NRL’s West Tigers coach Tim Sheens experiences ‘deja-vu’ off the back of loss to Newcastle Knights
After a narrow loss to Newcastle Knights (12-14), West Tigers manager Tim Sheens revealed he had experienced ‘déjà vu’ as the club missed another opportunity to start their season.
The Tigers’ disappointing round one performance against the Gold Coast Titans was followed by another missed opportunity on Sunday.
That night, Sheen’s men had plenty of chances to topple the undermanned Knights, who lost four of their key players to injuries and the scapegoat, including Kalyn Ponga in the opening minutes.
As with their loss to the Titans, the Tigers were unable to generate effective attacking thrusts, resulting in limited opportunities to score and ultimately win the game.
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Sheen said after the game that the club did the right things during the week but seemed unable to carry that over to the weekend.
“A bit of deja vu from last week,” Sheens said.
“It was very similar. We started well, then gave up on the easy try and hunted all day.
“We had a couple of difficult calls. Again the same as last week. The umpires called us last week to say they made a few decisions wrong.
“I’d be interested to see how AJ doesn’t try the so-called obstruction. I thought the kid did the tackle personally, but we’ll check it out anyway.
“But outside of that deja vu. We’re still not gelling in and around the attacking area.”
Commentator and former player Michael Ennis took aim during coverage of the game, saying the Tigers’ offensive performance was one of the worst in “recent history”.
“One of the Tigers’ most disappointing performances in recent history,” said Ennis.
“Your attack was absolutely devilish.”
Ennis’ opinion was shared by Greg Alexander, who manned the comment box all night.
“You can’t help but be critical of the Tigers,” Alexander said.
“The Tigers were very similar to last week against the Titans.
“They had all the ball early and every time they got down there they either kicked dead their pass was bad. Your execution was bad.
“Their six or seven mistakes were all in attack. That took away any chance they had of scoring more than one try in the first half.”
Unfortunately for the Tigers, they could be without some of their star players including Tommy Talau in the future due to some heavy hitting.
Talau was hit high by Newcastle’s Jackson Hastings with Sheen believing the 22-year-old caused serious damage, with the club confirming a broken nose.
“The couple of guys I’m going to lose next week aren’t really happy about it and neither am I,” Sheens said.
“Tommy has a broken nose so it (Hasting’s hit) was high. And he failed his HIA, so we’re going to lose him next week.
“Do you think I’m happy? NO.”
Sheen may also have to go a few weeks without Jake Simpson, who emerged second best from a clash with Jacob Saifiti.
“The one about Jake was bad. He’s not doing well, so next week we’re going to lose him too. Maybe even a few weeks,” Sheen said.
“It was quite a violent knock. It deserved a farewell and got one. That won’t help us next week if we lose the child.”
The Tigers — along with the Eels and Raiders — remain winless after the first two rounds of the 2023 season.
The West Tigers take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Sunday March 19 at the Belmore Sports Ground.