NRL kickoff is here as Wests Tigers face troubled Gold Coast Titans

THE  2015 NRL season has kicked off and it is hard to recall a season where all teams have such reasonably even rosters.

Robbie Farah of Wests Tigers. Photo: Matt King/Getty Images

THE  2015 NRL season has kicked off and it is hard to recall a season where all teams have such reasonably even rosters.

Every team should be entering the competition with some level of confidence or optimism. Wests Tigers are no different and, indeed, have some of the best junior talent in the game with the likes of James Tedesco, Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses and David Nofoaluma to name a few.

Robbie Farah of Wests Tigers. Photo: Matt King/Getty Images

New head coach Jason Taylor was quietly confident ahead of the new season.

“We’re in a good place to have a good season,” he said.

Although the Tigers posted two impressive trial wins Taylor wasn’t getting too carried away with those results. “The way we’ve performed is important,” he said. “But Parramatta were understrength and the Sharks lacked cohesion,” Taylor said. “We haven’t been tested yet.”

Brenden Santi of the Tigers is tackled by David Fifita of the Sharks during the NRL Trial Match between the Wests Tigers and the Cronulla Sharks at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on February 21. Photo: Renee McKay/Getty Images

With a new attacking structure in place and improved emphasis on defence Taylor is confident his team can mix it with the NRL’s big guns. “There is a good feel around the club,” he said.

“We’re confident we can do well, we’re just not sure where that will take us.

“We’re not setting any targets for the ladder, we just want to be consistent in what we do.”

The Tigers face a Gold Coast Titans team in crisis at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday at 7pm.

“I expect them to be really tough, they’ll be really keen to put all that other stuff aside,” Taylor said.