You gotta keep the faith – going on his approach to team selections, that may be Jason Taylor’s mantra.
Hopefully the Wests Tigers players will return the favour by beating South Sydney this Thursday to record the club’s first win in seven rounds.
Most pundits would be surprised that the young mentor hasn’t succumbed to the pressure to make some personnel changes after six defeats on the trot – the last one a 54 point hiding at the hands of the Canberra Raiders.
Taylor obviously believes the players are putting in the effort and not getting any reward.
Still, it’s his job on the line and not that of the thousands of we armchair critics, some of whom called for his head after the bloodbath in the national capital.
We were not one of them; the view around here is that dropping a couple of players would have sent a big message to the rest of the playing group that they haven’t got a mortgage on their positions.
Not there are no changes to the team that will line up against South Sydney for the Round 9 encounter at ANZ Stadium this Thursday, April 28.
But they’re all injury or suspension related.
After serving a three game suspension for a dangerous contact charge, Tim Simona returns to the line-up in place of Nathan Milone at left centre.
Tim Grant (hamstring), Dene Halatau (thumb) and Kevin Naiqama (concussion) have been named but are hoping to overcome injuries suffered in the loss to Canberra.
Young forward JJ Felise retains his place on the bench in what will be his third NRL appearance of the season, with the Logan Brothers junior still eligible for Holden Cup selection.
• Following on from an impressive 40-18 victory over Wentworthville, Wests Tigers’ Intrust Super Premiership side travel to Moss Vale Oval this weekend to face North Sydney as part of the NSWRL Country Round.
• In Holden Cup, Wests Tigers have moved to second place on the ladder after a comfortable victory over Canberra last week and will look to continue an impressive run of form against the eighth-placed Rabbitohs.
Wests Tigers NRL – Round 9 v Rabbitohs:
1. James Tedesco
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Tim Simona
4. Kevin Naiqama
5. Jordan Rankin
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Ava Seumanufagai
9. Robbie Farah
10. Tim Grant
11. Curtis Sironen
12. Chris Lawrence (C)
13. Sauaso Sue
Interchange:
14. Josh Aloiai
15. Dene Halatau (C)
16. Kyle Lovett
17. JJ Felise
UNAVAILABLE:
Matt Ballin (knee – Round 10 approx.)
Aaron Woods (ankle – Round 10-12)
Jack Buchanan (foot – Round 10-11)
Bayley Sironen (ankle – Round 11-13 approx
