West Tiger's Collab Podcast, Episode number four. We've got Rob, Steve Stratton and Gary Watson in the house tonight. Coach of Del Haj, We've given him the night off, but he'll be back next week in studio after the Tigers take on Manly next Sunday at Alion Stadium. Tonight, the boys will be diving into all things Adam Dewey. We're going to do a deep dive on the West Tigers roster, including our spine, our outside backs, our forward pack and our depth comparing it to other NRL clubs. And we've
got some spicy buy selling holes. But Rob Bashara, did you enjoy it the bye week as a West Tigers fan?
I loved it.
I know it's boring not having a Tigers fan, but it's very stress free. So yeah, I'm not going to deny I did enjoy it and I kind of needed the break after all the podcasts we did last week.
Agree Steve, No, I didn't watch a lot of footage this weekend, mate, and I had to say after the win last week, I missed not watching the Tigers this week and I'm chanting to get to to get to Aliards next weekend.
Garyt could be the middle of December. It didn't be one of the West Tigers to play. When you mate, I won football seven days a week. I want the West Tigers playing seven days a week and anytime they're not playing, I yeah, it was a boring weekend for me. Performances off a win and off a bye over the past couple of years haven't been great, Rob. What's your confidence level heading into next Sunday against Manley? On a scale of one to ten, ten being the nives, I'd.
Probably say a four, and that's not due to us. Was actually quite impressed with Manley the other night. Airline speed was really good. They've got a really potent back line. Cohla is in rare form. Even one of their guys off the bench, Bullymore, he.
Was on fire. He ran one hundred and seventy eight meters.
So they're still having a crack and they took it to Canberra for quite a period of that game and they're winning what twelve ten I think at one stage. So just because Manly are playing well, if our forwards can match them, we can win.
It's just a matter of whether our forwards are.
Up to it.
I bet it's comfortably at Brookvale a couple of months ago, Dave. But different picture. Now Buller's back, Drave's back, it's almost full strength Tigers.
Yeah, I think what Rob saying's right. If they're a fast back line, if they beat us in the middle, they can get around us. I'd say. But you know, for me, I'd give them about three chance of next week, and that's because I just don't know what Tigers are going to turn up. You know, if they turn up what they did against Canterbury, where every chance, if we turn up a little passive and our fulls don't get rolling, then we'll get smashed.
That's the next step of the progression in Gary backing up a good performance with another good performance.
Yeah, Eddie, you and I have spoken about a number of times on a number of different pods this year about our inability to back up a win, and each of our wins we've had this season, we've followed it up with a really poor performance. So even the game that we won against Saint George you wouldn't call a good performance. So I think it's really crucial for this team to actually that little bit of a relax. They take that little bit of a breath they take after
a victory. We've got to eliminate that from our club.
You still think we can make the eight, it's a slim chance.
I mean, prior to the weekend I saw the odds of three hundred and forty or three hundred and fifty to one into one hundreds. They should be about one hundreds now. So we do need certain results to go our way. Next week Brisbane are decimated, but the Dolphins played awfully. They play each other this week Canterbury play the Roosters. Roosters are in cracking form, but Canterby' is a different beast. The most important part of that equation
is us speeding manly. If we can do that, we still keep ourselves in the hunt, and then we're still within range even you know, when we go the week after.
To play the Cowboys at Leichhart.
So I'm not giving up. Because our season has been over in May for three years in a row. I'm hanging on to that little branch.
Off the water. Four.
It's a little branch.
Well it is, mate, it is, but it's three times better. It's a twig.
But we've gone from point three of a percent to about one point two percent, So I will take that right now, and it's better than zero percent in May.
Yeah, but how good is it this year? At least we've got a team that's having a dig right this time of year. Last three years, like the performance has been horrendous. So these team are going out there every week and given one hundred percent and we haven't seen that in previous seasons. And you know, we are still a chance. I'm not confident because I just don't think we've shown for a very long time that we can put back to back to back consistent performances. So I'm
really not very confident. I think it'll all come to a shuttering holt when we play camera. But we're still there at the moment.
Eddie's had us in the spoon race all year and I kept on saying to him, I'll worry you're about that with three weeks ago in the season if we're if we're still in that position, I'm not really going to change that. When looking at this as well, like we've got to win four in a row from here. We won our last game, so that's really five in a row. We haven't won three in a row in a long time, so I'm not going to put any weight into us being a semi final chance at this point.
If we get a week out, two weeks out and there's still a possibility, then I'll have a look at the list that everyone's kind of made.
Up and they're checking off with what has to happen for us to make the finals.
I'll worry about that if it gets a little bit more of a chance than what it.
Is like going to the roulette table and getting sixteen red or blacks right in a row.
Rob Mate, it's maths, I mean, still a chance.
Like Gary saying he'll look at it in three weeks left, why not look at it now with four or five weeks left.
What's the difference, Like, it's still a check.
Let's just go week by week if there is Like put it this way, if the Dolphins beat the russ last night, it was over as far as I was concerned. So as long as we get through week one week at a time. I'm looking at three results this week and we'll reassess the week after.
It'll be interesting if we knock off Manly and the Cowboys Seve, which I think are two winnable games, and then at the moment, Brisbane on eleven wins with massed injuries. Roosters and Dolphins are both on ten wins, and I think Manly are on nine wins. So if we get to ten and twelve, it makes that camera game really meaningful, which will help our chances in that game.
I assume, yeah, if we turn up and play good footy week and beat Manly, we can beat the Titans and we can beat the Cowboys. Absolutely. The one that's going to count as the one against Canberra. Whether we've got the firepower to beat Canberra if they come prepared. But the thing is right playing came back and you know, if they get first or second wrapped up, they might lose a little bit of intensity. Yeah, might catch them
on off game. The question Eddie is have you given up on the fact we're going to get the spoon? Are you willing to admit that that's gone?
And right you obviously weren't listening to me on our podcast.
I think I announced officially that we're not going to get the spoon, So my goals have shifted. Probably I'm not going to go as far as rob but I think avoiding the bottom four would be a successful season and two wins from four on the way home.
I'd more than be happy with that.
But he's the big news of the week, Adam, do we re signs for two years? Ruman to be around four hundred k per year? Before I get because.
We're gonna have a fair bit of debate and discussion on this.
Boys before I get that, I want to know one word to either describe do he's re signing or do himself?
Rob My, one word is irresistible. His form has been irresistible. He gave the club no choice but to offer him an extra year and to sign him. None of us thought he was going to be with the club any longer unless he was in a back up position. Now, depending on what Benji wants for the rest of the year, he's a serious chance of being a starting half, not just for this year but the start of next year.
Am I one word for him is tiger. He's a tiger. He loves the club, he loves the jersey. He's come out publicly this week and so he loves Benji and what Benji in the club have done for him. He's supported the club. He wants to be here, you know, and for so long we've wanted players that actually want to bleed for the Jersey. We've got one. So for that reason alone, I'm glad. Whe I agree with Rob his form has been outstanding this year. I want to see it be consistently really good for a long period
of time. But the fact that he wants to be at the club and he's probably i imagine, has taken a bit less money to stay here says something to me.
Gary is the biggest AD hater on this table. You bought him with you today, I.
Did bringing with me.
There's no AD hate here ever.
Yeah, Look, my word is consistency. I agree his form over the past month has been really good and I would say probably our best player over the last month, so that can't be tonight. I'm really happy about the signing. I think the club got it right. But what's really important over the next twelve months is to get that consistent football from Adam Dey. We've seen great games from him in the past. We need to see that week in week out.
Now.
My word was footballer and you might think, well, Eddie, you're going down and I live there saying that, But I compare him to a good cricketer and I spoke to Steve on Wednesday about it. Good cricketers that are all around us. It can bat bowl field like Adam do. He has proved this year. It can be an adequate center. He's good at locke, he's good in the halves and he could be definitely good in the fourteen.
So I think it's big news for the club.
But clear, like I watched him on social media and stuff, Rob and all the reaction from Jerome and Tito and Happy and the boys, it's clear he's respected and he.
Is a leader in that club. He's the leader.
And I said it the other night on the last podcast, I did, we need more leaders in our club, not just better football players, and he's one of them. And he's made his voice heard so loud the other week, you know, playing Canterbury. At halftime, he formed the huddle and he was laying down the law and barking instructions. Like I said earlier, he's imposed his will on the team and that's what we need. We want someone that wants it, and he wants it so badly.
I'll see He's gary a little bit about it, Steve, but he is a pretty divisive player. It reminds me a little bit of Robbie Farah, not so much for his ability, but Robbie Farah was divisive in his last couple He's among Tigers fans at least if you read forums and that do he's been in the past couple of years. But you think he's growing into a player that's sort of, you know, ninety percent like by the fans.
Yeah. I think that's the same with anyone. Right, As you get a little bit older and your mature, you start to learn how to temper back your natural personality.
Right.
I've always said your greatest strength is your greatest weakness, and his greatest strength is that he believes in himself and he's got strong opinions and he's going to back himself for that. But that can be your biggest weakness because you can get out there and shoot your mouth off a little bit, and that can turn people off. So I think he has got a bit of a history of doing that. But I think he's learning when to talk, when to not talk, and what to say.
He's still going to be a little bit prickly, that's his natural personality, but you know, he's developing into a mature, grown up man now. You know, he's not a young kid, so he's probably learning how to navigate all that.
You've been harsh on his weaknesses in the past, as he rectified this.
Year, Yeah, some of them.
Definitely, the biggest problem I've probably had with him in the past is lacking effort areas in defense, and I don't think you can say that about him this season. His effort areas and he showed that last weekend with that chase down for the last try that he now he's stopped from the Bulldogs. So I think he's worked really hard on those deficiencies this year. So yeah, the effort that I was worried about in previous season is definitely much better.
Now, what's his best position, Rob right now? It's half? I mean as a center. He does a great job defensively.
He hasn't got the five power or the thrust to be an attacking threat to the opposition, but he does a job defensively. I kind of disagree with what the boys have said about consistency this He actually think he's been in our top five players and been very consistent, but certainly in previous years he hasn't been consistent. And we're all worried about his acl ever recurring again. But yeah,
definitely half for me. He wants the ball, he wants to drive the team, and he's happier when he's got that ball and being the man he wants that stigma of being the go to guy.
Say it's his best position, Steve, but is that where he should start in Round one twenty twenty six?
Half back?
I'm still a little bit undecided, to be honest, like I'd still probably lean towards utility being his best He can play it so and he can play it half, you can play at Locke. I don't know whether he's shown the consistency to be our starting half, but then again, as has Fein who done that as well. Probably or not right, so it may be a toss up. I think he can make it a go at Lock, but can he defend at Lock for eighty minutes every week
for a long season. I'm not sure about that. And the other question is Fanny's played some of his best football when he's started at thirteen, so is he worth going there? But can he sustain that? I don't know. I think there's a lot of questions to be answered through the preseasons. I'm sort of not, not one hundred percent sure where it's starting.
Last four weeks are big for him.
Gary.
Yeah, I don't think he has his name on a position for next season at this point. And he's played one week really at seven in that starting role this season, and he performed really well last week. I thought he had a really good game in seven. But we're seeing him have really good games in the halves in the past. A game against the Broncos three or four years ago, he was the best on field by a long way.
He may plays around him better, but then you have other games where he will run the ball too often himself, he won't set up his outside men, and that's what's really important for him now, and that's I think that contract value is about right. If he was signed based off the form he showed last weekend, if he was showing that ninety percent of his games, he's an eight
hundred thousand plus player. But the reason he's at that four hundred thousand mark is he doesn't show that every week, and the history of his game is that he will have those stand out, those blinder games, but you'll also have.
Some poor games.
Are you saying history day this season or is that over four or five years.
That's over four or five years. And as I've said, I think his performances have been much better this season, but he still has to show in that halves role that he's that guy week in week out to do that.
And I hope you.
Know what I reckon he's shown, and I think we can agree on this, is that he's got to be closer to the ruck.
Right.
His days of starting at center, unless we're desperately short in the centers, for example, are gone, right, So he's got to be half back or he's got to be lock for next year. I think that's it, because when I said to utility, I didn't mean put him at fourteen. I mean he's got that value that he can play multiple positions. Where's the best one. So I think we've got Lui, We've got Fanum, we've got a lock in at six, seven and thirteen. It's just what that combination looks like.
Yeah, I was just going to say, don't forget he played behind a beaten forward pack in my opinion last week, Wait till we get a forward pack that's going forward. And further to those last four or five years, who did ad him have outside him the last four or five years. This year he's got a gun back line and we're getting some strike coming in and hopefully Macasine he's there next year, Tailor's there. Now, you've got dream Buller, You've got a class finisher into Ruver, So I think
he's got better weapons outside him now. But to be able to do what he did last week on the back of team that was getting beaten in the second half, that's what stood out. If we get some more depth in those forwards and get a better pack going forward, he will be better for that. So I think we'll be better next year with him.
He definitely can't be our utility. He can't be our fourteen on the bench because I think and that's not a knock on what Adam provides. He's I think he's the perfect fourteen for some clubs because he can play with those positions. He can play out in the backs. He's played on the wing this season, so he's played at full back in the past. He's played in the centers. He's played at six, he's played at seven, and he's now played at thirteen. A great guy to have in
your bench as a utility. Player, But I think we're happy is at his career right now. We need someone most weeks who can fill in and do twenty minutes in that hooker role. I don't think Adam can do that.
So I think he needs to over the next four weeks and over the offseason, he needs to own one of those positions of the seven or the thirteen to Otherwise he'll still play a lot of football, but otherwise he's your first guy backing up and coming in when you get an injury in one of those positions, which means he'd play a lot of football regardless. But he needs to own one of those positions over the next over the next six months, he's got.
To get that worked out.
Are any of you guys concerned about his ball handling, his ability to feed? You know, I agree with what you're saying, Robert. We've got this fantastic back five all of a sudden developing in our squad that are going to need space and they're going to need good ball.
One thing that concerns me about him is his ability to give that good ball, you know, even that passing through to Bull you know the other day he almost stuffed it up, right, Yeah, in fact, he did stuff it up, went forward right, And I've seen a lot of times him not throw a ball because he doesn't seem to get himself in the right position, you know, against the defender to actually draw him it and throw that ball.
Does that worry you, doesn't worry me. I think he's just got to decide what sort of half he wants to be. He's always been a run first sort of guy, and really whenever he passed the ball, it was always that long cutout past that and offul over on the right wing. So I think if he just gets finds
that balance, I think will be better for it. But look, he did have one bad game at half when we played paramattat the second time, but in my opinion, the game he had against the Roosters, the cameo against Many, and then the game against Cannabury, he's been good. So he's had three and a half games really at half
and two and a half have been really good. I thought the power game was poor, but to be fair, that was his first game and that was what rounds five or thereabouts around something like that, So seven I think it was was at seven Okay, so round seven, So there we'd had all his games at centers. It was his first real crack at half since the trial against Paramatta.
I think it's clear that he's a half.
I'm not saying he's a great half like compared to the rest of the NRL, but I think he's probably too slow for the outsidebacks. I don't think he's powerful enough to play in the forwards at lock. And I think the fact his kicking game is footy IQ and his personality suits being in the halves. Like Gary, he really wants to be half. And I think that's probably why he knocked back the Dragons, because I think the Dragons were going to offer him lock and I reckon
trying to get into Adam do his head. I reckon he thinks I can beat out last two for that seven position.
Now one hundred percent.
I believe that's the reason Eddie he doesn't want to be thirteen, so I will give him credit. In the interview when he signed, he did mention he's happy to play thirteen, and I've never heard that from him before. And he said he'd work out over the off season where with Benji where he best fits. But in regards to his passing game, that Steve Raised a minute ago.
He has two options when he really plays in the hars, and it is that long ball, that long cutout ball to the wing, but he also does do a short ball in traffic. What I think holds back his passing game a little bit is he's a little bit of
an awkward runner. He has a little bit of an awkward style as he engages the line, and I think at times it takes players a while to learn how to run off him because the ball doesn't come at the same time as it does from other halves, because he's got that kind of step that he does at the line, and he plays through contact. And what I do want to see is him starting to give nice early ball to players outside him and creating space for
players outside him. I think that's his biggest weakness in the Hearts is instead of being the guy who wants to throw that last part, that money ball all the time, I think at times he's just got to create space for other players to do that, especially if he's going to be playing in the seven. A big part of the seven role now is actually just creating space for the player outside you for that five to eight playing outside you to then throw the ball that's the money ball.
And especially going with the center pier that we're likely to start with. Now I may and tell, are they both.
Both like early ball early ball?
Yeah?
So I think that's really crucial in his development as a half and they're the things I'm looking for if he's playing in the halves over the next four weeks. That's what I'm looking for most. I don't want the glory plays that he had plenty of them last week against the Bulldogs. I want the players where he's creating space for his outside man, where he's allowing Lui to actually throw that money ball because he's giving him nice
early bare he's held defensive defenders off him. That's his role at half back and that's what I want to see over the next few weeks.
Putting my cynics hat on just for a second, Rob and I can be a cynic carriers. You never know me no longer playing for contract. Any concern there.
Not a concern at all. He's a Tiger through and through. He's a junior. He's professed his love for the club. He shann't it on the field with his actions and that's all that matters. So I've got absolutely no concern whatsoever. I'm just not sold that he'll be a good lock because if he's really going to batten down that lock position, he needs to bulk up and he needs to do thirty plus tackles a game.
I don't think that suits Adham.
And that lockroll. You want someone who Yo Yoh's the prime example. That's the stereotypical lock that you're talking about. He's a good ballplayer, but he's also a danger to run the ball if if you have the right sort of game, yoa can run for one hundred and fifty meters if he needs to. And that's what I don't think Adam do he can do in that role. He's not a guy who can push out those big meters that that's sometimes needed by that thirteen.
Okay, boys round the table quickly. One word? Where does he start Round one? Next year, three, six, seven, thirteen or fourteen up to Benji?
But if it's me seven, if it's helped to Benji, I think it'll be thirteen.
I'm still undecided at this point, Like.
You want to say fourteen.
No, Look, there's a possibility that if he I don't think he's as I said, earlier. I don't think he's the right fourteen for our club. I think go somewhere else. He's a great fourteen. I think there's still a possibility that he's playing as a backup. I hope to see him in either seven or the thirteen, but I'm undecided on that at this point.
All Right, let's do some a bit of a roster deep dive boys before I get into our spine and comparing it to some of the other clubs in the nral of US. The boys to sort of rank it where they see it against all sixteen other clubs. But Rob, I'm going to ask you this is basically a yes or no. I've just gone through the off contract players in twenty twenty five. Yep, you tell me yes or no if you'd resign him, and the boys can chime in and if they disagree with anything. Josh Felady no,
Madame Er no, Naden definitely no stains. Yes, but he's gone apparently England.
Is it England? Same club as Fatah and Brandon Tuomoth No.
Okay, twenty twenty six is a bit harder. I'll give you three words on this one. You could say no, you could say fifty to fifty if you think it depends on form, and then a friend friend the coach, he'll be on the line later hopefully, and or you could say extension if you'd extend him right away.
The fifty extension.
Okay, you're only allowed maybe two fifty fifties, but this is These are the guys off contract at the end of twenty twenty six.
Jack Bird.
Fifty to fifty because of his age, fifty fifty because of his age.
I like Jack Bird. I'm in the minoritady there. It's the only final extension. Tristan Hope, No Kitler, Lily, No, I haven't seen enough. Luke Luluy fifty to fifty, but he's shown potential. Heath Mason fifty to fifty, leaning to know. Solomon Sukura, haven't seen enough of him, but no. Drel Skelton, Yes, extending Tony Suka fifty fifty staffa.
Tire extend if he keeps bringing that Valentine Holmes for him and he squabbles the.
SD with what Rob said, No, I agree hundred percent with all that.
But does Gary agree that's the important got to find something there. Come on, you've got to pick on something No.
I actually think you nailed it. I think we did the same thing on the West Hogaest podcast on Wednesday.
I might have been harsh on Suka though, because he's doing a job. He's doing a job, but he's nothing. He's like a no Fruels player.
I think I think I think that was the one that I was going to debate. Actually, i'd be saying no, because like we've just signed a couple of blokes, they're going to sit underneath the top seventeen that you wouldn't call dynamic, right as back rounds. We need a dynamic back roller, right, we need to kick out. We need someone like that who's going to punch through out wide. We still haven't got that. We do really with Feynu. He's good for Samuel, Yeah, he can do it. But that's it, really.
Okay, boys, our spine. I've come up with a really dynamic rating system here Gary. It's probably never been heard of before, or it's out of ten, but a five is a well below average spine. Six is slightly below NURL average. I'm going to call a seven a decent spine or NRL average, So that's about eight or ninth. Eight is a very good spine. Nine is elite and ten is a superstar spine.
Are you saying you're rating only goes from five to ten.
You can go lower if you wish, if you wish to be nasty tonight, you can. But on a scale of one to ten, where would you rank our spine.
I think it's about that seven. It's about that NRL average.
I think it's at the start of this season, I thought it was a lot higher, but there's still question marks around who's playing in that seven, and for me, until those question marks are solved, I can't go any higher than that.
Yeah, I think it's got the potential to be very good. I don't think I think it's going to take another season of playing together and settling on the positions before you'd start to get us into the elite category. I think it's got the potential to get there. But at the moment, I think we'll start the season by saying we have got very good spine with a preseason under their belts.
Which I did say in preseason obviously was puffing his chest out he said we've got the best spine in the game. There's been a change there with Galvin Gorn and ad and Latu coming in. So what would you rank it?
Rob? What number?
I gave it a night, but Steve took my word potential. It's so exciting and let's just take out we don't know who the seven is.
If you just go on Buller Leui Korusow, that's a very good spine.
Yeah, but you need to know who that seven is.
But if the seven is decent like Adam is, I wouldn't say he's elite, but he's decent. That's good enough because he've got three other players. One's one four grand finals, one's one three grand finals during Buller, let's hope wins a Grand final with us at some stage in his career.
Two premiership winners in that spine. I mean, it hasn't got us into the eighth this year, Gary, but could it be different next year?
One hundred It could be different next year. I don't think the changes we need to make at our club are around who's in the spine. So we need to make a decision about who is at the club, who's going to fill that seven role. But I think we need to give them a little bit more help in the forwards. And if we give them a little bit more help in the forwards. I think that's definitely a spine that will get us into the top eight. But you know what does concern me, which can impact our spine?
I reckon and that's who plays fourteen, And I mentioned it on a couple of pods before that. I'm just so worried about Hope going into fourteen starting the season next year. Appy cannot play eighty minutes week in week out. He just can't do it. He gets busted by two Thursday of the season, he's gone. He needs to play limited minutes. So we need someone impact for at fourteen, and I just don't know who that's going to be.
I was going to say Rob the backup spine. I mean, Tito's done a good job at fallback, and you've got Jock Madden there next year, but that number nine backup role is probably concerned.
It's a big concern.
But looking at the roster right now, if nothing changes, it's got to be Lart too faint, or at fourteen he can maybe feeling a little bit of hooker for Appy and then when Appy comes back on he can.
Move into the lock roll. It's not a great fourteen. I either though he's not.
But he's e can tackle and no offense to Tristan Hope, he catches people.
He's not a good defender who starts at lock. Then Robbie Adi's at seven and Latoo's fourteen. That's up to rich Ot to sort out in the off season. They're not at the club now, you think.
I don't think they're at the club now, And I don't think it's fair to say Lato is going to play eighty minutes and start as a lock. I think Lato's going to play a similar role to what Dylan Walker is now for Paramata, coming on after twenty five minutes or so and hopefully playing the rest of the game.
What I do think we have going in the next season is really good depth at that role. Madden coming across, Andrew's coming across, and Is Andrews, isn't it. It's not Walker, So I think those guys coming across. We have Taruvera who can fill in at fullback. As you said, that depth around those positions I think is really strong. So that's something we're doing a really good job of improving over the last twelve months.
Jerine Buller Rob we've spoken about him at length over the course of the year.
But do you think he's in that top eight fullbacks?
Adele sort of said he's about seventh or eighth on runs on the board behind them.
But he's probably not. But he's the only fullback I want.
I love him, I'm sticking with him, and I'm backing him, so I don't care who is better than him. But there are things he can do that other fullbacks can't do. And there's not a weakness in his game right now. He can only get better at that passing game. But he's great under the high ball. He's great defensively. Our attack looks so much different with him. He makes other players better when he's on the field.
Used to be able to say that he goes missing a little bit in games, you know, And I don't recall thinking that since he's come back from injury or as much this season, he's not going missing. He's much more involved. He's on the ball more. So. Yeah, I agree, there's not many players I'd swat for him.
Yeah, there's better fullbacks in the company, there's no doubt about that. But the thing you get, he's so important to the way we play, So I actually think he's he's our most important player attacking player in our club.
At the moment.
Our attack completely falls apart when he's not out on the field. So though there are better fullbacks around, there are better fullbacks in the competition. He is so important for the style of football that we play, and as soon as he's out, our attack looks very pedestrian.
I'll tell you one thing I would like to see him. We saw it more from Taruva when he popped in at full bat there for a few weeks. I want to see Buller come in and go through the middle a little bit more.
He does.
He's very good at coming out on the edges, but he doesn't involve himself through the middle, and often we need that. We need that momentum through the middle. We need that little burst of energy through the middle that a fast, quick legs can give you, and I'd like to see him doing that more.
He doesn't have the ability to do it in the same way that Daruva does it. Charuva can do hit up, so he can be a damaging ball runner, and Buller just doesn't have that in him. He doesn't have that size. What I would like to see him do in the middle is a little bit more support. Play through the middle, kind of like Bret Hodgson used to do at times when he played, And I think Brett should be a
really good assistance to developing that in Buller. I want to see him sniffing around and following through a forward or following through someone like Terrell May who who is leading the NRL in off loads. If you've got Buller following him around, sniffing him around him a little bit on those early tackles, I think there's an opportunity there for him to play through the middle.
I've just picked out some young ascending fullbacks. Rob It's probably hard because you know we're probably all a little bit biased. But if Keanu Kinney from Paramatta, Ko Weeks and Duram Buller we're all.
On the market. Now, who do you think would go for the most? If I'm the Sea over the club, I'm taking dream Buller.
Every k Ko Weeks is brilliant. I'll give you my opinion on k Weeks. He should be half and he probably I think he was a half that's moved to fullback. Just watch Ko Weeks under a high ball, Guys, he's still all at Sea. He's all at the under the Everything else he does is brilliant. He's exciting to watch. He can score a try out and nothing. He doesn't have it under.
The high ball yet. He's a liability there and we're going to take advantage of that.
In three weeks, I'll just pick out some random spy and Steve and you can tell me. You can just say better, worse or even the Broncos, Ben Hunt, Adam Reynolds, Ezra Man Reese.
Walsh at their best better, Yeah, at the moment, none, they're better on goes.
They're a little bit hamstrong at the moment.
Pardon the pun, Manly, Gary Lachlan Croker, Jamal Foggy. This is for twenty twenty six. Luke Brooks and Tom Travoyvitch. Do we have a better spine than them? Rob, I'll go to Sharks for you. Break Blayley at nine, Nico Hines, Brayden Trendle and Will Kennedy.
Depends who you talk to, that's a pretty good spine. But ours has the potential to be better.
Steve, the Cowboys, Reed Marny playing nine next year, Jake Clifford, Tom did and Scott drink Water Gary, the Dolphins is a pretty good hot one. Jeremy Marshall, King, Cody nicorema Isaiahataha at half back and.
The Hammark fallback.
I have them better at the moment.
Roosters next year, Rob the Sombrero's back out. They've Gotryce Robson, They've got DC, They've got Sam Walker and Tedesco.
It's officially better, but Robson it's just a one trick. Pony is origin player. He's just a tackling machine. He's got nothing in it.
And Steve last one. We'll do Parramatta tellon to Silver had a bit of a shocker today. Mitchell Moses. I don't know who's playing six for them? And a fallback.
No, I think we're a bit of spine. But Mitchell Moses, when he's on, he can do the job of all four of them. Really well.
Let's move to the outside backs, boys, So outside backs will go centers and wingers compared to on that rating system. I'll start with you, Gary, my famous rating system with five being well below NROL average and nine being elite and seven being right in the middle.
Where do our outside back sit.
At the moment? I've got them right in the middle. I've got them at seven as well. There's too many questions around those centers as well. We need to get Taylor May signed up. We don't have him long term at this point in time, so it's really hard to include him in that. Adam Dewey apparently is going to be half back next year, so we don't have him as an option. I ever and Taller, who I think has had a really good season. I thought he's last month all before he got injured at start to fall away.
So I'm going to give it a seven, but Taylor May needs to be in that to have it at that level.
It's almost the strength of the same rob the outside backs looking at next year.
It is, but it's just lacking a little bit of speed. That's the only thing lacking. Defensively, I think it's a very good back line, but the speed is an issue.
Can we afford Steve to go looking for another spot in the outside back So you think it's going to be more a couple of forwards.
No, we need We need a middle, an elite front rower for next season. That's got to be number one priority above all. I still think we need a back rower as well.
Macasini starting the back line next year.
Gay, Yeah, quite possibly. I didn't mention him. There is a there is still a chance at center. I do worry a little bit about Tailor and Makassini both being left centers. Yeah, that's a little bit of a concern. So he could could make his way in on the wing. But depending what we do at center, how Tower is going, there is an opportunity there for him at center as well.
What about you Macasini starts next year. I know we're looking at the crystal balls a lot here tonight, but if.
He doesn't getlooded this season, probably not, but I'd love him to be there, all.
Right, boys, the forward pack obviously looking at now front row and the back row and the lock position rating system. Steve, I'll start with you. Out of between five and ten.
Yeah, we're below average one. So according to your system, what's going to be about a six?
Well below just below?
No, I think we're well below five. Yeah, I've already said, like I'm worried about you know, we don't push through the middle consistently. Lot. Torell may work, his work rate is amazing, but he doesn't he doesn't push us through the adline consistently here where he needs help doing that, and we don't have that. Our back row is non effective at all. I don't know that the guys coming in are going to be more effective. Like Fainy Whizz for sure, he's a good back row, but that's it.
And we still don't know who our lock's going to be. And I also mentioned hook a lot. We've got happy, but when a happy, he's not on the field. Who we got so our full pack still needs a lot of work.
I think you and Gary lockehorns on the forward pack maybe or you disagreed with something he said. He said we weren't a bottom four pack currently.
Yeah, that was one of your questions to Gary last week and he said we're not. I think we've got the worst forward pack in the colm. And that's not disrespecting Terrell may Happy corus our what.
So one can do.
But you guys discussed on West Tiger's podcast and you said, who walks into another first grade team? And by your standards, you only had those two gentlemen being in the starting team, and you had so Fanner and you had Fanua Ballet being on the bench. So four out of yeah, basically, ten is not a good sign to say that they're not a bottom four pack.
Look, I think the biggest problem with our forward pack we need two more players at least. I think those other guys elevate if you get someone Tito's announced he's going to market at the end of the season. If you've got someone like that and.
Putting into.
You scared me. Yeah, he announced he's going to market at the end of the season. If you put someone like that into our forward pack, I think that elevates everybody else. I think that elevates Terrell May to a different level. And that's what we need. We need that world class middle who can run the ball with aggression, who can disrupt the defensive line and can get everyone else playing against the defensive line that's on the back foot,
and that's what our pack lacks at the moment. If you add that to our pack and guys like Terrell May, Sam feinu Kay, Pierce Paul, they all benefit from that and they all become much better players. And that's what we need to do over this offseason.
We've got too many guys in our pack, and not just at our top seventeen, but our backup pack as well that when they hit the line, they drop what they've been shot by a sniper, right, they just hit the line and it's just stopped dead. We need guys who can push through that line, fall on their front and get a quick play of the ball to get us moving. And we just don't have enough of that. We need a lot. We need a couple of guys who can do that. That can be changed with one player.
If you have that guy who damages that defensive line, who who finds his front on those early tackles, that makes a difference to everyone else. So those guys that do struggle and do go down really quickly and do end up on their back, if they're going against the restraining, retreating defensive line, that gets them down the field a lot more. It means there's less in the tackle that they're coming up against in tacklers, and it just allows them to get to get to their front and get
a quicker play of the ball. So what's crucial is signing that one guy, maybe two, who can make a difference for everyone else.
Tino from the Titans, I mean that's a dream, but I mean three quarters the leiter him.
But we've got a war chest. Surely we go all out for him.
If Benji wants him rich, I will get him. And he said he's going to be on the open market from November first. I think it came out today, So came out today. Yes, so hopefully we need him. Our forward pack is and I'm not being disrespectful for the others. It's just a Bland pack. We've got so many Bland players that are similar types of players. They don't have that impact. I agree with both Steve and Gary.
Slotters or is that too harsh. It's probably a little bit harsh.
But Gary makes a point like if you have an elite player, everyone works off the back of it. But like see you said, we need guys that can just do it themselves and not have to rely on someone else. Tino is going to get picked for origin, you know, like you know, you're not going to have him there all the time.
We need guys that can do it.
If you're getting you're spending well north of a million dollars to get him at the club, and that means you have to have guys in your pack who live because he's in there. If you're playing over a million dollars for a guy to play in the front row or possibly in that lock role, which he can play as well. Then those guys who are playing around him have to be the budget sort of guys because you just can't afford to have you can't afford to have two of you.
Correct, Joel speaks a lot rob about like body type and physicality, and Poli is probably a bad example at the moment, but I think he's the type of Ford that is the modern day nurl forward. Like he's small to the ground, but he's fast, he's got some footwork. Is that the sort of forward We need to look at guys that can bend the line a little bit at their best.
We need more athletes exactly like that, even bigger and more like the Hall of Semers of the world. I know he's playing edge, but he can play middle. We need those big bodies. We don't seem to develop them, so we've got to go purchase them.
Yeah, big big bodies with agility. Right, the Matt Lodge style player, they're dead and buried, right, you need you need your painhast he's huge.
But style player Lodge Band of the match next week. Now, all right, let's let's move on.
To the coach.
Let's apply the raining system to the coach in his seat moment.
Want to mention before we do, and that that's Alex twel I'd have put him in that category of hit by a sniper at the beginning of the season. I reckon. He's had an outstanding season this year and his work at the line has been outstanding. I reckon, I've been watching him a lot and his improvement has been tenfold.
Right.
The big thing I give Alex twelve is he's probably the guy that runs off happy the best. He hits the ball and gets the ball right on the advantage line, which Happy absolutely loves, and he just times he runs off happy very well. So a really strong season from him. I'm very happy to have him in a club at the moment. If you had asked me that twelve months ago, you might have got a slightly different answer.
Five's are well below average general coach. Nine's an elite NRL coach. Where does our coach run?
I've got him at six because your definition is slightly below average en real coach, and that's basically our position on the table at the moment, and that's a big improvement on where we've been the last couple of years. I think that's a fair assessment, not being too did.
You go any higher?
Gary?
I could possibly get him to seven, but again you're talking about potential. I think the changes he's made at the club have shown and not really concrete until the last couple of weeks. The game against the Bulldogs changes the outlook on our season quite a bit, and I think that changes the outlook on Benji Marshall quite a bit. If we turn around and lose the next four games, then I think you're looking at it a little bit different.
So my opinion on Benji throughout the season has kind of bounced around a little bit based off how our form's going. At the moment, I can give him that seven, but it is coming off the back of a game where I think I finally seen a really good game plan. If we disappear without a trace over the next month, then I'll probably change that again.
I mean, obviously, Steve, if you were just ranking the coaches from one to seventy, and he'd probably be down the bottom just based on experience. But the fit for our club I think at the moment is a good one, and he's been able to recruit.
Yeah, I agree with both. You would have him down the bottom. But he is the right guy for the group. We've got the mainroine. There's no doubt that the players play for him. They love him, and he's got to have something to have that. So I think he's a good head coach and I'd put him in the decent two good category. At the moment where I'd knock us back a little bit is the coaching group. I think. I think he needs better people or different people under him.
And I don't know who does what as assistant coaches, but I just think he needs some experience and some strength in analytics underneath him. And I think then the coaching group would be stronger and that it'll help Benji.
But it seems he's making those decisions. Yeah, well, so take a little bit of that.
That needs to be taken away from him. We've a decision we've.
Sort of done to death the last few weeks. Rob talking about his assistance.
But say, you know, we get to the end of the year and we win ten games, what do you think Benji's biggest priority is heading into an offseason. Is it upgrading assistant coaches, Is it improving the roster or is it everything.
Well, if we finish with three out of the next four games as wins, then he's probably not changing anything because he've hit the season, you know, like hit the line strong as they say, so he probably wouldn't change anything. But if we have a poor month, he's got to consider that and I think that's got to be a little bit of a tap on the shoulder from Richo
as well. He's got to say, mate, I know you've got to have people you want around him, that you trust and they're good blokes, but we're not getting the results. And just like we're making our opinions now, all our opinions are based on what we see on the field. We don't like see you said, we don't know what they're doing there at the training and who's in charge of what, So we're just going off results. And if we're purely going off results, we need to win the next three out of four games.
And to give him some credit, like a lot of people to talk about us needing more experience in the coaching and there's a lot of people who talk about us needing experience coach, and then you have a look at someone like Das Hasler, and you have a look at the season the Titans are having and the squad
they have. There's no way I can rank Benji Marshall below someone like Derez Haslar at this point in time, because that squad should be a top eight squad every single season, and greed for them to be where they are. There's serious questions asked about that coach.
I think those last four games, Steve, are really important because I remember two thousand and nine. I don't know how many of our last eight we won, but I reckon it was about six. And the last game I think we beat the Bulldogs, who are the minor Premier, is twenty eight nil in the last game, and twenty ten we come out and made the top four. So I just think momentum is a thing, even if it's carrying on from one season to another.
Absolutely, mate, and I think the supporter base I just totally sick and tired. I have seen a limp wristed end to the season from our football team. We've seen it for years and we don't want to see it again. I don't think we're going to see it. I said it at the beginning of the pod. You know, I think this team have got something about him and they're going to give a hundred percent to the death of the season and the season still alive, right, the season is still alive for us.
Benji Marshall, that's the one thing he has instilled at our club is that level of fight, and I don't think that can be not denied anymore. I think there's been plenty of opportunities this season where our players could have could have given up or could have turned their toes up, and it could have dwindled away into another season like we've seen the past couple But there is fight in this club and I think a lot of that does come from Benji and players Benji is brought into the club.
I think. I think the inclusion of guys like Leui and Taruver have helped a lot too.
I think those guys he's brought into the club have added to that culture at the club as well. But Happy, he's been here for a number of years now and you can't question his fight. But it didn't really elevate us and it didn't really save us from those poor seasons Paul finishes to seasons.
That fight also, as great as it is, and as it shows what respect Benji's got that he can get everyone to play for him. At the same time, it's actually damning of Benji because if the players are giving one hundred and ten percent each week, that just goes to show that our game plan, our strategies and what have you have been failing. Because if the strategies are right and you've got players willing to bleed for you on the field, and we've got the talent there now
I know the forward pack's not the greatest. That sort of bothers me because if you just said he's not getting the best out of him and there's upgrade, they're giving their all, but they're not doing.
It the right way.
I've been terribly critical of Benji and our game plans this season, but there's been a lot of games where we've been in it. We've been in the fight, and we haven't known how to get away of the exactly. That's not necessarily a coaching issue, I think quite possibly
is sides get used to losing, and we have. I know we've brought in guys who have been winners at other clubs, but we still have a lot of guys who have gone through the past five years and the past three years of Wooden Spoon, and sometimes it takes a little bit longer to turn that side of stuff around. And I'm not going to say I haven't been called Benji Marshall's coaching and of the strategies and of our game plan, but I'm hoping that we're now starting to
learn how to win games. We're starting to learn how to fight in games. And it's not just the fight anymore. We know how to finish off a game and get it one. That's what that's really what needs to change between this season and next season. Have a look at those close games we lost earlier in the season. You pick up half of those two point games that we lost, and we're right in the hunt for the eight.
We're probably sitting in the top eight right now.
And that's what we've got to do better next season is finished those sort of games off, and I'm hoping over the last month that's what we're going to see from the voice.
I've got a bit of a wild prediction, Steve.
It might be a hope rather than a prediction, but I think if Benji gets next year right, so they come seventh, I think he could be here for the longer than Tim Sheens was his first hint.
Yeah, well I don't think he's going to be in a hurry to want to go anywhere else, so he's going to sign him, yeah, regardless, So I think from his perspective, he'd be locked down and yeah, if we finish in the top eight this year or next year we improve again, I think he's going to be there for a while. What are you laughing at? I'm not letting it go.
I know you're not letting it go. I'm not even looking at top eight. But I'm very pleased you're You're hanging on tight to.
What Steve will.
This is an unfair one, boys, but we're going to do it because it's a bye week so it's a bit of fun. So I'm going to just give you two coaches' names. The last one is going to be Benji Marshall, and you tell me, if you were in charge, who you'd rather have coaching our team next year. Michael Maguire or Benji Marshall.
Robin Benji Marshall, sorry, Madge, every day of the week.
Mate, Steve Todd Payton or Benjie Marshall. Benji Marshall Gary, Andrew Webster or Benjie Marshall.
That's a really tough one. I'm probably taking Andrew Webster.
Rob Anthony Sebold or Benji Marshall, Benji Marshall, has Steve or Benji Benji, Ricky Stewart oor Benji?
Why are you giving me all the hard ones? I'm taking Ricky.
Stewart, Shane Flannagan a Benji Wow.
A hybrid of both would be perfect. A hybrid no comment, no comment, you can comment if you don't agree.
No makes for better listening. We've got a history of Shane Flanagan. I'm not a shame. Flanning despises doing well with a not a full swing. I still don't want him, Okay, drug.
Cheat According to Gary, never get no second chances or third chance. So you don't want Bronson Cherry at the club.
No, Look, do we really have to go into Shange Flannagan. For me, he led systematic doping raging at a club, and for me, you don't put young people under that responsibility.
I think a player is a little bit different.
I'm just talking about the technical aspects of coaching, nothing to do with the history stuff.
But I hear us one Steve, Trent Robinson or Benji.
There's no way I'm over picking Trent Robinson. Benji like him? Yeah no, But to be honest, Trent Robinson, Trent Robinson with Benji would be pretty good.
I'll take Trent Robinson with Nik Politis absolutely.
Absolutely the brown paper bags and going for twenty plus years.
All right, let's rip into some buy cell holds boys.
Question number one tonight, Rob Shane Richardson will keep the West Tigers playing games at Combat Stadium in twenty twenty seven by yourself.
I'm buying that because I don't think we'll have the grounds ready for the corporate facilities that he wants a game, So I'm definitely buying that.
Do you like going I think it's a great ground. I hate going there.
I'm in Paramatta tonight on five minutes from there and went It's just not my home ground.
I want LAIHARDI on Campbelltown. That's just me. I'm loyal. Question number two for you, Steve, and I'm sorry, Rob, I'm going to butcher this. Steve.
Did you enjoy the cod celebration last week by the Tigers against the Bulldogs?
Well?
I mentioned it on the last pot I was on. No, I didn't. I want our team to be more disciplined than that on old school.
Now I admit a dinosaurs.
Yeah, I'm a dinosaur. I'm happy to be a dinosaur. As I said to you, I say the same example. I want to score a try, I run back to halfway, shake hands, kick off and go again. Don't fall asleep, mate, that's just that's Melbourn. Storm men, storm, That's why we're not making the eighth.
I think that celebration though, was the fact that the game was pretty much over if we kicked the goal where twenty ahead, there's nine minutes left that I don't think they would have done that if it was in the tenth minute of the game.
Yeah, perhaps perhaps good.
It's also context, rob like the amount of crap the Canterbury have done to us the last couple of years, like surroud and knocked us back, gold pinched our young five eight five Eight's carried on like a pork chop and you get that win. And they're humans with emotion exactly, the Canterbury fans. They're a great fan base, but they're also they get in your face and I just think.
Good honus for doing that.
Steeve's right, we've got to be more professional, we've got to be more disciplined. But this was the most emotional game for us.
This was the one game.
Not only all the supporters, I'm sure Benji without admitting it, the players, without admitting it, they wanted this more than anything. So that's why that emotion spilled over. Let's hope they learned from it and it doesn't happen again. But look at the time, you know, being of being e Lebanese Australian, I thought it was hilarious.
Guys. You guys have all played sport right, you know what It's like. They were winning twenty eight to eight with a minute to go. They can just stand over halfway look the canny players in the eyes. That's enough. They've killed them. They've gone out there and they've done what they've had.
If you've been over at the club for a decade, though we've been bent over for a decade, give it to him, give it.
Time, guys, difference. It's just a straight fingers. I don't know why you guys are doing it like you're getting having a stroke. It's literally just fighting.
Apparently last week I got a stroke. According to the YouTube. Thanks for putting that fatal up YouTube last week. Question three, Gary West Tigers are still an undisciplined side slash club.
By buying that every day of the week. We see it all the time.
We see it from our leaders, and there's been times this year where Drome Lawi has been quite ill disciplined. We've got far too many ill disciplined plays in.
What we do.
You have a look at what Alex Sayfaff did last weekend. He's done a really good job of this year of getting the nonsense out of his game, and then in one game he just throws it all the way again.
And we've got to get that out of our club.
Question four, Rob West Tigers are an undermanned organization. I guess I'm talking not on field specifically here, but off the field.
By yourself.
I'm buying it, but I'd rather not go into it too much because it's not very nice. But I just don't think we've got the resources that.
Other clubs have.
You called it, I think the McDonald's of the Narel a while ago, it might have been up for a loss, but I.
Was pretty heated.
But I just feel it's a club, whether it's whether it's players, whether it's coaching, whether it's in certain aspects of the administration where it's your first job and that's where you learn. And then once you know what you're doing, you know someone will pluck you off and take you to some other position. So that's why I called it
the McDonald's organization. You know, we don't want to see young kids coming to our club learning their craft and going getting pinched by the cannabies of the world.
So that's why I called it that question number five, Steve Robbie Farrer is in our top two players of all time by yourself.
And I remember this cause and some grief some months back when we ask a similar question. I'm buying that for sure. And you know I'm going by the guys that spent most of their careers at the club and had the most impact for the club. So you know, Benji and Robbie for sure, one and two for me one. Benji's one, yeah, Robbie's two. And I've got Chris Lawrence right there with him, because i just love Chris Lawrence.
Oh, this is a good topic. I'll let you speak first.
No, I tend to agree with Steve. I'm I think it's Benji Marshall then Robbie Farrell. What Benji Marshall did to this club wasn't just on the field. The engagement of fans and especially young fans to our club.
I don't think anyone else could have done that for this club.
And he's the player at our club who was the best player in the world at one point in his career, and for me, while he had a little bit of an up and down career, in my opinion, I can't go past him for being the most influential person we've had at this club.
We're synonymous for the style of football we played because of Benji Marshall. I accept that, and that's why whenever I refer to Benji Marshall as a player, I talk about him as arguably our greatest ever player to meat deceiver players, Robbie farre and it's not being biased. He gave it every week, every single week. I know some people love him, some people hate him. You can't go back and actually say Robbie Farah had a bad game that day.
Yeah, but I don't think he had the impact on how we played. And like I'm not going to argue.
Everything started from Robbie Farrah. Everything started from dummy Huff. I agree one hundred percent. But when Benji Marshall was on, we don't lose a game. Like when he's playing at that level, he can change a game single handedly. I remember being down at Campbelltown one night and Newcastle were absolutely pumping us, and in twenty minutes Benji Marshall turned that around and won the game.
And oh, there's no doubt he could do things others couldn't.
I'm just talking about consistency and longevity like it was Robbie, even in those lean years. Robbie was always giving it, giving it his all. So and I will say one thing, Steve. I know I got the utmost respect for Chris Lawrence and he was only there for a short period of time.
Garethelle is his number three for me. Yeah, that's that's arguable. But I'll just go back to some of us earlier in the Potterrod. You're talking about Adam. We've been our best player by country mile this year, right, And I said and said you Adam do we said the top of the pod.
I think he said the last five weeks.
I said, last five okay, last thing?
You actually said he's been our last player best played for the last month.
Yeah I did say that, Yeah, but I reckon it's because of moments. He's had moments where he's had huge impact on our season, right, And I'd say that's Benji Marshall. He wasn't as consistent as Robbie fare across eighty mins or even across the season, but his moments changed the way.
Are the biggest anyone saw West Tigers.
Not just that he changed the game in these big moments like there's there's things in twenty years time you'll still see.
And like Garry he won the Golden Boot. What twenty ten or whatever twenty won the Golden Boot.
I'm biased towards Robbie. I think I've told this story another podcast rob But as an eighteen year old I went down to Camberra in two thousand and four. Robbie wasn't playing. He was out with an ebreco I think at the time, but the Tigers played in the middle of winter at Canberra Stadium.
Got absolutely pumped.
I think it was forty six to ten and me and my two mates had our Tigers as he's round out our waist in the nightclub afterwards, and it was Bronson Harrison, Dean Halltown, Robbie Fair and Robbi Farrah came up to have said, boys, you come all the way to Camra to watch us get pumped.
We're going to buy your shots all night, so you base your favorite player off. Absolutely. I read that, Robbie.
I remember I reckon.
Robbie was half pissed when he said that to you, and it started your long relationship with alcohol.
Mate, Steve.
Question number six, Gary, conference system is the way to go once Enirol gets to twenty teams by yourself.
That's a strange ue for me because I don't think so. I like, I'd like a system when we get to twenty teams where you're actually shortened the season and you play everyone once. That's what I would like to see at that point. I am a big fan of conferences in sports from over seas, A big fan of the NFL, as you know, and they run conference systems, and I think it works really well in those competitions. But I'd like to see a system where we play everyone once.
You're a big NFL fan, I think it'd be great. I know, I know it'd be in a conference with the Bulldogs, Penrith, parent matter. Maybe they have to throw in Perth or something, but you play everyone else once you play your division twice. I think NRL's built on rivalries.
I've been pushing this for years and anyone that's followed my Twitter account would know that. I think the biggest advantage of it. You get the tribalism. So you put all the Sydney teams in a group if you can. It might not be like four divisions of five, but if it was like two divisions of ten, you're getting the Cannby versus Tigers, Saint George versus Paris twice a year.
The one team towns like your North Queenslands, like in New Zealand's, they're going to get the same crowd pretty much every week, and those away games there's except for New Zealand, you're not going to get many of their fans there anyway. So I think if you've got Brisbane going to New Zealand and New Zealand going to Brisbane,
who cares, it's not going to affect the crowd. We're going to get so much so many more games where we've got that Sydney rivalry, and I'd go further than that, i'd have a Sydney champion, I'd have a national champion and then they meet in them like a super Bowl type final.
So that's what I don't like about conference systems, and it depends how far you go with it. Like a true conference system that you have in American sports, you'll have your own table amongst your conference, so it's the winner of each conference that kind of go through and then the ones with the best record. What I don't like about conference systems and the system you propose because you can't get certain matchups in a grand final, so you could never again have a Bulldogs paramount of Grand
final for example. Correct if they're in the same conference.
They'd be a Sydney champion who if they played each other in that final.
It would be but it's still not the same thing.
Is that. I think once you go into a full conference system where you're like that, you're limiting who can play who in finals football, and I don't like that.
It doesn't matter now, but we do that in cup.
We get the winner of the Queensland Cup team versus the winner of the New South Wales Cup and they play.
On Grand Final.
It hasn't worked.
That has it, It hasn't worked.
But the point is, I just think you're getting so much more of those rivalry games would otherwise.
Get another wouldn't have another Sydney Grand Final again, you probably.
Know you would, but you'd you'd have your Sydney Grand Final. Then you'd have like your super Bowl type grand final. Then you're actually getting double the amount.
I reckon there's one hundred years of culture that has to be undone for what you'reesing to work. Because I watched that State Cup final on Grand Final day and I'm thinking to the blokes playing, thinking about the blokes playing, thinking, so do they celebrate last week or do they have to wait?
They they celebrate the week before they both seem and.
When they okay, and if they won last week, when that celebrate, then come on a Grand Final day and then they lose. Are they happy or are they not happy? Like it's sort of like this, you're in limbo, but that's because that's not what we're used to.
But you guys are saying that, Like, I get why you're detracting from it, but you're making it sound like our current home and away system is perfect. We've got the worst system now, and it's ruined by state of origin.
You don't know who you like.
We beat the Ruses a month ago, and we would not have beaten the russ team that was out there last night. Okay, they had half their team missing. It's just luck of the drawer. You play Melbourne without their origin stars or Brisbane or Penrith or whoever it may be. So this current system is flawed. I don't think there's a right system at the moment, but it's the one that I lean closer to.
I'm not ignoring that Rob.
That's why I said I'd go to a twenty team comp You play everyone once and then you have a break for state of origin. You maybe have a little bit of a preseason competition, and that allows you to then have a fair competition if you're playing If every team plays every other team once in the season, that gives you a fairer competition you.
Might be getting. You're going to get it less weeks of football though.
If you've got playing each other once and that's not going to be VP rights an't going to want even you're getting an extra game a weekend though.
That's the that's the best system to move forward. What we have now is a problem. But speaking about when do they celebrate in the NFL, they celebrate four different things they can win. They celebrate winning their Vision conference, celebrate winning their conference, and then they celebrate winning the super Bowl.
So it does have merits.
And for a team like the West Tikers, if you're in a four team conference and all you got to do is finish above those other three teams, I guess it'd give us something to win.
Right, Seven eight nine are scratch boys who cares about rugby three sixty and Almond Barnes Steve.
That's a podcast for another day, I think.
But let's say number ten rob Rugby League media as a vendetta against the West Tigers by ourselves.
I'm somewhere in the middle.
But they feed on our failures, that's what they do. And because they feed on our failures, we click and we've got one of the biggest supporter bases. And if we weren't clicking, they wouldn't be riding on the flip.
Side of that, we're winning, we're probably lapping it up. They'll lap it up.
But even we saw last week we won and they lapped it up with the Horde stuff the Horde celebrations and all that sort of thing. So they try and put a negative spin a lot of times, But to be fair, a couple of the journeys are being really.
Good, you know, the last few days.
It's funny the relationships in it steve the more you sort of watch it. Like for the majority of the past sort of decade, I felt like the news limit has been really against us, and maybe they hated Pasco and Lee.
Now it looks like they're on side with Richo.
And some guys like Bus and the infamous Hoops at the moment have taken our side this year. But it seems to be a game of sort of who you know and who you build relationships.
With absolutely and become more and more so. And that's a real stain on the game. I reckon the way journos are aligning themselves to managers in particular and pushing certain agendas. You're not You're not getting factual reports from journals anymore, You're getting their personal bias. In response to the statement have they got a vendetta, I don't think they've got to do vendetta. I've got a strong voice on this, but I don't think it's a vendetta. I
don't think they really hate the club. I just think they know that by being controversial and the more negative, the more controvers negative you are, the more controversial that becomes, are they going to get more clickbait? They're going to get more response, And that's why they do it. We're a big club. We do bite very easily, as we should, so that I don't think it's a I don't think it's any great hatred though.
Yeah.
For me, it comes down to how our supporter base engages with media. Have a look at we're here doing a collaboration podcast. Because our fan base are the West Tigers fan base engages in this type of content probably more than any other club does. That's why they're constantly stories about us. And we're really poor at the moment. We're like, not at the moment, but historically, like the last three years, we've got three windspoons, So they're the stories that are available to talk about that.
They're negative stories, and our fan.
Base, being how it is, engages with media probably like no other club does. And as I said, we're evidence of that. So for me, I don't think it's necessarily a vandetta. Against the club. I think it's it's that news is now a business and we bring in money.
Schout out to Daniel at the miked up studios at Paramatta for hosting us again.
Boys.
Let's do it all again this time next week, hopefully after Tigers win.
Have a man, guys, jeers, guys. Thanks, thanks, boys,