- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Just like my first preview on the Gold Coast Titans, this is not a very controversial choice.
Wests Tigers are another team I like, mainly because my dad supports them and because they have always been an exciting team to watch – well, excluding most of last year anyway.
But having grown up with my dad hyping up the Tigers every year and witnessing them fall short, I know about the disappointment Wests can bring to their fans.
I am basically a fan via proxy at this point. Fortunately, this year the only disappointment Wests Tigers can bring to their fans is coming below the Titans.
So that’s a positive right?
Before we continue, I am going to add that I am a Manly fan, which explains why everything I write has this general air of smugness about it.
Now let’s delve into the Martin Taupau and Matt Ballin swap.
Firstly, I am very disappointed we lost Ballin since he was one of my favourite players growing up. He is someone who will put 110 per cent (because 100 per cent just isn’t enough) into every game he plays and make eight trillion tackles, but the Tigers’ decision to sign him was idiotic.
It was a ploy from Jason Taylor to get Robbie Farah out of the club, which failed. It was like a teenage girl who goes on a date with some guy just to make her boyfriend leave.
But now the two have made up, Ballin is left awkwardly sitting in the lounge room talking to Mama and Poppa Taylor. The Tigers are in a situation where they have Ballin, Farah and Manaia Cherrington (who was slated to be Farah’s long-term first-grade successor) as first-grade dummy halves.
Also, the Taupau loss will be huge, even though they replaced him with Tim Grant. Grant is… well, let’s just say that you may as well have set his wages on fire.
This is based on his form while at the Rabbitohs. If he regathers his glory-day form then I will happily eat my words. Anyway, enough rambling, let’s get into the nitty gritty with their full-strength, best team.
1. James Tedesco
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Tim Simona
4. Kevin Naiqama
5. Jordan Rankin
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Aaron Woods
9. Robbie Farah
10. Tim Grant
11. Chris Lawrence
12. Curtis Sironen
13. Sauaso Sue
14. Ava Seumanufagai
15. Dene Halatau
16. Matt Ballin
17. Michael Chee-Kam
Strengths
They have a very good spine. I don’t understand why so many people seem to think Mitchell Moses lacks any talent. He most certainly does have talent, and it was shown throughout last year as his form improved over the last few weeks of the competition.
Moses and Brooks are both talented and promising. Add in two players that should be auto picks in the 2016 NSW team in James Tedesco and Farrah, and you have a very good spine.
Also, Aaron Woods is the best prop in the game. People like to argue that Matt Scott and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves are better, but I think Woods was better than those two last year in a much worse team. He has been improving every season and I don’t think we have seen his peak yet.
Additionally, the Tigers’ Under-20s team did pretty well last year after making it to the finals. They have a fair few promising youngsters on their books like the previously mentioned Cherrington, Michael Chee-Kam, Josh Addo-Carr and Jordan Rankin.
Some of you may wonder why I put Rankin on the wing when he is a half/fullback but he is better than the alternatives of Justin Hunt and Addo-Carr. He also provides another kicking option like Pat Richards did last year.
Hunt has consistently proven he is useless while Addo-Carr didn’t impress me at the Auckland Nines. He seemed to be a kid with speed and nothing else, and to be a first-grader you need more than just speed.
It might be a risky choice, but Wests are a side that would benefit from the extra attacking option because they are an exciting team.
Weaknesses
The words ‘Jason Taylor’ would aptly be enough for this segment. The guy just seems so out of depth; he looks like a scared deer in headlights every time he is interviewed.
At least other out-of-depth coaches like Anthony Griffin can pretend they know what they are doing, but Taylor can’t even handle that. The guy is completely unprofessional, which was demonstrated by the horrible way he handled the Farah incident and the signing of Ballin, which has come back to haunt him.
That is without mentioning his on-field issues.
Taylor is a coach that took an exciting team chock full of points, and made them a boring, tame and pedestrian attacking side. He didn’t even fix their defensive issues.
It took Moses and Brooks asking Taylor to let them play their way for the Tigers to find some late-season form, while his ineptitude is reportedly why Taupau left early (though I am sure money had a big influence too).
Putting Kyle Lovett in the centres instead of Chris Lawrence in that game against Penrith last season was really what broke the camel’s back in my dislike for Jason Taylor.
Also, while I did praise the young halves earlier, the team needs an experienced half or playmaker to guide them. Rookie half combinations almost never work out, with the only one I can think of being the Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran combination in 2011.
But even then Foran was in his third year of first-grade and those two got a lot of help from the Stewart brothers and Nathan Lyon in the playmaking department. Wests have just thrown these two into the deep end with no help and that is stunting their development. It is too much pressure for two young players to handle.
And finally, while they have some pretty good props they have a bit of a depth issue there, especially with Matthew Lodge turning into a comic book villain while in America. Seriously, what the hell is that guy’s problem?
Also, the second row leaves a lot to be desired. Lawrence is an acceptable second rower, and Chee-Kam is a promising young player, but apart from that, they really have no one decent. Every member of the Titans’ second row would make it onto this team – it is the glowing weakness when talking about the on-paper side.
I wish there was space for Cherrington in this side, but there just isn’t. Some Tigers fans have said they would have Ballin at lock – so he can tackle people and tighten the defence – while including Cherrington on the bench.
The idea has some merit to it but you need a lock who can make a fair amount of metres, which Ballin can’t provide. If I was Jason Taylor I would give that combination a go halfway through the year, or after an injury to a forward. Otherwise, I am hesitant about it.
Expectations
They have a spine that is above average, containing one of the best dummy halves and fullbacks in the game. They have alright backs, promising halves and the best prop in the game. But they have those second row and prop depth problems.
So why are they only at 15th? Well, Taylor is just so bad that I can’t see them making the eight or really getting anywhere close to it. If Taylor can just let the team play how they want to and let them score points, then they are quite clearly capable of making finals.
But I don’t see it happening. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is replaced with someone like Geoff Toovey or Ivan Cleary before the year ends.
Conclusion
The Tigers are a team that are just a few decent players away from having a great roster. They only need one or two decent second rowers, another prop and another year for Moses and Brooks to develop. Together with a good coach they are a top eight side.
I can see them doing well once they flick Taylor, but this year the Tigers will struggle in a competitive campaign.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.