‘They’ve got the team’: Brasher confident tide will turn for Tigers
Former Tigers legend Tim Brasher is asking fans to stick with the club this season, believing that the current squad is not far from achieving their first win of the season.
A new-look Wests Tigers squad, which includes skipper Api Koroisau, England international John Bateman, and Isaiah Papali’i this year, has struggled to gel as a team and is 0-5 to start the season.
However, Brasher – who played 185 games for Balmain between 1989 and 1997 – said he thought the early signs pointed to the side being able to turn the corner soon.
“Well, number one, they can’t keep losing,” Brasher said.
“They’ve got too many good players there and they’ve got some great coaches.
“They’ve got the team, I’ve got belief.
“I think they’re showing signs, they’ve just got to put it together on the one day and that’s sometimes hard with a new team that you’ve put together, but I believe in the boys that are there.”
Speaking to NRL.com as a club representative at the recent Magic Round introduction in Brisbane, Brasher expressed confidence in the coaching team, which is led by Tim Sheens and assisted by Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah.
“I was coached by Tim Sheens and I found him to be one of my better coaches,” Brasher told ESPN.
“Obviously, things aren’t exactly gelling at the moment, and that happens… and (with) three coaches, it’s definitely a lot simpler not to gel (early)… Some players may go one way or another, but if they can have them all on the same page and believing in the same thing, they will undoubtedly win.”
Brasher stated that if the performing group’s harmony was in order, it would be more an issue of working on combinations to make moves stick.
The starting lineup for tomorrow’s game has been reshuffled, with players returning to the bench. Adam Doueihi has been re-inserted at five-eighth, with Charlie Staines at fullback. Brent Naden, who has been out with an illness, is also expected to return at center, and forward Joe Ofahengaue has been added to the bench.
“It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong,” Brasher added.
“Throughout my career, whenever teams played as one, we played a lot better, whereas when we had a couple of little factions where guys didn’t get on, that’s when things can fall apart on the field because the cohesion isn’t there.”
“But if it isn’t that, then it’s definitely just a few pairings and growing used to each other… They’ve taken a break, so you can
claim that they had an offseason to assemble those combinations.
“But I have faith in the coaches who are there; they’ll figure out what’s wrong and put the right players in the right positions.”
“I think that they’ve done a little bit of shuffling around, which I think is for the best and hopefully moving forward, they’ll win some games.”
Last year, the Tigers had a similar 0-5 start but were able to score their first victory over the Eels in the matching match.
While fans are hoping for a sunny Easter Monday,
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