As the Wests Tigers suffer another loss which leaves them all but out of finals contention, coach Tim Sheens has said there will be a player clean out. The loss on Saturday night means a 3rd consecutive year the Tigers have not made the top 8.Manly re-discovering their form breaking a 2 game losing streak and finding their way back into minor premiership contention while the Tigers conceded 9 tries.
In only 6 days, the Tigers have conceded a total of 88 points after Parramatta put 40 points past them last Monday.
Sheens confirmed that some people are going to be tapped on the shoulder. He believes that some players need to move on.
For Sheens, it’s time to bite the bullet and start improving the club. This means looking for new players which is Sheens’ plan over the next 18 months.
With 2 years remaining on his contract, Sheens is determined to turn his team around and is aware that he is going to have to make a conscious decision and change a number of players within the club.
Manly coach Des Hasler was happy with his teams efforts and believes they have overcome the worst with their performance on Saturday. Brett Stewart, Steve Menzies and Glenn Hall each scoring themselves doubles.
Matt Orford was out to prove he’s still go “it” in the NRL after being heavily criticised for his last-tackle kicking options over the past 2 weeks. Hasler happy with the Eagles’ performance admits they were still a little bit loose in defence and when questioned about the criticism of Orford, he said that he thought Orford’s form has been great the past few weeks. Not having heard the criticism, Hasler was not willing to comment further.
With their season on the line, the Tigers offered little resistance. Not being able to capitalise on 2 possible tries while trailing 16-6 at halftime, Wests simply watched the Sea Eagles on their 2nd half rampage crossing the line 6 times.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, their loss on Saturday follows the same theme of their past 3 seasons, losing their form leading into the finals and ultimately missing out.
Struggling to get points on the board and with their lack of form the Tigers couldn’t afford to butcher opportunities but that’s exactly what they did. Benji Marshall creating an overlap just before winger Taniela Tuiaki dropped the ball with the line open in the 28th minute.
Bombing another chance just before half time and ultimately sealing their fate, lock Liam Fulton broke through the Eagles defence only to have John Morris drop the ball.
Manly’s Adam Cuthbertson sent Menzies on a 35m dash for the line for a 16-6 scoreline which blew in the 2nd half seeing Manly come away with a 48-16 win over the dismal Tigers.
GO SEA EAGLES, glad they did what they had to this time.
They were so strong.
tigers still da best!