{"id":125453,"date":"2021-09-07T22:14:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T22:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=125453"},"modified":"2021-09-07T22:58:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T22:58:40","slug":"question-hangs-over-tigers-great-white-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=125453","title":{"rendered":"Question hangs over Tigers' 'great white hope'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tigers<\/a> fans tired of coming ninth year after year wanted change in 2021 – and they got it – but not the kind of change they were hoping for.<\/p>\n

Instead of just missing the finals yet again, the Tigers had a disastrous year<\/a>, culminating in the record last-round thrashing from wooden spooners Canterbury<\/a> that consigned them to 13th spot.<\/p>\n

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READ MORE: <\/strong>Sensational calls for relocation hit embattled Wests Tigers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

That woeful finale confirmed what many had suspected all season – that there is a rift between the playing group and coach Michael Maguire<\/a> and club management.<\/p>\n

Poor recruitment for the past several years, the longest finals drought of any club in the NRL and the ill-fated behind-the-scenes documentary series on the team combined to make the Tigers something of a standing joke in the NRL in 2021.<\/p>\n

The club is currently undergoing an internal review – and the results should be fascinating.<\/p>\n

\"Adam<\/p>\n

Amidst the ruins, there were some positives. Adam Doueihi came of age and proved himself a team leader – but will miss at least half of next year through injury. Daine Laurie was a fine gain from Penrith before he too fell to injury.<\/p>\n

Stefano Utoikamanu was a real find up front and should be the club's forward leader in years to come.<\/p>\n

The Tigers have already culled some dead wood but have some big calls to make in coming weeks – especially on Maguire and enigmatic halfback Luke Brooks.<\/p>\n

Best player: Doueihi proved a jack-of-all-trades, filling in at just about every backline position and doing a good job. An on-field talker and deep thinker on the game, he should captain the Tigers when he returns from injury.<\/p>\n

\"Wigan<\/p>\n

Biggest disappointment: Joey Leilua has always had the talent but a hot head, poor discipline and fitness issues made him a liability in 2021. Despite his obvious ability, it was the only call to make to cut him loose for next season.<\/p>\n

Key signing: Jackson Hastings<\/a> shapes as the Tigers' great white hope after being a standout player in Super League for the past couple of seasons. But whether he can lift this Tigers outfit to finals football remains to be seen – it's a tall order given the events of 2021.<\/p>\n

Gains: Jackson Hastings (Wigan), Oliver Gildart (Wigan)<\/p>\n

Losses: Moses Mbye (Dragons), Billy Walters (Broncos), Russell Packer (retired), Joey Leilua (released), Michael Chee Kam (released).<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tigers fans tired of coming ninth year after year wanted change in 2021 – and they got it – but not the kind of change […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125453"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125455,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125453\/revisions\/125455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}