After their emphatic 34-6 victory over the Warriors on Sunday night, a few people were scratching their heads about the Wests Tigers – on both sides of the spectrum.
Some die hard fans celebrated like it was 2005 – forgetting that premierships have never been won after two rounds of rugby league.
At the other end of the reaction spectrum were the naysayers, those who would have tipped the Wests Tigers to have another ordinary season.
But they too committed the same error as the die hard fans – they forgot it was just round two.
There really wasn’t that much to get excited about, and new coach Michael Maguire said as much at his post match conference at Campbelltown.
But there were some clear signs in those first two games that the new bus driver of the Wests Tigers was bringing in a different road map to success.
The two areas where the team seems to have made a change is in the number of penalties it concedes and turnovers.
Both those stats were on the low side for both games, and while there’s still room for improvement, you couldn’t help thinking that at different stages the Wests Tigers resembled the Melbourne Storm style.
We all know which coaching assembly line “Madge’’ came from before his success at Souths
Yes, Maguire was an assistant to the man who is surely on the way to becoming the greatest coach of all time, Craig Bellamy.
It’s early days yet, but my prediction is that the new mentor at Wests Tigers is slowly but surely imitating the successful Storm formula.
On Sunday at 4pm the fans will get to see if there is further progress in this project when the Wests Tigers host the Bulldogs at Campbelltown Stadium in round three.
The Dogs are in the wars after two losses in season 2019, while Maguire has named an unchanged side off the back of two consecutive wins.
Skipper Moses Mbye is returning to the number one jersey after his late inclusion last weekend.
His inclusion sees Corey Thompson shift to the left wing outside Robert Jennings, while Kiwi international Esan Marsters partners Mahe Fonua on the right edge.
David Nofoaluma (shoulder) has not been named as he continues his rehabilitation with the Campbelltown junior expected to be available for selection in round 4.
Russell Packer, Thomas Mikaele, Josh Aloiai and Michael Chee Kam all retain their spots on the bench after another impressive showing against the Warriors, with Paul Momirovski, Josh Reynolds, Matt Eisenhuth and Chris McQueen named as reserves.
Sunday’s game will see a triple header of rugby league action between Wests Tigers and the Bulldogs at Campbelltown with Jersey Flegg kicking off at 12 noon followed by Canterbury Cup at 1:55pm and NRL at 4:05pm.
The Bulldogs have not played at Campbelltown since 2011.
Wests Tigers will look to make it three straight wins at Campbelltown for the first time since 2012.
Wests Tigers NRL team v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
1. Moses Mbye (captain)
2. Mahe Fonua
3. Robert Jennings
4. Esan Marsters
5. Corey Thompson
6. Benji Marshall
7. Luke Brooks
8. Ben Matulino
9. Robbie Farah
10. Alex Twal
11. Ryan Matterson
12. Luke Garner
13. Elijah Taylor
Interchange:
14. Russell Packer
15. Thomas Mikaele
16. Josh Aloiai
17. Michael Chee Kam
Reserves:
18. Paul Momirovski
19. Josh Reynolds
20. Matt Eisenhuth
21. Chris McQueen
