West Tiger's Podcast, episode number four hundred and twenty three Eddie, Steve and Gary on a Wednesday night previewing the game against the Bulldogs on Sunday at Combak Stadium. Steve, I feel like we haven't been on a podcast together for a few weeks. You is there something wrong with me or all?
Good?
No, mate, I'm around. I've had my hand up. You just mayveen off doing cricket stuff and birthday celebrations. I never seen anyone celebrate a birthday for a week and a half before, but you managed to do it, so good luck. Do you happy birthday?
By the way, he's NY five big, yeah, forty.
It's a little bit and wasn't looking forward to it, but it was a nice weekend away. Gary. You guys, both of you guys are actually out at the micd Up Studios in Parramatta for another collab podcast on Sunday night with Rob and Joel in the hosting chair. I had to look at it on YouTube. It looked to be a good hours discussion.
Yeah, it was a good chat. It's a bit different coming back to zoom and doing one after being in the studio. I kind of missed my fancy seat and my camera in my face.
Yeah, Gary's Gary's actually sitting here nude on zoom at the moment, no one can see it, luckily, But it's a bit different, Steve being I know when I was on the first week. It's a bit intimidating when you put those headphones on and the lights the first out of ten minutes. A bit different to being sitting here in your kitchen or wherever you are.
Yeah, I'll admit to being nervous for the first ten to fifteen minutes. Once we got into the flow from my perspective, I just forgot about everything else and it just became a normal podcast conversation. But yeah, that first fifteen minutes I was a bit starry. But I've got to say, just on the point of Gary sitting there naked, if that was the case, this has been a monologue monologue, not a podcast, let.
Me tell you, all right, to put that visual out to viewers, but it's actually not the case, I can assure you. But boys, we're going to talk about Jerome lew White tonight, some of his comments that he made at Concord Today. We're going to talk about the implications of coming up against Locke Galvin this week and the Bulldogs and we'll of course do the quiz. But firstly, Gary,
just reflecting on Sunday. I don't know if you've listened to the Monday Night podcast, but I bought in a new segment called Monday Eddie, and I bought a few positives to the table. Do you have any more positives from how you felt Sunday night? In the micd Up studio.
We don't have to play Pendrif again this year, so that's a little bit of a positive. I'm probably a little bit more positive about it the further we get away from the game. It was pretty hard. I know, I was really disappointed Saturday night, A little bit less Sunday, and it's probably getting a little bit less. But it wasn't a great performance from us. But Pendrif good.
Seven wins, twelve losses the five games to go. Ordinarily, for an average and a real team, you'd say, well, not much on the line here. I feel there's a huge amount on the line for us the next five weeks.
Yeah, I agree, and we don't want the wooden spoon, that's for sure. I think that'd be disastrous for us. It just gives all those out there that want to talk negatively about us another opportunity to do that. We don't want to finish fifteenth, sixteenth or seventeenth in my opinion either. I think there's a lot of difference between fifteenth and seventeenth. We've got a show by where we finish on the table that we are on the improver. Interestingly, how to listen today? I know it's been up for
a while, but how to listen today? To Terrell mayin Teraruver's podcast, you know, and they were talking about and this is off after six losses in a row. They were talking about how there's still a lot of belief in the team, and I still reckon you can see that this team haven't given up, and I think it's imant that they still maintain that attitude right through to
the very end. As I've said numerous times, one of the most disappointing things for me if seasons pass, has been the fact that we've given up on our season so badly and just put in such poor performances the last six or eight weeks of the year. We just don't want to see that. I don't think we will from this team, and whether we get two points on not each week. I don't think it is overly important a little bit, I suppose, but I just want to see that attitude right through the last round.
That attitude is crucially important, Steve. In my opinion, you're right about the way the last couple of seasons finished, and we've spoken all year about the change of culture in our club, and despite how the year finishes, we need to see that fight to at least see that that culture has changed. Even if the performances are only like the result for the year is only slightly better than last year. That culture, I think it's just as important.
We'll mention before we go on. If you want to see that collab podcast, check out the West Tiger's Life YouTube page. It's up on there already. Steve, like I said, whether you think or not, because I know you thought we could push for the eight this year, but I think the last five games will determine how the mainstream and the media have a stranglehold on this game, determine whether this season is a relative success.
Or a failure.
Yeah, I agree, because what happens with the mainstream media is they don't look very deep. They don't dig into the story. They just want to grab a headline and make some controversy. So if we finish right down the bottom, the story is going to be Tigers haven't changed, all
the same same rubbish from the Tigers. If you dig a little bit deeper, I think you can make an argument that that's not the case, that it's a very different squad, that there is still a lot of belief in that plane squad, that there is a roster on the improve. It's not there yet, but it's getting better.
If we had less injuries, if we had a little bit more depth, and if we didn't have the Galvin saga, and I really don't think we can underplay the impact that had on the season, then our season could have looked a lot better. I think. Now that's a lot of ifs and butts, and there'll be people out there rolling their eyes saying, well, you know, you've just got to overcome that stuff and succeed anyway. And I agree on the first one to actually say that sort of thing.
You know, I've said along we needed to make the ape. We haven't done it, but I think we're getting there. But we need to finish strong, mate. You're right, Otherwise we are going to give people the opportunity to bag the hell out of us all off season.
I think every position on the table Gary is important, Like I think we can finish as high as twelfth or third eight. There's six teams in an absolute dogfight at the moment, the Gold Coaster Eels, sows Us, the Dragons and Newcastle. So you look at our draw on the run home, you'd say winning this week would be a real bonus. But the games against Manly at the SFS, Cowboys, Alika and Gold Coast in the Gold Coast on the Goal Coast in the last round are vital and winnable.
They're games that if we're genuine about being a better team than we were the last three seasons, then these are winnable games. And I think really to walk away with a real positive feeling about this season, we need to get two of those three games, and I think it's crucially important. It gets us well away from that wooden spoon, and those results in those three games are the most critical for the rest of this season.
You mentioned, Steve the fact that the Galvin saga has had a big impact on our year. I don't disagree with that. Deklan and I got into a bit of an argument on Monday night around spine changes, the amount of spine changes had any injuries we've had, and he thinks that's also had an impact on our year. What do you think about that? Taking out the Galvin sug Oh.
Yeah, it has absolutely like our spine has been dismantled. I saw someone talking about the other day saying that, you know, the spine that we originally you know, wanted to have, you know, which was well Buller, Galvin, Lewie and Happy. You know, when they did play together, we won most of those games, right, so we were definitely on track. And then the way he left and the way he showed such disrespect to the club and turned the players against him, and that really rocked us. I
think it really rocked Benji. I think it was it was visible, It was obvious that Benji was really rocked by it, and I think it knocked the stuffings out of us. It's and then we've had Buller injured, We've had rotations around the six and seven trying to get it right, Like we haven't been able to get Fanu to play any consistent football because of injury, and so it's been very difficult to get that harmony in your spine,
which is so important. We've also had key injuries to other players throughout the season, and our depth is we've mentioned so many times, is mini school, you know, So once we get a couple of injuries, it shows. So, you know, if we had had our spine for most of the year and had a little bit of luck with injuries, a better season, but it wasn't to be.
It goes a little bit further than that, Steve, than just Galvin coming out of it. I listened to that conversation this afternoon, Eddie, and I did have one question for you regarding that conversation. What do you regard as our best spine right now?
It's the four guys that are playing this week, and I know they haven't played together yet.
Literally have never played a game together. So I think that's quite telling the fact that when fain U eventually he did get over his hamstring issues the first week he moved into that halves role, Blue was out and that has been quite critical in our season. Now, I'm not making excuses for it. Our season is far from being good enough, and it's not just you're exactly right today when you said our total amount of injuries hasn't been that high. When you have a look at other.
Sides, every player in our squad is available this week, every single player. I don't think you'd have a club in the game that this late in the year. I want to give a rap to that Peter Meuser and their staff because I think they've done.
A really good job this year.
I know there's luck involved with injuries, but not a lot of soft tissue injuries like souse of a million.
Yeah, so I agree with that part of it with you, Eddie. But the fact that our key players around our spine, especially when you have some young players in that spine, they just haven't got the time together since Gavin came out. We had a number of times where we had our our first choice spine playing at the start of the year when when Garvin was at the club, But since Garvin's left, at no point have we had what would call our first choice.
Were five form eight with bullet Galvin who I appy.
Steve.
I took the forward pack apart a little bit in terms of asking Decklan how many of them would start or get on the bench for the other clubs, But like, I know they're doing their best, but I think it's it's clearly as the season's gone on, even though we've brought in Terrell May and he's been excellent, our pack is still weak.
It is.
It's not up to scrape, that's for sure. We talked about this on Sunday night in the Club podcast, you know, and Gary mentioned then, and we've all mentioned this that we need another front row and Rob was actually saying if we needed two middles, you know, to really be where we need to be. You know, if you just look at you know, look at Cannaby this weekend, Like out on the Hedge, they've got kick Out and Preston right as this second rowers, we're going to have Faynu
and Piss Paul. You know, that's an improvement. It's still not what I would say two strike second rowers. It's better than what we've got, but I still think that's building. We're still short of lock. We're definitely short a front rower, and we're short depth in the four pact for when those guys are injured. You know, Pole is inconsistent, Hunt has been inconsistent. It's the only Feinn who he's knocking
it out of the park. He's having a great year. Suka, who's on the benches were I don't think he's you know what you call consistent first grade at this stage. So yeah, absolutely we're way by. And I'm worried about Hooker as well. Mate, Like I like, Happy can't play. He's going to play a hi minutes this week. I don't think that's the way to go with him, and I don't think Hope as our fourteen is the way to go. That concerns me greatly, to be honest.
Yeah, I think we need to look at look for a backup hooker for next season. I know we've just reached someone Hope, but I think we need someone of higher quality than that, because in my opinion, they need to be playing at least twenty minutes a week and actually contributing. Hope for me, all he gives you is arrest for Appy, and I think we need more than that.
And in regards to other positions in our forward pack, we spoke at the start of the year that second row was one of our weaknesses, and we spoke if we get injuries in that position, it was dire. Well, we've got injuries to our best second rower who is only a young guy who is still a developing footballer himself. But when you're going into games and you have the likes of Suker and sayfar starting in the second row, there's just no impact on the edge at all. There's
no threat on the edge at all. They don't get you meters, they don't they don't run a line and hit a gap, they don't draw defenses. They literally really don't contribute to your attacking shape or you're an attacking style at all. And that's why it's important that we needed to Now I'm not sold on ky Peace Paul yet.
I think we'll learn more when he gets to the club and he's playing in a side that's not well we are fairly left hand dominant as Newcastle is, but hopefully he'll get a little bit more opportunities to show what he can do when he gets acrossing next year. But that middle four that can damage the line, that middle front rower prop that is crucial for us going in the next season and we need to get that sorted.
Yeah, can I just mention I know it's a bit off topic, Eddie, but just just to go he was saying there to follow on front with Kypece ball. I think that's really important when we look at our attacking structure next year. Like we're all we all saw the brilliance of May down that left side, and all of a sudden we're thinking, oh, we're going to about a shift left all the time, especially with Buller came around as well. But we need to not ignore the right
side attack. Like I was watching the Heights of Canterbury in prep for tonight's pod, and I just saw how how beautifully they shift the ball, but they do it left and right. You know, they shifted just as smoothly, just as dangerously to both edges. And you know, we're going to have a developing weapon in Pierce Paul from what I've seen of him at Newcastle, and we've got Tower who has shown that he can be absolutely dynamic
if he's got a little bit of space. So we've got to make sure that we don't forget that right side and that we are attacking left and right as we develop our structure in the next year.
To be fair, Steve at our right hand side was probably early in the season our dominant side. Yeah, Mariuva was scoring a lot of tries. Told was scoring a lot of tries, making a lot of breaks. And I really do believe, and I said it on Sunday night as well, that the breakdown on that side has come from the Buller injury.
It was Lucky outvit as well though playing right.
It was Lucky Galvin playing right as well, but he also switched both sides, and I think Lucky Galvin's best football was played on the left as well. So I think the best we look on the right pretty much so far this season is when both our halves go to the left and give Buller the space on the right and let him control that right hand side a little bit. To me, that's when that right hand side has looked the best and look the most dangerous. And the fact that I think Towers drop in form over
the past couple of months, especially in attack. I'm not going to defend his defend his defense, but in attack he's dropping form as coincided with Buller being missing.
Simple yes, no question boys. They asked Decklan this on Monday night. It's a little bit different because Samuel is back starting and Royce Hunts back on the bench, but Steve would most of these players in our starting pack. This week make most NRL sides Terra May yes, Happy Corossou yes, Alex Twi no, Sam Well, I find it fifty to fifty not yet say half. No, Adam Dewey no Gary the bench? Would these guys make the bench at most.
In RL clubs?
Royce Hunt no, Tony Suka No for Neopole yes see only find it.
Yes and I will add to that. I think anyone who should be starting for.
Us quick one on the signings.
I know it was a bit of a low key signing, but this guy, Javonn Andrews played in the halves for the Queensland on the nineteenes origin side. Gary He I think has been contracted to the Titans. What do you think his role will be next year? Uh?
Back up half? Probably still young enough to play Jersey flag. So I'd like to say a bit more of him before I make a huge judgment. I don't expect him to be pushing for a first grade spot next year. It's an interesting signing because we signed Madden last.
Week means it means do he's going surely?
I think it has to. But it's also another five eight like we keep on signing hard.
Yeah.
He spent most of his time at six, so it's really interesting that we keep signing hards but we keep signing six. Is even Madden, I think has traits about his game that make him better suited to the being a six as well. So yeah, it's an interesting one. I think it's really good for DAPT fan. I actually do really like that signing.
Maybe maybe they're six and sevens that are also of some utility value which may stop them from getting another hooker in the top thirty, which.
Is a mistake I think Steve, it's good enough to be.
I'm not saying whether that's right or wrong. I'm just saying that's what I think that there may be some thinking behind that. I agree from what I've saent just no way, But didn't I hear I thought I read today that the sign that today signing is going to be development development next year for top thirty the year after.
I think, Okay, I haven't clarified that. Gary knows.
I think I heard the same thing. But he's also a guy that the club should know fairly well because he was in our system two years ago so well maybe three years ago now, so he has spent time at the club before, so he's returning to the club. Yeah, a good young player who has shown some good form through junior football. It puts a little bit of pressure on the guys you have above him and gives you a good backup. So I think it's a great signing.
Just before we move on to Jeron and Steve, I wonder what it means for Heath Mason because like he played, you know, it was only six weeks ago he was starting in the halves, but now you've signed Jock Madden and this Juvon Andrews. I wonder whether he's going to just become a depth player or backup fullback.
Yeah, well he's picked at full back this week for reserve grade, I'm pretty sure, so it would indicate to me that these days in the halves is probably numbered and he's going to be the backup.
Full back up with the second pick.
Well, that that could very well be the case, that's right.
Yeah, I think if you haven't at the reserve grade side for this weekend, Naden's picked in the halves. So if they're picking Naden in the halves and putting Mason at fullback, I think it's fairly likely that these days at in the halves are over.
What's what's his contract status there?
I know.
Next year one more year?
Yeah, I think it may be one more year.
Have a look, Steve, just last one, because I know Gary wouldn't have changed his opinion because he said after at him, do we had a pretty good game against the Titans that he still hadn't seen enough? Would you be trying to resign him?
Yeah? My opinion hasn't changed from when I talked about this a couple of weeks ago. I think if he is fit enough and he's willing to play thirteen or utility, I think he's worth a shot at it. From what I've seen over the last few weeks, I think he could make a go at thirteen. I think he could also make a go at fourteen in the side. And so if there's someone better out there, then you go for them obviously.
But I don't think he wants to play well if he doesn't know that, But I'm just body.
That's that's the big question, isn't If he doesn't, then I suppose it's goodbye. If he's willing to give it a shot, I would be willing to give him a chance.
Yeah, I still haven't seen enough that you can change. I think that offer of a backup role, possible bench player at about three hundred and fifty thousand is about the limit at the moment, and I don't think he's shown enough in that role in the forwards to go past that. Though. I did think he did a fairly good job on the weekend in yardage. I actually liked him running the ball, but his ball playing left a little bit to be desired on the weekend.
Jerome Leuie front of the cameras today at Concord, came up with a few quotes that probably music to the ears and most of our fans. He said, I'm staying. Don't worry for life. He said it in typical Jerome's style, bit ad hoc. When things get hard, people are sort of expecting you to change. I'm not that type of guy. I'm here for the long run and I'm here to change his club around. He also mentioned it was good to see the skip happy locked in for a few
more years. I want to play some more football with him. Surely Steve has no going back from those quotes.
I don't think so, but I reckon I know exactly where he's coming from. I was having a thing about this today. He's not going to remove those clauses from his contract because he's got a lot of respect for Benji Marshall. He wants Benji I should be the first grade coach moving forward. If the club maintain their contract with Benji Marshall and keep Benji for extended period as
his contract states, then Louis will stay. I reckon If the club put pressure on Benji, try to force Benji out, then Louis will exercise the clause of his contract and jump ship. That's why it's there. So I think he's been one hundred percent genuine, and I also think it makes perfect sense as to why he won't remove it because he wants that pressure there, because he wants Benji to stay. Just my opinion knowledge.
I thought of that, Steve, but I agree one thousand percent that makes total sense to me.
Gay Yeah, I agree with it as well. I think that cause has to be activated by April next year, so yeah, we've got to get through to April. I don't see him going anywhere. He always says those right things. I love how he speaks in press conferences, but we need to consistently show that on the field. We need the guy that played in that Titans game, who I thought showed that attitude, showed that desire for our club.
We need him every single week. That I found it funny, like we spoke about how he played that game against the Titans without headgear, and then last weekend the head gear is back on, and I don't think that kind of attitude was there. I hope he shows up this weekend without the head gear because I think that's a little bit of a statement from him, and I want to see that extreme attitude that we saw in that
Titans game form him every week. I know he's holding up standards all the time out on the field, but I want that guy that played against the Titans.
We've all given him praise Steve for his leadership and improved standards around fans in the club and stuff like that. But I had to chat with Deklun just about his football, because that's what you get judged on the eighty minutes in the field, and I don't think he's playing worse Penroth. This is sort of what I saw last year. So I don't know if it's been a little bit of a mistake or a leap of faith for the clubs
thinking he could play halfback, but nothing. There were things last year that I saw where I know it concerned you.
Yeah, absolutely, I've seen nothing different on the field to what I've already seen from him in the past. Now he could look electric when he was playing for Penrith. He ran the ball a lot with Penrith and found space and I think that's mainly because he had clearly on one side of him and you know on the other side of him. Right, So when you're defending against Penrith, there are just so many attacking opportunities. You're looking all
over the place. You don't know where to go. It's easy to break down for Penrith to breakdown opposition defense because of the attacking options they've got, So Lui was just part of that. We don't have that the Tigers, So defensive teams can focus on Luis Moore and shut him down a lot quicker, so he hasn't out the space all the time. Is year to do that. He used to throw a good pass at better hit his his center or his back rower running good lines. What
I haven't seen enough of that. I've questioned the amount of repetition they do with training to get that, to get that sort of those combinations working perfectly. Maybe the change in our spine has led to the haven't had the opportunity to do that. I don't know, but I would never ever question his effort. I'd never question his
attitude and his leadership and all that stuff. But I do just wonder does he actually have what it takes to rip sides apart while playing with the Tigers at the moment, and I still haven't seen it.
I think one of the crucial thing is, and we've already spoken about it tonight, is our lack of punch through the middle, that big, impactful middle. I think that's why our hearts are inconsistent. That's why sometimes our halves and our lock are able to straighten the attack, and
why sometimes they can't. It's really difficult to straighten the attack when you're playing off the back of a slow play the ball, or you're playing off the back of a pack that is getting dominated, and you can't put it any other way than the last There's been three games, two games out of last three where our pack has just been totally outmuscled, and as a half, you can't
straighten the attack properly. When when the defensive line is set and coming up on you, especially with the line speed that Panish showed on the weekend, there's no room to straighten. So I think it's really crucial that we support not just Jerome but La two and whoever's playing in that lock role by getting that middle forward who can actually create some space and disrupt the defensive line.
Hopefully we see it in that a little bit this weekend when Hunt comes under the field, because I think that could be quite telling and show what we've been lacking the last last six weeks.
Well, they've definitely picked the team for it.
Haven't they have.
With the bench, It's obvious from the team that's it's going to run out there and come off the bench. They're going to try to play fast through the middle. That's the only chance we've got.
Really, without jumping too much into our game preview, it's still going to be tough this weekend, no matter what what pack we have, because we came up yeah, well you know what I'm about to say, Steve. We came up against the pack that and a defense that just strangled us last weekend. If any side's better defensively than what panof is.
When you're looking at the Bulldogs defensive system, Mate, it's.
Exactly the same. I think arguably the Bulldogs do it better than Panriff have been doing it so far this season, so I can see some struggles coming up against that defense this weekend.
There was a stat today I saw, I think it was against the top four or five this year. Tigers are averaging eight points a game. So we haven't played the Bulldogs yet, but we played the Storm, we played, the Raiders played, the Warriors played the Panthers. Might not have included the Warriors, might have included Penrith as one of those four, but it wasn't.
It was pretty bleak reading.
But Steve, I mean the cynics will say that you know, of course he's going to stay because he's not going to get that amount of money at any other club Jerome. But I actually think he probably would, especially given the new club's coming in. I reckon he'd go fine if he went to the open market.
Well, absolutely, especially with I think what you just said then, especially with the new teams coming in. It's going to open the market right up, isn't it. People are going to be making more money. Yeah, he will. I don't want people to think that. I don't think he's a good football and I don't think he's value to our club. I do. I think he's worth the money we're painting him. I think we've needed a Jerome Law at this club. Absolutely. All I'm saying is we're still yet to see that
transfer into raw or on the field. As for all the reasons we've said, all the reasons we've said, really, and I think Gary makes a very good point. You know, until we're stronger in the middle, it's really maybe unfair to judge judge you know, guys like FANU and Law.
One of the people on the West Tigers podcast for him had to go with me. Gary and I like.
People, you got the name of the forum right today.
I did. Apparently I called it. I left out a word, which Joel was horrified.
He didn't.
He hasn't slept for three days Joel after I did that, so big, big sorry about that, Joel. But what was I going to say, Gary, I'm talking about this the podcast for him, someone abusing you. Yeah, Well, he had to go with me because he said that Jerome's been worth way more than two wins a year. But my I was trying to praise him in two wins a year because we have a theory in cricket when we play fifteen games a year, if you have an individual player that's worth two or three wins for you a year,
that's a play is that's very, very valuable. So Gary, how many wins has he been worth this year? How many wins would we have without him?
I would have lesson last year if we didn't have Jerome le playing for us, and.
You agree with me, we'd have two less wins, maybe.
Maybe two, maybe three. I haven't gone through. I'd have to go through and have a look at the games. But he has been fairly dominant in a lot of
our wins. I know a lot of our wins early Galvin was fairly controlling in I thought that the game I want to keep seeing from Loui is what I spoke about a moment ago that the game against the Gold Coast where he showed up ready to play, fired up to play, and very nearly there'd be a lot more praise for him at the moment if at the end of that game he didn't get caught caught two meters out from the try line if he had went through, scored that try and won the game, I think the
narrative around him would be a little bit different.
This week, Let's ask that question a different way.
So if we replace Louis with some another half, that's worth around the same money. So let's say we take lay out and put Monster in right, or we take Law and put Reynolds in from from the Broncos. Would we have won any more games than what we've won?
Issue?
What do you reckon?
I think that's a very good question.
I think Monster know, yeah, he needs someone like Jeryan Hughes. What he adds to.
Melbourne, Steve, that's a very good question.
Reynolds is a tough one.
You write that down, Stave, Sorry to keep interrupting, Gar. You write that down and just come up in your head.
No, I just I'm just full of it, full of it or full of them?
I think that's Gary.
I just put it the best way I could.
I think the Adam Reynolds question is quite I'd have to have a think about that one because I'd love to have Adam Reynolds kicking game at our club.
Can we mark this down any please? How far in the pot are we but Gary, Gary lost for words first time in four years.
Yeah, so back on my point, Gary, about I need a bit more hate from the forum. Even Mike. Mike was being nice to me. He said he liked positive Eddie. I thought, come on, Mike, I want to hear about the negatives.
What about you don't get enough hate from me? Mate, Well you're not.
I don't count you.
I'm talking about podcast, the fans out there on the podcast, the listeners.
Everyone who is listening. If you don't like Eddie, make sure you let him know. He wants to know.
Is there time on Sunday?
There is a game and we're going to get to it, and the fans are going to hate me more, Steve, because I'm going to talk about Galvin for fifteen minutes. So if you want to drop off, you can drop off now. But before I mentioned Galvin, I'm going to mention another person that's hated the Tigers, Ivan Cleary. Now I am a coach at a Greek club Rami Petisha. I'm not the head coach, I'm an assistant coach. But
our head coach, who's a Paramatta fan. He gave me the book and said, well, this is a learning opportunity for you, and I thought, well, I could throw it in a bin, but I thought, no, I'm going to read it. So I've actually I haven't read it all Gary, but it is an interesting book, I've got to say. And I went straight to the Tigers section, and that's a podcast for another day. But I did read a
few excerpts from Appy coros Ow on Ivan Cleary. And this is around the time that Appy was at Manly and Ivan was going back to Penrith, and Appy ended up going back to Penrith, and he did say that no coach pushed him harder, he said, despite the fact that he's a cool, calm guy. He said, he encouraged me to get fitter, to work on my passing, work on my defense, and my work rate. Now, I have no doubt that Benji and Appy have a great cannet
and respect each other. But I still think, and I don't know this because we're outsiders, we're outside the four walls. I hope Benji's pushing him as hard as Ivan did.
Yeah, you know why Ivan clear is so hated by Tigers fans, Jair.
It wasn't my question why, Well, because he could have turned our club around.
He is the coach that could have turned our club around. He chose to go elsewhere. And I don't know whether Benji's driving the standards as hard as Ivan does at the club, but I think that's why we bring in a guy like Jerome Luai who's from his successful club with high standards to help drive those standards. It does have to come first from that coaching staff, and I hope it is. Everything Benji said over the off season was about how he changed how he was approaching this
season and how he was working with players. You saw the players come back overweight and have to front the board. So all the talk around it is that those standards have improved at the club. What I've heard all along about Hunt being in reserve grade is that he wasn't meeting KPIs on fitness. And if these things are happening at the club, then I think we're going in the right direction towards that maybe he has that up the
ante again going into next season. But I can only go on what I've heard, and it seems to me that he is at least making attempt to drive higher standards, higher fitness levels and drive the players a little bit harder than what he did last year at least.
So I mentioned at the top of the pod that I'd listened today to Turol May and Taruva. Now both those guys on their pod could not speak highly enough of Benji Marshall. Now, I know we can only take him at face value, and you know, we just hope that they're telling us the truth and that's their true belist. But that's all we've got to go on. Now to Mays come out of the Rooster system and Taruver's come
out of the Penrith system. So you would expect that both those systems and the coaches have been you know, once Clearing obviously and the other being Robinson. You think those standards being driven there in those two organizations will be pretty high. So for them to have the affection for Benji that they do must mean they believe he's doing something right. And that's all we've got to go on.
And we have a history of players coming to our club and falling off a cliff and for the majority of our signings, I don't think you can really say that about the guys this year. You can talk about Jerome Lawi's play not being of the standard that we need it to be. But Terrell May has come to our club, he's a better footballer than he was at
the Roosters. Taruver's come across to our club. I don't think you can say his forms dropped away, and in fact, I think he's shown over the past couple of weeks he's not just a winger, that he is an adequate backup when we need someone to play fullback. So it's not like those players have come into our system and fallen into what we do at our club and their
form and their fitness levels have reduced. Even though a guy like Hunt, who we've had playing reserve grade due to fitness issues, it's not really any difference to what you're seeing from him last season at Cronulla. So I don't really see the evidence of players fitness levels dropping when they've come to our club this year like we have in the past, or their form totally dropping off
a cliff when they've come to our club. So the evidence there for me is that there is an improvement in how hard they're being pushed at training and how hard Benji Marshall has been working them, especially in the off season.
Just playing devil's advocate on that, Steve, because that's my job as host. It's also my opinion probably this so.
So it's not really playing devil's advocate.
It's a little bit of both. But I don't disagree with you, Gary. All those guys are playing good football, and that is a definite improvement of senior players we've recruited in the past. There's no doubt they like Benji. There's no doubt they respect Benji. I just look at the characters of those guys, and I love the characters of them, especially Taruva and Terrell and Happy. I think they are Alarikans, a lot of them jovial characters, loud characters,
and there's no issue with having that. You need that in any team dynamic. But I don't want it to become a boys club, Steve. Like, honestly, they've got to show it on the field as a team before I start to go all in. Because our master is tied to Jerome Happy and Benji for the next three or four years, it's all in. Like, I agree with you, guys, Like, there's no point getting rid of Benji. I think he's building something. He's got good recruits, but they've got to show it on the field as a team.
I can't disagree with that, but as we've said, you know, a nauseam now really to be a consistently competitive team at NRO level, we're still a couple of players, sure, at least at least a couple. I'm trying to to be positive, like let's say two starters two in our seventeen and three or four backups, you know, for when
we injuries hit, short of a really competitive squad. And we've had a lot of change this year, and then we've had a lot of disruption, and what we haven't seen I think we've seen a team come together in effort attitude. We haven't seen a team come together in structure on the football field. And that's what's missing now. Whether that's reflective of the coaching or whether it's just reflective of circumstance, which is part cattle, part disruption, I'm
really not sure. What we've got to hope I suppose I've been hoping for a long time is that we do improve the roster again for next year. And that last piece of the puzzle, if you want to put it that way, where our structure and our execution matches our effort and attitude, then we've got a good football site.
Yeah. Benji Marshall as a coach, I think is doing a great job man managing I think he's driving decent standards with the help of guys like Appy Terrell and Jerome in the club at Taruva as well. But the question mark, and the big question mark is still around game plans. That there's been games that we've watched this year where it's really difficult to see what we're trying to do and how we're trying to score points and how we're trying to beat the opposition. And it was
a little bit like that on the weekend again. So that's the big question mark around Benji Marshall's coaching still. I don't think I don't really think it's around motivation and getting the players up and getting a commitment side and working the players. I think the big question mark for Benji Marshall as a coach is whether he can do the ex's and o's that keep that everyone keeps
raising during this season that he may be lacking. It's a big off season for him and we need to come back next season as a well structured side that is able to run shape and is able to strip numbers, and is able to attack in a style that's just not shifting the ball left to right, which is what we tend to do.
It's a nice little segue there, Gary and Steve.
I don't want you to be as hated as I'm going to be this week on the podcast for him. I mean, you may or may not have asked for Ivan clear his book after I finished reading it.
But that aside.
The interesting thing that Appy said, The final thing I'll go on is he said the biggest strength of Ivan Cleary was he surrounded himself with great assistant coaches. He said, they did the attack, they did the defense, and I haven't ran the mental approach to our game.
Yeah.
Well we've said that before as well, haven't Wen. I don't think there's an argument You're not going to get an oment from me. I'm concerned that we don't have the depth of experience around Benji.
That we as Todd paytonsicked yet, not that I'm aware of, Not that I'm aware, But the bigger concern for me, and I've said this before, is that I just think Benji has wanted to surround himself with people that he knows and he feels comfortable with, because he just didn't want to be threatened or challenged or questioned in these early stages of coaching, which is a very typical reaction for someone begin beginning their leadership career, I suppose.
But he's got to get over that. He's got to get people underneath him that are going to challenge him every step of the way, and guys that aren't yes man, guys that aren't just going to say yes to Benji and agree with him, but are going to say no, mate, that's not the way to do it. This is the way to do it, and Benji might need to hand over well, we don't know if he does this or
not right. You might need to have a certain part of the game plan to his assistant coaches and then have Turtle trust in him to come up with the formulate the right plan and then execute it with the team.
The best leaders around themselves were people who make them look good, who are able to do things that are standard quite often above what the leader can do themselves, and I think that's crucial for Benji Marshall moving forward. If he wants to be a strong leader. If he wants to be a strong coach, he needs the best assistance around him.
All right, boys, Lucky Galvin. This Sunday we play the Bulldogs. That's going to be the big talking point going into it, I think, And there's no surprise that Leui. I know there's this silly whatever it is non disparagement, So no one's going to say anything in the press. Galva's not going to say anything. Tigers are not going to say anything. But I think this is the biggest game of Benji's coaching career, Steve, and he doesn't have to win it,
but he can't. They can't get flogged. I think this is personal this week.
Oh absolutely, it's personal, and it's going to be personal for the thirty thousand odd fans that are out there as well, Tigers and Bulldog supporters, because the Tigers supporters are going to be baying for blood and the Bulldog supporters are fairly animated supporter group so that way, so
they are going to want to defend themselves. So I think the atmosphere is going to be fever pitch that is going to have an impact on the players who are already going to be psyched up for this game, and the Tigers are going to go out there wanting to make a statement and they're going to want to make a statement to Galvin, and they're going to want to win the game just to shove it up Galvin. There's no getting away from that. The thing is they've
got to make sure they win the game. That's the first things.
Fine line, Gary, I'm looking at through my coach's lens here because it's a little bit different in cricket, Like if a player had done that to me halfway through the season, I'd be telling our guys at training to make it personal this week, although probably wouldn't even have to say anything because they know that they showed their support for Benji at the time, so he wouldn't even
have to say anything to them about it. But we also saw in that Paramatta game that they played a little bit angry and they played a little bit frantic and if you just focus on one guy, Canterbury's got a very good side across the park, so they can't go into the game overly emotional like they did against Paramatta.
Yeah, it's a really tough one. The players are going to be pumped to really have a rettop crack at him, I think, and I would almost be doing the opposite with them, is not focusing on him at all. Because we're are an ill disciplined club. We have a lot of ill disciplined players, and I don't think it would take much for a couple of our guys to overstep that mark and probably try and overplay it a little bit and get into his face too much and try
too hard. Sometimes when you do that, the emotion gets takes you away and you take your mind off playing football. And that's probably my biggest concern in regards to that this weekend, is that we kind of overdo that side of it and look, to be honest, it's probably a
chance of happening the other way as well. I'm sure Galvin's really keen to come out and put on a really strong performance this weekend, and he could go the other way as well and overplay his hand in that and kind of disrupt what the Bulldogs have been doing. So I think it's a fine line for both sides of the kind of divide to play it.
I think it's probably an individual choice. Steve. Whether there's words out there I always find again, I'm sorry to harp on the cricket. But I find there's guys that don't like confrontation and there's no point them going out of their sort of shell to do that. But guys like Jerome and others, I'd be making this ledge just personal, be going at him hard because you're not going to get a chance to do it in the media. You're not going to get a chance to do it after
the game. The only time you can do it is on that field.
Yeah, the big thing is not to lose control. That's what it's all about. So if they want to make it personal, if they want to hit him as hard as they can hit him, you know, legally and verbally as well as physically, if that's what they want to do, as long as they don't overstep the mark, you know, Canterby will squeeze the life out of you. So, as Gary was saying, we're just going to have to we have to be so disciplined, we have to be mistake free.
We have to be playing almost the perfect game, the best that we can possibly play to give ourselves a chance to beat his side. If we go over the top, if we make it all about Galvin, we will get penalized out of the game and we will get smashed. We've got to go there. The best thing to show Galvin what we think of him is to go out there and put in an outstanding performance and when the
two points and dominate them. That's the way to do it. Now, that is going to be so difficult to do, and even at our best, I'm not sure if we can do it. But we've got to give it a red hot crack. Calling him names and getting up him from the defensive line. Yeah, that might impact him for five ten minutes, but it's not going to change the impact of the game.
Yeah, the players can just leave it to Steve. He can have used them abusing from over the fence.
I'm close enough. Absolutely.
I don't want to go to the game Sunday. I don't want to sit with like, thanks thanks Richel. Like We've got a home game now against Cannabury. There's going to be twenty three thousand Cannary fans of the twenty eight thousand out there because I reckon you'll get a full house. It'd be a great atmosphere. But you know, Steve, no no point playing it cut or anything like that. Let's go to Kombank. Let's give away the advantage.
Yeah, well, I think they're on track. From what I've heard, they're on track for high twenties.
Oh Richard be thrilled.
Yeah, I don't know what the makeup.
Is going to be.
You know what, if we score the first two tries, then we shut the Canterbury supporters up pretty quickly. They score the first two tries and they shut us up pretty quickly. So it's all in the way the players perform out in the field. Get out there, play discipline football, you know, attack their weaknesses, play to our strengths and try to stick with them to keep the crowd in the game. And if we keep the crowd in the game, the crowd will give it to Galvin. And there is
a chance. I think he's immature, he's young. It doesn't take the best options at the best of times. Put him under a bit of pressure and stress and he might just spill his.
Lollies, especially if he's going into the game Steve with a point to prove and he tries overplay his hand, which I think I think is a big chance this weekend.
All right, Well, I mean the old saying is Steve, I know I was having a bit of a rant there at Richard. But the old saying is it's still the same length field and it's the same grass and everything like that, isn't it just don't have the fan badly for us?
Yeah? Well, I do think the fans make a difference made. The bottom one is that their team is outstanding on paper and the way they've been playing. They are so disciplined, but they you know, their defense is just brilliant, but they can attack you, as you said, from anywhere, so we are going to have to play above and beyond to even get close.
I think yes, Then you said we should attack their weaknesses? What are their weaknesses?
Made?
On a serious note, I think Connor Tracey is a big out for them, like that's one thing is going to fall back and he's good footballer.
But I'm not sure who's come on the wing. But last week.
I actually think I've got a positive feeling. I'm not going to predict we're going to win. I think it's going to be.
This isn't one of your two, Nat.
I wanted to do it, but I'm just I'm just gun show Gary. I can't come out and guarantee we're going to beat Canterbury. I just got a feeling, and unfortunately I sort of had the same feeling going into the Paramatta game. I thought we were going to fire up and win, and I'm hoping that's going to be the case this week. I think from a gambling perspective, Gary, I know you're not a gambler, but I think eleven and a half start I think we can cover that.
I'll be disappointed if we don't in this game, I don't think. I think the baller inclusion is a big one. And Samuela if he plays and hunt on the bench, I much. I really prefer that that lineup this week.
Gary.
The big one for the big one, sorry, the big one for me? Yeah, that's all right, Well I've put my hand up. The big one for me is our defensive line. Now. I watched the highlights of Canterbury their game against Many, and they just shift the ball so beautifully. It was such precision and quickly. Our defensive line has been compressed and compressed and compressed because we haven't been winning the forward battle and we just have got so many gaps out in our reaches where we've got out,
especially skeleton. But Taruva has been known to do this as well, of coming off their wing, going for the big play, leaving the line open and then missing the tackle complete and just leaving space. If we defend the way we've defended over the last few weeks, they will
put a cricket score on us. If we can go back to defending the way we did at the beginning of the season with our top team on the paddic which is what we've got this year, which had a lot of structure to it, but I had a lot of scramble, a lot of effort players in our defense. If we can compete at that level defensively and frustrate them, then maybe we've got a chance.
Maybe four forwards on the bench. Scarry, you can love that.
Yeah, I think that's a needed this weekend. I don't think Appy should be playing eighty minutes every week, but this is a game where I'd be picking him to play eighty minutes because it's a game where we need that extra bench.
But by after as well.
Yeah, look, Abby did get very ragged in defense just before he came off on the weekend, but Hope came on and his defense from the start was just as bad as Happy, So I'm quite happy for Happy to be playing the eighty minutes this week. Skeleton's defense on the wing has been really bad the last couple of weeks. I know everyone gets excited by him rushing. They're coming after him, Yeah, they're they're really coming for him this weekend.
I don't want to see him looking for those big hits, but too many times he comes in and puts himself out of position. Even when he puts them on, his winger is unmarked in that situation. I don't want to see him doing that this weekend because they're just stripping for numbers and yeah, that's bad news. So defensively, you've got to be really sound. I am still really worried
about our attack. Our attack hasn't great against really strong defensive sides, even with our full strength side on the Paddy, So it's going to be really difficult to score enough points to cover that eleven point start. Yeah, yeah, that's going to be really tough. So hopefully the inclusion of Buller and Sam coming back really strengthens up the left hand edge through the second row and also the right edge with Buller playing on that edge.
God, these queerz boys, it's time for it. I've proof read it today, so I'm hoping it's a little bit more seamless than it was last week.
Steve.
Question number one is multiple choice. Which of these special edition jerseys have we not worn against the Bulldogs? Is it a the Anzac jersey, b our Main Heritage jersey, see Indigenous jersey for West Magpies Heritage jersey Gary.
Which have not we not d.
See it was d so no West Heritage jersey against the Bulldogs. We wore the Anzac jersey in twenty fifteen baw Main jersey. I remember this now I'm reading it two thousand when we won fifty four to two against the Bulldogs, and the Indigenous jersey was in twenty sixteen. Question number two, name the three West Tigers players who have kicked a field goal against the Bulldogs. Give her a little clue. One was in two thousand.
And five in a famous second round.
Had thirty seven thirty.
Six Benji Scott Prince kicked it.
Yep, it was Scott Prince. The other two were in the halves as well. One played a lot of games so the West Tigers. One played only a couple of seasons.
John Morris, Nope, Luke Brooks.
Luke Brooks in twenty twenty in a twenty nine to twenty eight win, and the other one was our half back in twenty ten, and even Louis Louis in a nineteen twelve victory. Question number three true or false? In our thirty seven thirty six win in two thousand and five, no player from either side scored multiple tries hint, twelve tries were scored in total, both sides scored six. Is that true or false?
That's that true?
False, it's false. Scott Prince scored a double and brath nasked to scored a double as well.
For you, Steve, I don't know why I hang around for this.
You gets so angry when he gets these multiple choice He's got two options tails. He gets it wrong every time. Question number four, nearest to the pin out of fifty games, coach for the joint venture Terry Lamb had, how many wins Gary out of fifty.
Eighteen Steve.
Nineteen sixteen sixteen is the correct answer? Steve's just left the room. He's thrown the toys out of the cop Last question It's called Yolly's story Time This week go to sleep Steve.
Yeah, there's going to be a story to Yadia after this Tenia.
It was around seventeen, two thousand and six. The Premiers were hosting the Bulldogs at Olympic Park. Future West Tigers wing and Matt Utah was sent off for a high tackle on our hookers. Stuart Flanagan Canary led thirty two nil after seventy two minutes. Taniela Tuiaki scored our first try in the seventy third minute. In the seventy fifth minute, the tank Tuaki bustled its way down the touch line, was in the clear, no defender in sight, and reached the try line and rather than put it down he
decided to pass it to someone to score. The tray shows it was rangy, chase scary. I think a few punters might have backed to Aki for the last try that day. They would have been horrified.
Tim Sheens was ropeable about that.
Yeah, well we got flogged anyway.
Yeah, he wasn't in that. Players were were just giving tries away and doing that.
All right, boys.
I thought that was a strong podcast. I'd like to see on the podcast for them a little bit of hate mail though. I'd like to know what we did wrong tonight rather than what we're doing right.
So you're throwing us all in it now, not just.
You, you and me because I mentioned Cleary, I spoke about his book for five minutes, and then I mentioned Galmut although I did say make it personal and sledge him, so hopefully that gets me a few points back. But it's been good chatting boys, and you're planning on going to Steve Yes.
I was just going to say one thing that we've done wrong is not mentioned the ambush.
Mate, Sorry mate, that you didn't tell me that you start.
Which is on this The Ambusher holding an event this Sunday. It's out of our combat. So the gates open at half past twelve and our function is going to kick off at around twelve forty five through to one point thirty. Give your hips the time ago and get your seats before kickoff at two o'clock. The function is in the bar adjacent to Gate two, So coming through Gate two and just comes straight to the bar there you'll see all the Ambush guys. We are going to have a
guest from West Tigers. We're still finalizing who that is, but we know we've got someone which we will promote on socials. As soon as we know who it is. There will be giveaways. We'll have you on his quiz, which will be done as usual. So if you want to come and say a load of some Tiger supporters and the ambush crew come and say gooday. Before we watch the.
Game, Nick going to turn up to that Gary.
He likes to turn up, doesn't he ambush?
Yeah, you gets excited when he's one fan comes and says a load wing.
All right, boys, Well let's hope we get a win Sunday. It'll be a memorable one if we do. If not, we'll still run up Sunday night. Thank you, cheers, Go boys,