 6 to go about gaining a better control over the game, with Moses coming on in 14 at the back-end of the first half when opposition forwards are getting tired?
Taylor is capable of thinking outside the box. He showed this in the loss to the Panthers when he chose to play Kyle Lovett at centre instead of employing the obvious choice of playing the experienced Chris Lawrence in the centres.
Most would have preferred that Taylor had chosen a different time to showcase his ability for creative thinking!
What this passage of play also highlighted more than anything, however, was that Taylor seems completely resistant to change. Despite the fact that Lovett made Panthers centre Dean Whare look like Usain Bolt during a period that netted Penrith four unanswered tries, Taylor stuck to his guns, much to the ire of the Tigers faithful.
While everyone is well aware of the endless drama over at Concord – from boardroom clashes, empty coffers and an uncanny ability in recent times to throw the coach under the bus – you can’t help but think that in a game where a modern coach must adapt or die, it is hard to see a future as head coach for someone like Jason Taylor.
While Taylor has reiterated on many occasions that he has the support of the board and the players, the Tigers fan-base seem to have run out of patience. Most fans can’t help but look forward to Mad Monday in the hope that Taylor unleashes an open right hand on the face of Farah, a la the end of his tenure with the Rabbitohs.
Who knows, maybe this might knock some sense into the captain at the same time!
Rick
Guest
Blake Austin was - along with Tapau - the best player for the Tigers in 2104. But as has so often been the case at the Tigers he was allowed to leave. Last year there was a massive injury toll that could explain some of the poor performances but that has not been the case this year. We let players go and sack coaches - where to from here?
Tim
Guest
I agree with you regarding focus being less on result and more on performance - but you can kpi whatever you like really, end of the day they have been really poor in most areas of the game. Defensively all teams 'focus' on improving year in year out - but essentially the attack of the side dictates where the ball is given to the opposition and the pressure a defensive line needs to withstand. Not to mention the energy of the opposition. At least with sheens there was some variation in spite of the roster. Most fans are frustrated because there appears to be a significant lack of improvement from round 1. We just hope there are some positive signs closing the season out. Jury still out on JT...
Dr Yes
Guest
Repeating the "same ol'" would mean repeating the playing style of past Tigers teams. Over the past 10 years, Tigers have played off-the-cuff attack, with low focus on defence and grinding out games. Taylor's introduced a style where defence is the primary focus, attack involves a mixture of structure and ad-lib, and the goal is to stay in the game longer by grinding sometimes. That's a major change in focus. The players have commented on this change in style and how they've got some way to master it's execution. So development is occurring in playing style and execution. And of course, an enourmous change in team composition from past Tigers teams, as they have the youngest roster - certainly in key positions. Taylor's strongly chosen to stick & develop them. It's disgruntled fans who want to repeat the past and expect a different result. Taylor's trying the opposite. And stats of GF participants and winners for the past 10 years back him 100%. If you're not in the top few percent for defence, you're not a contender. For sure, the Tiger's are a year or two from where they need to be. So their performance measures are below par, but improving. And performance measures *are* really important. Statisticians know that performance measures are the most important factors to predict future performance, rather than the precise score, i.e. points for & against, mistackles, goal-line defence, completion rate, metres conceded, run & kick metres gained, tackle & line breaks and offloads . Score margin can easily fluctuate by 6 or 12 points due to "2 inchers" and random elements in ref calls and bounce of ball. It happens occasionally that a high-performing team is beaten on the day, but this still correlates well with winning in future. If you want goods odds on a team, look for one that's lost an undue number of games by fairly narrow margins, because the past trend has low correlation to future. Early in the season, the roosters lost games by low margins - but performance measures were quite good, in defence & attack, and now they're winning. On the opposite side, the dragons and storm won games by few points, but overall performance measures were good without being great - that (plus injuries!) is catching up with them.
Tim
Guest
No one is ignoring the fact that they lost some experienced players last year - although it was Taylor's decision to let Blair go and Austin. We all agree it a young side, but young players are never going to defend like seasoned campaigners - it's futile to expect as much. He should know better and they should be doing a lot better. Injuries are one thing but everyone has injuries. No excuses, they aren't improving based on the 15 and 5 so far. Tactically poor.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
I'm amused by the sheer volume of alleged supporters trying to attribute the Tigers woes to Taylor. He has inherited a nightmarishly bad roster courtesy of the amateur dramatics production that was their 2014 season -- the roster actually got worse in the off season, even ignoring retirements and players who barely played first grade, then compound it with the players unavailable for a significant portion of the season due to injury. Outs: Adam Blair, Bodene Thompson, James Gavet, and Blake Austin. Ins: Josh Drinkwater. Injured: Curtis Sironen, Robbie Farah, David Noafoluma, and Tim Simona. Assuming your head is located on top of your neck (and not, say, where the sun doesn't shine) you'll notice that that's a lot of experienced players out and also a lot of players who defend close to the halves (who are even more important with young halves). So it's a young side to begin with (and hence, inconsistent) and now it's a young side missing a lot of defence around the edges, of course they're not doing well.
sean Ticehurst
Guest
I actually liked the fact that he picks players in there preferred positions. Sheens used to move players out of position ll the time. Lovett was a mistake, anyone could of seen that. My problem is that we are playing boring football. I dont even bother to watch them much these days because all they do is get to the 5th tackle and bomb it from 50 metres out. Thats not rugby League to me and i wont abide by it. Also JT said that all preseason he was focused on defence.. What did the team do for 3-4 months because i havnt seen this so called defence been used yet... We need a new coach.. and we need a new hooker. Frah needs to go. he uses up too much salary cap and has too much influence at the club.
wayne
Guest
Taylor hasnt done the young guys any favours the likes of moses brooks tedesco etc etc he needs to let these kids play there own free flowing style as TODD PAYTEN let them do and the results showed PAYTEN took these kids into the finals every time. Jason Taylor is covering his own arse everytime by saying we are getting there WELL sorry no your not getting there. Your last in the comp under TIM SHEENS the tigers got results never were they last under potter who i wasnt a fan of the tigers didnt come last, wake up TAYLOR let these young guys play there own game they will get results. IF you cant let the tigers play there style then take a WALK and let the tigers find a coach who will bring out the best in these kids THEY COULD BE THE 1,6 AND 7 for NSW
Jamieson Murphy
Roar Guru
There's a pretty obvious reason why JT doesn't start Drinkwater at 6 then bring on Moses at the back-end of the first half. It's a waste of an interchange which could be better spend on replacing a forward - you know, the ones that do most of the tackles and hit-ups.
curaeus
Guest
His press conferences are simply appalling. Full of gems like "don't concentrate on the (usually bad) result", "we are working to a plan", "we are improving" (at what I'm not sure) etc etc etc. Enough!
Nate
Guest
So many of the comments about his demeanor reflect what I thought of him when he was at Souths. No passion, always on the defensive, constantly looks under siege by the media. He just needs to grow a pair and man up a bit.
Tim
Guest
Great Article! This has been the worst performing team in the history of the joint venture. In years gone by, we have had half of the roster yet still managed to challenge for the 8. In both defence and attack the club has gone backwards from the previous year. They need to find a centre and at least one second rower urgently. Although we are led to believe there are salary cap issues at the club?!? I’m not sure how this is possible with the release of Blair/Anasta/Thompson/Austin/Fulton/Richards and Moltzen (if/when) Keith Lulia and Sitaleki also languish in reserve grade when we are desperate for players in these positions... Time to clean out the lot of them if they are not being used. Isn't the old coach adage, it takes 3 years to build something... the worse they look this year, the better next and so on... Potter didn’t get the same luxury and he had to deal with moving on marshal and all his mates coupled with a lack of respect from the 'captain'. let’s hope JT realises that you can improve the attack of the side without sacrificing the defensive effort. as at this stage they have deteriorated in both facets...
curaeus
Guest
I've been supportive of Taylor given the relative inexperience of much of our NRL squad but enough is enough! He is simply the wrong fit for this club and has to go before we have no members left and before we lose the few top performers we do have like Tedesco and Taupau to stronger richer clubs. Contracts no longer mean anything. If you have players whose hearts and minds are elsewhere, no contract will be of any use in hanging onto them