The Tackle: Tigers must target defence in roster rebuild, why Adam Reynolds must be stripped of Broncos captaincy
The Tigers have done a good job in recruiting the likes of Jarome Luai, Sunia Turuva and Jack Bird for 2025, but they aren’t immediate fixes to the biggest issue plaguing the wooden spoon side, FATIMA KDOUH writes in The Tackle.
Fatima Kdouh reveals her likes and dislikes from the final regular season round of the year, with Brian To’o making sure The Tackle goes out with a bang before the 2024 finals series kicks off.
ROUND 27 DISLIKES
TIGERS NOT API
Jarome Luai could arrive at Concord as a four-time premiership winner but that won’t be enough to save long-suffering Wests Tigers fans from even more pain next year.
Luai will add class and premiership pedigree to the Tigers but won’t solve the biggest issue facing Benji Marshall – the lack of discipline and defensive steel. Those shortcomings played a massive role in the club finishing this season with a third-straight wooden spoon.
The lack of discipline reared its ugly head in the worst possible way when skipper Api Koroisau was hit with a three-game ban for a spear tackle on Clint Gutherson in Friday night’s ‘Spoon Bowl’ against Parramatta.
It was the 16th time a Tigers player was sent to the sin bin this season.
The best the Tigers can hope for now is that Koroisau will be allowed to count matches for Fiji in the Pacific Championships towards the ban so he doesn’t miss the start of next season.
Defensively, the Tigers finished the season conceding 750 points, the worst of any side in the NRL.
The unwillingness in defence was on full display in the wooden spoon showdown, when in front of a sellout home crowd at Campbelltown Stadium, the Tigers conceded 60 points.
Marshall said the wooden spoon would not define the young side.
But there was undoubtedly a feeling among players that avoiding the spoon would give the group a chance to turn over a new leaf in 2025.
Now Marshall has to manage any potential psychological blows from another wooden spoon during the pre-season.
Fox League expert Cooper Cronk pointed out that the club had done a good job in recruiting Luai, Sunia Turuva, Jeral Skelton and Jack Bird, but the latest additions are attacking players and don’t immediately solve the side’s defensive problems.
Royce Hunt adds some grunt but the Tigers will need more than the 23 minutes he has averaged this season to get the most of the Cronulla prop.
The Tigers aren’t done recruiting yet but Marshall should take advice from Dragons coach Shane Flanagan, who is looking to rebuild his own roster in Wollongong.
Flanagan said he only wanted “hard-nosed” players that were “tough, resilient, winners”.
The Tigers should have the same recruitment brief when rebuilding Marshall’s roster.
Firebrand Canberra forward Corey Horsburgh, who has been linked with a move to the Dragons, has been in talks with the Tigers. He’ll add size and heart to Marshall’s outfit.
It’s not all doom and gloom at the Tigers. Lachlan Galvin is a genuine star and Samuela Fainu has emerged as a key cog in the forward pack. Other rookies like Heath Mason, Kit and Luke Laulilii and Tallyn Da Silva have massive potential.
But unless the Tigers can find some defensive grit, and discipline, the hurt won’t end any time soon.
BULLDOGS BITTEN
Canterbury’s biggest test in the finals series will be attrition.
The side’s grit and work ethic had not only turned the Bulldogs into one of the best defensive sides in the competition, but into a finals contender for the first time since 2016.
After two straight losses to Manly and North Queensland and conceding 78 points, the Bulldogs look like a side that has run out of steam and it comes at the worst possible time for coach Cameron Ciraldo.
“Their wins have been based on defence, gritty, toughness … that wears you down. When you’re winning like that constantly, that can swamp you. To get up for any game, to get up and play tough, that is so hard. Physically and mentally, more mentally,” Andrew Johns said on Channel 9.
Not even huge home crowds at Accor Stadium for both the Sea Eagles and Cowboys clash were enough to fortify Canterbury’s defensive wall or will the side to victory.
Ciraldo is confident the side’s recent woes are a quick fix but the harsh reality for the Bulldogs, this year’s most improved side, is that they have peaked two weeks too early.
BRONCOS SKIPPER
Kevin Walters is sticking firm with Adam Reynolds as Brisbane skipper but it’s time Pat Carrigan factored in that conversation. Carrigan recently distanced himself from growing chatter that he should take over as Broncos captain in 2025, and backed Reynolds as the side’s leader.
His response to that speculation was hardly surprising. It was a mark of respect towards Reynolds, who has rightly earned such high regard among his younger peers at Red Hill. Reynolds was key to Brisbane’s run to last year’s grand final and his influence as the side’s general in the No.7 jumper can’t be diminished.
But the Broncos are a young side looking to the future after missing another final series under Walters. That future is one where Carrigan is a Broncos skipper.
Walters has openly spoken about some in his side not truly understanding what it means to be a Bronco.
But no one would have a better understanding of what it means to wear the Broncos jersey than Carrigan, who is a graduate of the club’s famed Broncos Academy and has been in the system since he was a teenager.
The 26-year-old already has a strong voice among the playing group so handing Carrigan the skipper’s armband is hardly a left-field call.
Cameron Ciraldo’s decision to make Stephen Crichton the Bulldogs captain at age 23, and in his first year at the club, drew early criticism. But it’s a move that proved inspirational.
Crichton is a winner, uncompromising and an Origin star. All similar characteristics to Carrigan.
Walters wanted his troops to put their heart and hands on the Broncos jersey during last Thursday’s clash against the Storm. Instead, the side was blown off the park in a lazy defensive performance.
The coach can begin restoring pride by making a homegrown Broncos talent the side’s leader in 2025.
ROUND 27 LIKES
‘THEY GOT ENGAGED’
Penrith larrikin Brian To’o has dropped a cheeky clue about Nathan Cleary that has sent tongues wagging – and it has nothing to with the halfback’s shoulder injury.
Cleary and Matildas superstar Mary Fowler have dominated headlines as Australia’s sporting power couple in recent months, sharing their budding romance on social media.
And now, To’o has joked the glamour couple have taken their romance to the next level.
Speaking on Fox League after Penrith 18-12 win over the Titans, To’o was asked why Panthers fans were causing a commotion from the stands.
Host Yvonne Sampson probed whether it was the sight of Cleary, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since round 24, that had sent fans into a lather.
But To’o replied that fans had packed Penrith Park not for the Panthers but to get a glimpse of Cleary and Fowler, who are now ‘engaged’.
Congrats to Nathan and "Mary" 😂 #NRLpic.twitter.com/k2mQPczWV8
— Roast (@thenrlroast) September 7, 2024
“Nathan? Yeah, he’s over here with Mary,” To’o joked.
“They are just chilling on the side everyone is going crazy. They are pretty much here for Nathan and Mary so congrats to them, I think they got engaged. Congrats to them.”
In perfect comedic timing, Fox League cameras then pan to Cleary, who just happens to be shaking hands with Panther CEO Brian Fletcher in what looked like a moment of congratulations between the pair.
Fowler wasn’t actually on hand at Penrith Park to watch the Panthers secure second spot on the ladder.
The Manchester City striker is back in England after playing in a pre-season tournament with her club' side in Perth last week.
Cleary is on track to return from an untimely shoulder injury against the Sydney Roosters in week one of the finals, in what will be a huge boost for Penrith four-straight title tilt.
Coach Ivan Cleary refused to rubber stamp Nathan’s return after the Titans clash but said he was ‘hopeful’ the halfback will be fit.
Cleary has returned to contact training last week as he edges closer to a return to the field.
CODE HOPPER CROWS
It took 80 minutes for Mark Nawaqanitawase to prove he belongs in the NRL but the bigger question for Roosters coach Trent Robinson is where the Wallabies convert will play next year.
The fact wingers Dominic Young and Daniel Tupou are signed until the end of 2027 and 2026, respectively, could mean a move into the centres for Nawaqanitawase.
Robinson is looking for a new centre pairing with Joseph Manu and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii rugby bound at season’s end.
Nawaqanitawase is an option at right centre alongside Young on the wing. They would form a sky-scraping combination. Young is 6’7, while Nawaqanitawase is 6’4 and a strike weapon under the high ball.
Robinson has depth in the outside backs through Billy Smith, Junior Pauga and rising rookie Robert Toia.
But Nawaqanitawase is also shaping as an option at fullback, where he has played in rugby, as veteran No.1 James Tedesco edges closer to the end of his illustrious NRL career.
Nawaqanitawase made an immediate impact in his NRL debut against South Sydney when he leapt high over Tyrone Munro to open the scoring and instantly drew comparisons to another code-hopper in Israel Folau.
The debut was all the more impressive considering it came just a month after he switched from rugby and he had just three NSW Cup games under his belt.
Big and powerful, the winger did not shy away from the contest and finished with 106m, five tackle busts and a line-break assist.
The return of Young and Tupou will squeeze Nawaqanitawase out of Robinson’s side to take on the Panthers in week one of the finals but his debut performance will give Robinson enough confidence to call on the 23-year-old if needed.
BIG RED ON FIRE
The chip-and-chase try isn’t the forte of an NRL forward, let alone when the result and one’s future are on the line.
Corey Horsburgh came up with a Hail Mary play to seal Canberra’s third-straight win with a grubber kick that he regathered to score the decisive try against the Dragons.
Horsburgh wants out of Canberra but coach Ricky Stuart says there are no personal issues between the pair, even though the firebrand forward, who is signed until the end of 2027, was granted permission to look elsewhere.
Stuart did indicate that Horsburgh may have taken exception to the way the coach wants to use the former Maroons forward. The arrival of Englishman Morgan Smithies has meant Horsburgh is no longer Stuart’s first choice at lock.
“I want Corey at the club and Corey knows the way I need him at the club. That’s not my decision,” Stuart said.
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