2022 Preview: Wests Tigers

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We reach the end of our 2022 NRL club preview series today, with Andrew Ferguson assessing how the Wests Tigers might fare this year.

If you missed any of our club previews, you can sweep through our news section - or wait til the Round 1 NRL issue of The Front Row is released during the week to read them all in one week.

After yet another season in the finals wilderness the Wests Tigers have decided to embark on a self-proclaimed 'new era' in order to try and turn around their woeful recent history.

They have thus decided that in order to move forward into a bold new era, they need to start by going back to a former coach, bringing back Tim Sheens as director of football.

The club has also seemingly recognised that they have an issue with the creativity coming from their half Luke Brooks, hence the acquisition of English Test half Jackson Hastings. However, the Tigers have also publicly stated that they have zero intention of relinquishing Brooks.

The clubs most creative player and best attacking weapon, Adam Doueihi, is then forced out of the halves, where he produced some of his best performances at the club. So it appeared that he will be moved to centre, a position that the Tigers had freed up when they released Joey Leilua, before they went and secured the services of British Test centre Oliver Gildart and talented Knights outside back Starford To'a.

The club's biggest concern since they stopped appearing in the finals has been defence and it remains to be seen if the club has made any progress in this department, but is vitally important to their success on the field that they do.

It's not all gloom for the Tigers, they have a reasonable squad and a solid enough forward pack. Their fullback Daine Laurie is one of the best custodians in the game and still has time and further improvement to come, while young prop Stefano Utoikamanu is an immense wrecking ball in the middle.

The club has cleared out a lot of the highly paid, under-performing members in their roster, giving them hope moving forward.

Why they'll win it

The element of surprise. The Tigers are on nobody's radar. They do have a relatively young yet still experienced enough squad. A number of solid attacking options across the park, in the middle and on both edges. No one is expecting the side that hasn't played finals football in a decade, to all of a sudden appear in the top 8 - much like 2005.

If the spine can get settled and stay intact for the bulk of the season, then anything truly is possible for the Tigers. Brooks does have plenty of skill, but he lacks the ability to call plays and direct his team around the field, an issue that Hastings and Doueihi both rectify. With Leilua on the same edge  as Laurie and Doueihi on the other side with options around him (assuming he plays at centre), the Tigers have pointscoring potential on both sides of the park.

Why they won't

Defence. 7 of the last 10 seasons has seen the Tigers rank in the bottom 5 for defence and in all bar one year from the last decade, the Tigers have been ranked in the bottom 8 for defence. They've ranked worst once and second worst 3 times.

The club's defensive structure is designed to be as basic as possible, but it makes the same mistakes time and again, essentially getting picked apart by opposition sides running what should be stock plays that are easy enough to deny.

The Tigers recruitment has largely focussed on improving their attack, so the defence issues of past seasons may well still exist in 2022.

Wests Tigers draw - how their schedule stacks up

The Tigers have the hardest start to the season of any club, as they will take on the Melbourne Storm, a side who have not lost their opening game since 2004 and not lost a Round 1 game since 2001. They then take on the Knights, Warriors, Titans and Sharks before a run of games against sides they have struggled against in recent times: Parramatta, Souths, Dragons, Manly.

In Round 10 the Tigers come up against the Cowboys, followed by a clash with the Bulldogs, before a return game against Souths and then they have a bye.

Their run home after the bye is a mixture of games against sides they should be competitive against and teams that are expected to be finalists, making it hard for them to build momentum and form.

Given the Tigers are tipped to be one of the struggling sides in 2022, their draw is naturally tough. They do only come up against Melbourne, Penrith and the Roosters once each, which works in their favour.

Key players

Jackson Hastings will have the responsibility of running the Tigers attacking plays and essentially steering the side around the field. His form and health are paramount to the Tigers chances of onfield success.

Adam Doueihi will miss a large chunk of the first half of the season as he recovers from an injury, but he will be one of the chief attacking weapons once he returns to the field.

Stefano Utoikamanu played well last year, earning a call up to the Blues squad as 18th man for the third Origin. After that experience, he returned to the Tigers and played out of his skin. If he can build on that form in 2022, he will be an absolute beast through the middle and will be the Tigers spearhead in the forward pack.

Rookies to watch

Jake Simpkin is a very talented young hooker and now the back-up rake for Jacob Liddle. If Liddle's injury woes return in 2022, Simpkin will get a chance to try and take ownership of the role and he has the capability to do just that.

Starford To'a has now had 3 seasons in the NRL yet is still just 21 years old. He's a powerfully built centre with plenty of pace and a strong line running game. He will get game time in 2022 with the injury to Doueihi and could be very hard to drop from the side.

Player movements

Inbound: Jackson Hastings, Oliver Gildart (Wigan), Tyrone Peachey (Gold Coast), Junior Tupou (Rugby Union), Starford To'a (Newcastle)

Outbound: Moses Mbye (St.George-Illawarra), Billy Walters (Brisbane), Joey Leilua (released), Michael Chee Kam (South Sydney), Russell Packer (retired), Tom Amone, Zac Cini (released)

Best 17

1. Daine Laurie
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Oliver Gildart
4. Adam Doueihi
5. Ken Maumalo
6. Jackson Hastings
7. Luke Brooks
8. James Tamou
9. Jacob Liddle
10. Stefano Utoikamanu
11. Tyrone Peachey
12. Luciano Leilua
13. Alex Twal

14. Luke Garner
15. Joe Ofahengaue
16. Thomas Mikaele
17. Starford To'a

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