Round 10: MAGIC ROUND: Wests Tigers v Newcastle preview
Yo-yoing teams looking for magic consistency at Suncorp
From the moment the Wests Tigers toughed out a gritty, resilient 16-8 win over a top 8 side in the Dragons 2 weeks ago, I was certain that they'd lose to the Titans in the next round. Certain of it. Flash forward to this week and after a straight up terrible performance in front of their home crowd, disguised as being a close game due to some late tries that had no bearing on the result, I and the majority of Rugby League pundits have been vindicated. The Tigers are either consistently poor or will put in a solid performance that increases optimism in their long-suffering fans, only to let them down with performances like we saw on the weekend. So much like clockwork is this process that Tigers fans refuse to get their hopes up anymore, and I don't blame them.
The Newcastle Knights broke the 2nd longest existing finals drought in the NRL last year, and in doing so renewed hope that Adam O'Brien is the right man to lead them out of this eternal rebuilding phase. The Knights have been up and down to say the least in 2021, losing convincingly to the Panthers and Roosters before coming back from a 16-point half time deficit to the struggling Raiders last week.
It was clear that veteran halfback Blake Green was not up to the task in those two heavy defeats, and last week his replacement Phoenix Crossland looked promising and scored the try in the 41st minute that got the comeback going.
In round 3, the Knights became the first of just two victories for the Tigers in 2021, with David Nofoaluma scoring the match winner in the 72nd minute. The Knights will be keen to make amends for that showing, which hopefully is in their minds as a reminder not to be complacent. In team news, Michael Maguire has made a raft of unexpected and frankly unwarranted changes that reek of desperation. Adam Doueihi, who was by far Wests' best player last week and has been one of the few rays of light coming from the Tigers' 2021 season so far, has been moved away from five-eighth and into the centres in a direct swap for Moses Mbye. Rookie winger Zac Cini has been dropped for Tommy Talau, while rookie hooker Jake Simpkin has also fallen victim to Madge's axe, dropping to the reserves for Jacob Liddle, who starts his first match at hooker since Round 5. Jock Madden comes onto the bench to make his first-grade debut, with rookie forward Stefano Utoikamanu dropped for Shawn Blore.
Amongst all the changes is one significant piece of non-action, with struggling half Luke Brooks retaining his spot as starting halfback. The players dropped for the Tigers are all in their first year of first grade, which seems to be in direct contrast to the words of Maguire in the post-match press conference last week, stating that he felt "the senior players really let us down."
It is a lot less chaotic for the Knights, with Adam O'Brien naming an unchanged 17 from the team that beat the Raiders last week.
Last meeting: Round 3 2021 - Knights 20 Wests Tigers 24
Who to watch: Although he has been moved away from his preferred position of centre, in my opinion to the detriment of the team, it will still be good to watch Adam Doueihi play footy on Friday night. Those watching the Tigers v Titans last Saturday will tell you that Doueihi seemed to be among the only players putting in for the joint venture, and he had the stat line to back it up, with 5 tackle busts, 2 try assists, 2-line break assist and a try of his own. Doueihi faces a different sort of challenge on Friday, being tasked with defending against the strong and explosive Bradman Best. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact he can have in the traditionally less involved position.
For mine, Connor Watson has been among the top 2 or 3 players for the Knights so far this season. After joining from the Roosters in 2018, Watson has had an injury riddled few years for Newcastle where he's played just 41 of a possible 73 games. This year, touch wood, he has had a lot more luck and played every game and is proving himself to be extremely valuable as a smaller, ball playing lock. He knows when to run, amassing 99 metres off just 10 runs last week, while also adding astute attacking skill, identifying last week a gap in the Raiders defensive line and throwing a sublime pass to set up Phoenix Crossland. He is someone who has previously played every spine position at first grade level, and while he has always been impressive, it is really pleasing to see him play well enough to lock down a role in the Knights best 17. He is off contract at the end of the year and there are a few clubs that could do worse than add him to their roster.
The favourite: The Knights are favoured by 5 and a half points over the Tigers.
My tip: I was actually leaning towards the Tigers keeping the trend of inconsistency going in this one, however after Maguire named that team list, I simply can't do it. Newcastle by 10.
