Wests Tigers Holden Cup Coach Todd Payten had mixed feelings over the team's victory against Parramatta Eels last Friday night.
Here is Todd's popular weekly blog.
TODD'S BLOG
We got the result we were after on Friday night but again we conceded far too many points. I thought it was the best weve played with the ball for most of the year.
We were patient and built pressure well all game and we got rewarded late in the first half and early in the second half because of it. Early in the match we were down 16-10 but showed good composure and played patient, smart footy.
At that score line at the 20 minute mark we received two penalties back to back and from there we earned two line dropouts. The following set we showed more patience and discipline by getting to our field position and were able to have two cracks at them on long shifts and going over on the latter. We also scored the set from the kick off as well with the Parra side almost out on their feet leading into the break.
We started the second half the way we finished it by scoring back to back tries. One from a chip and chase from Mitch Moses and another from a one on one steal from Luke Brooks. With 20 minutes to go our defensive intensity dropped away and Parra were able to score 3 tries to our one. Very disappointing. Again we showed a lack of maturity. The score finished 52-32.
We are leaking far too many points for my liking. I know we are a top 4 team but unless we fix some of our defensive issues we wont have an impact come finals time. The exciting thing is that we have so much improvement left in us.
After looking deeper in the stats for the season, we have found out that we have missed the most tackles of any team in the comp, but we are the fourth best side for points scored against us. That indicates that we are a team that scrambles well for each other but are making things hard for ourselves by having to work harder than we should.
I also believe that it also highlights that we are a fit team. Defence is an attitude. A mind set. It shows when it is not right and its not something you can just switch on and off through out games. As mentioned earlier the improvement in us is exciting.
We had a lot of contributors on Friday with both awards being split. Kurtis Rowe and Shane Lalogafau shared the Players Player award and Manaia Cherrington and Shane Lalogafau sharing the Coaches award.
Kurtis scored three tries and continued his good form. He is such an athlete and terrific to watch when hes in full flight.
Manaia Cherrington defended well and was threatening off every quick play the ball. He also played 80 minutes at hooker against a big pack.
Shane Lalogafau earned his way back into the side after playing good footy in the Bundy cup competition. He played big minutes and was very hard to pull down and got us some quick play the balls to play off. Im happy for him as his attitude has been pretty good while he wasnt getting picked. It is now up to him to hold his position with in the team with consistent performances.
Here is Todd's popular weekly blog.
TODD'S BLOG
We got the result we were after on Friday night but again we conceded far too many points. I thought it was the best weve played with the ball for most of the year.
We were patient and built pressure well all game and we got rewarded late in the first half and early in the second half because of it. Early in the match we were down 16-10 but showed good composure and played patient, smart footy.
At that score line at the 20 minute mark we received two penalties back to back and from there we earned two line dropouts. The following set we showed more patience and discipline by getting to our field position and were able to have two cracks at them on long shifts and going over on the latter. We also scored the set from the kick off as well with the Parra side almost out on their feet leading into the break.
We started the second half the way we finished it by scoring back to back tries. One from a chip and chase from Mitch Moses and another from a one on one steal from Luke Brooks. With 20 minutes to go our defensive intensity dropped away and Parra were able to score 3 tries to our one. Very disappointing. Again we showed a lack of maturity. The score finished 52-32.
We are leaking far too many points for my liking. I know we are a top 4 team but unless we fix some of our defensive issues we wont have an impact come finals time. The exciting thing is that we have so much improvement left in us.
After looking deeper in the stats for the season, we have found out that we have missed the most tackles of any team in the comp, but we are the fourth best side for points scored against us. That indicates that we are a team that scrambles well for each other but are making things hard for ourselves by having to work harder than we should.
I also believe that it also highlights that we are a fit team. Defence is an attitude. A mind set. It shows when it is not right and its not something you can just switch on and off through out games. As mentioned earlier the improvement in us is exciting.
We had a lot of contributors on Friday with both awards being split. Kurtis Rowe and Shane Lalogafau shared the Players Player award and Manaia Cherrington and Shane Lalogafau sharing the Coaches award.
Kurtis scored three tries and continued his good form. He is such an athlete and terrific to watch when hes in full flight.
Manaia Cherrington defended well and was threatening off every quick play the ball. He also played 80 minutes at hooker against a big pack.
Shane Lalogafau earned his way back into the side after playing good footy in the Bundy cup competition. He played big minutes and was very hard to pull down and got us some quick play the balls to play off. Im happy for him as his attitude has been pretty good while he wasnt getting picked. It is now up to him to hold his position with in the team with consistent performances.
