NRL 2023: Tim Sheens turns to one of the cheapest halves in the NRL to save Wests Tigers
Tim Sheens has delivered a defiant message to the club’s critics as he hands the keys to Wests Tigers to one of the lowest paid halves in the competition.
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Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens has delivered a defiant message to the club’s critics as he prepares to hand the keys to Tiger Town to one of the lowest paid halves in the competition, part of backline shake-up that the veteran coach hopes will spark their season.
Brandon Wakeham was brilliant off the bench against Canterbury and his reward was the No. 6 jersey against the Melbourne Storm on Friday night, where he will be charged with organising the Tigers as part of a new-look halves combination with Luke Brooks.
The Tigers have effectively turned to the prince and the pauper to kickstart their season. Brooks is the highest paid player in the club on a seven-figure salary. Wakeham is among the lowest paid, having been snubbed by the Bulldogs and forced to endure stressful summer while he waited for the Tigers to come to the party with a minimum wage deal.
His future was only resolved in late-January after the Tigers threw him a lifeline. Now he has the chance to return the favour as the winless Tigers look to kickstart their season in Melbourne on Friday night.
Wakeham’s promotion to the starting side meant a move to fullback for Adam Doueihi and the axing of David Nofoaluma. The Tigers are also tipped to start with John Bateman at lock against the Storm, although he was named in the second row.
Asked about the decision to partner Brooks and Wakeham – the duo almost dragged the Tigers over the line when they were brought together in the dying minutes against the Bulldogs last weekend – Sheens said: “We were playing that way when we finished the game last week and we were playing better footy.
“We trained last week with Wakeham in with Brooks the whole week. The way we finished I was happy with the way we were operating.
“I don’t think one is going to dominate the other to any great degree. We have lost three games but we have not been beat. They (The Bulldogs) went to 20 (points clear) and that could have been 40 last year by the end of the game.
“We’re still clunky in patches and trying to get the right combination. That’s as far as I want to go about explaining myself.
“I am not interested in explaining myself to the media. The performances on the field is what I am interested in rather than arguing with people about what we are and aren’t doing.”
Sheens has been one of Brooks’ loudest supporters and insisted there were positive signs in the way he unleashed his running game in the latter stages against the Bulldogs.
“You just don’t lose it,” Sheens said.
“He showed he still had his legs with his speed. In football, you always have your ups and downs. Things can work for you one day and not the next.
“In real terms, form comes and goes. He was tossed around last year like a rubber ball in a washing machine. “We have settled him, he is playing left side and it will start to happen. You have to remember he didn’t trial with us – it is only his third game.
“All the things happen to pivots for one reason or the other – whether you win the forward battle, people around you drop passes.
“Blokes trying to catch him the other day were nowhere near him. He has a running game. The situation is we are not creating enough opportunities for him.
“In real terms, he is a running player. He will find his feet, don’t worry about that. I have seen it at training.”
The Tigers face a Storm side stinging after successive defeats, although they could have Cameron Munster back for the game after he was named in the No. 6 jersey.
HOW THE TIGERS SHAKE-UP WAS BROKEN
- Paul Crawley
Tim Sheens is tipped to make a huge positional change this round and hand control of the battling Wests Tigers to bargain buy recruit Brandon Wakeham for the crucial clash against Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park on Friday night.
That will allow Luke Brooks to shift to the running five-eighth role and Adam Doueihi moving from the halves to fullback.
It is not clear if Wakeham will be handed Brooks’ No. 7 jumper to make it official, but he is certainly expected to play the chief playmaker role to free Brooks of a responsibility he has been clearly struggling with.
It is also expected English star John Bateman will move from the edge backrow to the lock forward position with Isaiah Papali’i returning from suspension.
David Nofoaluma is expected to be the collateral damage in all this and get axed to make way for Charlie Staines to shift from fullback to wing to accommodate Doueihi’s shift.
It comes in the wake of Sheens’ shock midgame moves during Sunday’s loss to the Bulldogs at Belmore when Wakeham entered the game and sparked the late fightback.
Wakeham is only on a fraction of the salary of Brooks but is considered more suited to the halfback role.
While Brooks is being paid a reported $1m-plus this season, Wakeham was signed from Canterbury for an NRL budget deal worth less than $150,000.
But while Wakeham didn’t arrive with a big reputation, the 24-year-old has always been regarded as a clever playmaker with a good short kicking game.
It remains to be seen where this will leave the off contract Brooks’ long term future, with the Tigers still not clear what Mitchell Moses will do.
Sheens and Benji Marshall have continually supported Brooks amid the outside noise but what can’t be ignored is his performances so far this season under the new coaching structure have been alarmingly underwhelming.
Doueihi’s move to fullback is also interesting given Daine Laurie is also off contract at the end of the season.
There are also reports the Tigers are keen to make a play for inform Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy who is yet to commit to a new deal at the Sharks.
There is ongoing debate about what Doueihi’s best position is but some are starting to think long term he will probably end up in the centres if he doesn’t fire at fullback.
Doueihi himself has said previously he thinks five-eighth is his best spot, but some of his pass selection on Sunday left a lot to be desired, and he clearly upset Bateman on one occasion when he handed the Englishman a good old fashioned hospital pass.
Nofoaluma also looks to be on the outer after a couple of disinterested performances.
Nofoaluma is also on big money, over $500,000-a-season, and he still has two more years to go on his current contract which ends at the completion of the 2025 season.
This is a huge game for the Tigers who are yet to win a game against a Storm side also coming off shock back-to-back defeats against the Bulldogs and Titans.
The Storm are hoping to have superstar five-eighth Cameron Munster back from injury.
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