The Tigers have a brand new look in 2023. But only a few weeks into the season, the league’s perennial punching bag finds itself in an all-too acquainted scenario.
The foundations of a robust staff are there however the backbone, outdoors of premiership-winning hooker Apisai Koroisau, stays a query mark — regardless of adjustments elsewhere.
Of course, the competitors is simply three weeks previous and mixtures take time to construct.
But Tim Sheens has clearly already seen sufficient to know that the Adam Doueihi and Luke Brooks partnership shouldn’t be working, transferring the previous to fullback and selling Brandon Wakeham.
What makes the overhaul significantly attention-grabbing, each within the short-term and into the longer term, is the way it intersects with the membership’s roster scenario past this yr.
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Brooks and Wakeham are off-contract on the finish of this season, as are the staff’s two fullbacks — Charlie Staines and Daine Laurie. Doueihi, in the meantime, prolonged his keep on the Tigers till the top of the 2024 season final month.
Put merely, even when this season finally ends up being a write-off, if the rest it must be a yr for evaluating the very best choices to construct round Koroisau and a star-studded ahead pack.
After all, the Tigers could also be but to win a sport this yr however getting able to attain hasn’t been the issue — they rank third within the league for common run metres (1453) and second for tackles contained in the opposition 20 per sport (37).
Capitalising on that possession although has been, with the membership’s pink zone ratio (one strive each 37.0 play-the-balls) score the worst within the competitors. A variety of that comes again to the halves.
And in keeping with The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio, if this present instalment of the Tigers doesn’t make ample enhancements this yr, it gained’t be the teaching employees moved on.
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“We’ve been going down this discussion of what happens if Tim Sheens doesn’t work, what happens if the Benji situation doesn’t work? I believe the Tigers have hitched their wagon to the entire coaching structure,” he mentioned on Fox League’s ‘NRL 360’ on Wednesday night time.
“They’ve taken their fans on a journey that this is where they’re going in the next four to five years. It won’t be the coaches who are squared up and moved on again, I believe it will be the playing roster that will be given a shake-up and it will be Luke Brooks who will be moved on before any of the coaches are.
“Ultimately they’ll use the cap money to try wheel in another big-money signing to get the results that way [if they don’t improve this season].”
What course they are going to go in at this level stays unknown, however it appears unlikely all 5 of Doueihi, Brooks, Wakeham, Staines and Laurie will nonetheless be on the membership subsequent yr.
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Doueihi is already beneath contract in 2024 and has the management qualities to be an asset for the Tigers no matter the place he performs.
Defence although stays a priority for the 24-year-old and his decision-making in that regard can be examined at fullback, the place Doueihi must organise the Tigers’ defensive position.
A transfer to the centres, the place Doueihi has performed earlier than, has additionally been touted and will work in an attacking sense given he’s a robust ball-playing runner who additionally possesses a brief kicking sport.
But once more, the defence is the larger query mark and being moved out and in of various positions would solely work in opposition to Doueihi’s growth in that respect.
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As for Brooks, he’s the probably to depart, with stories of Super League curiosity within the former Dally M Halfback of the Year.
That Dally M honour again in 2018 is commonly introduced up in arguments in opposition to transferring on from Brooks, though that was nearly 5 years in the past now.
And whereas Brooks could have had the No.7 jumper on his again at that time, he was taking part in alongside the far more skilled Benji Marshall too.
In different phrases, he didn’t have to fret about controlling the staff. Brooks confirmed flashes within the latter levels of final week’s sport in opposition to the Bulldogs however these flashes appeared extra like that of a working five-eighth than an organising halfback.
Brooks has been the one fixed on the Tigers over the previous decade, with 15 completely different halves companions since his debut in 2013 — and simply two have performed greater than 20 video games alongside him.
That says one in all two issues. Either Brooks hasn’t been given the time to develop mixtures and has struggled in consequence or, in all probability extra precisely, he was a part of the issue and that the Tigers are overdue a contemporary begin.
Andrew Voss accused the Tigers of hitting the “panic button” in deciding on Wakeham this week and there’s little doubting he in all probability isn’t the long-term reply.
Wakeham has simply three wins from 18 begins within the halves in his NRL profession and struggled for a similar consistency the Tigers are craving proper now throughout his time on the Bulldogs.
But Wakeham can nonetheless be a part of the answer with out being it totally. Plus — Doueihi and Brooks clearly aren’t working, so why not strive one thing completely different?
Sheens informed reporters final week that the membership would begin to sit down with all its off-contract gamers in its first bye, which is only a few weeks away in spherical seven.
That offers Sheens and the remainder of the Tigers teaching employees slightly below a month to see what they’ve in Wakeham, who’s a type of off-contract gamers.
As premiership-winning hooker Cameron Smith identified earlier this week on SEN 1170, any determination the Tigers make on their future backbone has to go well with Koroisau’s taking part in type.
Koroisau’s guile made him one of many league’s premier hookers at Penrith however he additionally benefited from having halves in Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai who understood his sport.
At the Tigers although, there may be “no connection between Api and his halves” in keeping with Greg Alexander.
“That’s missing,” he mentioned on SEN 1170 this week.
“We all know he’s a very crafty No. 9 but you’ve also got to have a connection with your halves as well,” added Smith.
“When they [the halves] are playing good football and are confident and actually present a threat to the opposition, then that allows yourself as a dummy-half to then see opportunities. “You talk about Api’s ability, we know he’s a great player, but in the sides he’s played in for most of his career he’s had threats around him… whereas at the moment he’s just trying to do everything to lift this team.”
Koroisau himself admitted as a lot after the latest loss to the Bulldogs, talking to only how far the staff has to go in constructing these essential mixtures.
“I think they haven’t too much front-foot footy in the last few years and I have spoken to them about it,” he mentioned.
“It takes a lot of getting used to, it’s a reaction thing — understanding the ruck and if it’s quick. The second half they got a lot better… it’s just something that we can work on at training and fix up there.”
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There is a lot for all the staff to work on at coaching too, in keeping with Matty Johns and Cooper Cronk.
While the Tigers positively must choose a long-term reply within the halves, the backline as a complete remains to be removed from polished on either side of the ball.
That was evident to each Johns and Cronk on the weekend when the Tigers went down their proper edge in prime attacking area place, just for Doueihi to have his cross intercepted by Paul Alamoti.
“Looking at Tim Sheens-coached sides, one thing they are is very synchronised,” Johns mentioned on ‘The Matty Johns Podcast’, which airs on Tuesday nights on Fox League at 7.30pm.
“They get everything right. But they looked completely out of sync. I think the best example was in the first half was the intercept try in which Josh Addo-Carr eventually scored.
“When you watch the head-on from that, you see Doueihi go up to his target defender [Alamoti] and he’s willing his ballrunner to run into the tight gap.
“He’s produced a sort of half-space and just lofts the ball and his ballrunner has gone for the far gap. Just total miscommunication and misunderstanding. That is a really basic fundamental between a playmaker and a ballrunner.
“Nothing undermines a playmaker’s confidence then calling plays and getting there and their ballrunners aren’t there or they’re even half-a-step late. That’s what lends itself to often times ballplayers playing too sideways.”
Cronk, in the meantime, mentioned there have been loads of examples he may have pointed to from Sunday’s sport in opposition to the Bulldogs that spoke to the disconnect in assault on the sides.
He even prompt the Tigers may do with having a frank dialog just like the one Jarome Luai and Jaeman Salmon shared after Penrith’s spherical one loss to Brisbane.
“With the Tigers’ attack right now, I could show 10 bits of vision and I could say this person is out of position, this person is out of position,” Cronk mentioned.
“And no wonder the ballplayer is like, ‘Whoa, where are you? What is happening?’, because he doesn’t feel like they are there. It just comes back to accountability.
“The halves get the blame for that too. But you know when we saw Luai and Salmon having that conversation after the game, I would love to see the Tigers have that conversation.”
And maybe the Tigers have already had these conversations. After all, Sheens refused to publicly talk about the thought course of behind bringing Wakeham on within the first place.
It looks like he would favor to maintain these form of discussions behind closed doorways and honest sufficient.
But if nothing improves, he can even anticipate these inquiries to preserve coming — and that extends to these about the way forward for his halves and backbone as a complete.
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
