Round 26! How quickly has the season gone for Wests Tigers players and fans.
Sadly the business end of the NRL season will have to take its course without the team many good judges had tipped to comfortably make the eight.
What must be really annoying for coach Jason Taylor and his squad is that if they beat St George this Saturday night at ANZ Stadium the Tigers will finish just two miserable wins short of making the finals.
Yep, just two wins, you fans who vented against JT after the Robbie Farah kerfuffle last week.
Give the man a break, in my humble opinion.
Looking back, some of the losses came in a period of four to six weeks around Origin time when the team was hit with a spate of injuries.
Coupled with the absence of Woods and Farah to Origin duty, a young Tigers outfit showed signs of brilliance but mixed with inconsistency.
Result? Losses which cost the team dearly in the final washup.
Having done 24 of these selection reports I can tell you Taylor desperately tried to avoid selection changes throughout the season.
He has two years left on his contract and I think he will bring success to the Tigers both next year and beyond – if he is allowed to continue to do his job without interference from anyone.
But hopefully the Farah drama is sorted out soon because if he is there next year and playing reserve grade it may be the sort of distraction that can derail the team’s goals.
Either way, I am in no doubt that Jason Taylor is the right man to lead the Tigers to premiership glory.
Today Taylor named his team for the final match of the 2015 season against the St George Illawarra Dragons and there are no changes to the side that defeated the New Zealand Warriors 50-16 last Sunday at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
Both Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra Dragons will be wearing #PurpleOurWorld socks to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer during this weekend’s game.
The club will spread the message throughout the week leading into Saturday’s match, with pancreatic cancer the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in Western societies.
In other news, Wests Tigers’ Holden Cup side secured a place in the finals with a 16-all draw with the Warriors last week.
The Brett Kimmorley coached side currently sit in sixth-position and play the fourteenth placed Dragons in their final match of the regular season.
The club’s NSW Cup team played their last game of the season last Friday against the Bulldogs, going down 36-20 at Belmore Sports Ground.
Wests Tigers NRL – Round 26 v Dragons:
1. James Tedesco
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Kevin Naiqama
4. Tim Simona
5. Pat Richards
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Aaron Woods
9. Robbie Farah (C)
10. Sauaso Sue
11. Curtis Sironen
12. Chris Lawrence
13. Martin Taupau
Interchange:
14. Kyle Lovett
15. Keith Galloway
16. Ava Seumanufagai
17. Dene Halatau
18. Manaia Cherrington
