Benji Marshall’s baptism of fire as an NRL coach will almost certainly be good for him in the long run. And by extension it will also be good for the club where he made his name as a player, especially after winning the 2005 premiership.
But sometimes it’s painful watching this relatively young man put up with terrible performances from his charges. You really feel for him watching mistake after mistake.
The 24-10 capitulation to the Dragons at Kogarah last Saturday is a case in point.
This was a game the Tigers would have smashed 10 rounds ago.
But a hot and cold performance allowed a gritty St George side to score three tries in the last 10 minutes and win the match.
“To be honest, our discipline, attention to detail, and care wasn’t good enough, so full credit to the Dragons, because they earned their win,” Marshall said afterwards.
“We had a chance to turn up today and have a real crack at it, but again we weren’t good enough.”
You can say that again would be the response from long suffering Tigers fans, who after a hopeful start to the season are now seeing the wheels fall off and another finals appearance quickly fade away.
But there’s another game on this Friday night, against a team they beat convincingly when they met early in the season, the NZ Warriors.
The round 19 game will be played at Campbelltown Sports Stadium from 8pm.
Hopefully, the Tigers will be keen to bounce back in their final home game of the season at Campbelltown.
Five-eighth Jarome Luai returns after missing last week’s loss to the Dragons with delayed concussion symptoms.
Josese Lanyon comes in at hooker to replace Api Koroisau (pectoral muscle strain).
Powerful second-rower Samuela Fainu returns from a foot injury suffered in round nine against Cronulla.
WESTS TIGERS LINEUP V NZ WARRIORS:
1. Jahream Bula
2. Sunia Turuva
3. Starford To’a
4. Heamasi Makasini
5. Jeral Skelton
6. Jarome Luai
7. Adam Doueihi
8. Terrell May
9. Josese Lanyon
10. Bunty Afoa
11. Samuela Fainu
12. Sione Fainu
13. Alex Twal
INTERCHANGE:
14. Latu Fainu
15. Alex Seyfarth
16. Fonua Pole
17. Tony Sukkar
18. Tino Tavana
19. Charlie Murray
