{"id":26633,"date":"2021-01-24T23:36:07","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T00:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=26633"},"modified":"2021-01-25T04:01:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T04:01:23","slug":"boofhead-problem-for-nrls-big-underachievers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=26633","title":{"rendered":"'Boofhead' problem for NRL's big underachievers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wests Tigers<\/a> fans are getting used to their team underachieving in recent years – will a raft of changes see things improve?<\/p>\n

RECRUITMENT:<\/strong> Coach Michael Maguire has seen the need for a cleanout, getting rid of 11 experienced players. But will the new recruits be any better? Only Joe Ofahengaue (Broncos), James Roberts (Souths) and James Tamou (Panthers) have had much top-grade experience and 2021 shapes as a rebuilding year.<\/p>\n

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STRENGTHS:<\/strong> After blooding plenty of young talent over the past 18 months and adding some good up-and-comers, Maguire has plenty of depth in his squad that should see the Tigers through a long campaign.<\/p>\n

WEAKNESSES:<\/strong> Attack was a problem last year and losing boom hooker Harry Grant won't help in this department. The Tigers averaged the third-fewest metres per carry in the NRL and will need to find more penetration – especially up the middle.<\/p>\n

MAN UNDER PRESSURE:<\/strong> There's no doubting the ability of Joseph Leilua as a dynamic ball runner, but he can also be a boofhead and rival coaches have identified him as a weak link because of his ability to be baited. Needs to cut the crap out of his game and play football – and he'll shine if he does.<\/p>\n

ONE TO WATCH:<\/strong> Leilua's 'little' brother Luciano was one of the most improved players in the comp last year. A giant of a man with good leg speed, he's a genuine game-breaker who should only improve in 2021.<\/p>\n

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WHAT THE BOOKIES SAY:<\/strong> To win comp $41, to make finals $3.68 (via Sportsbet)<\/p>\n

WHAT MOLEY SAYS:<\/strong> On their day, the Tigers have the ability to match and beat any team in the game. Sadly in recent seasons, their day has only come once a month or so – and that pattern looks like repeating this year. Not quite finals ready.<\/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<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wests Tigers fans are getting used to their team underachieving in recent years – will a raft of changes see things improve? RECRUITMENT: Coach Michael […]<\/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\/26633"}],"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=26633"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26635,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26633\/revisions\/26635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}