DeeGan
01-10-05, 12:29 PM
This article is a good read from the Australian:
Pressure on favourites
By Dan Koch
October 1, 2005
DESPITE the best efforts of their wily old coach Tim Sheens, Wests Tigers will enter tomorrow night's decider a clear favourite with fans, bookies and league experts alike.
The Tigers can no longer bank on their opponents being burdened by the weight of expectation - as was the case in their playoff matches against the Cowboys, Broncos and Dragons, which the Tigers have won by an aggregate score of 104-24.
It is a new situation for the competition's young guns and the inherent pressure of that expectation looms as the X-factor in the seemingly endless pre-match analysis.
"They're certainly the favourites and deservedly so," Cowboys halfback Brett Firman said. "They beat us 50-6 last time we played them and they have been on fire the last few weeks.
"I think people accept now that they are a very good football team and they are expected to win on Sunday night. It's a bit different than in the past when people have been waiting for them to fall. It is different going into games you are expected to win."
Former Brisbane, Queensland and Australia captain Gorden Tallis supported Firman's view, saying the Tigers were in a new situation and could not afford to let the pressure affect the way they approach and play the game.
"The reward at the end of the game is huge but neither side can afford to change their style of play just because it is a grand final," Tallis said.
"They (the Tigers) have to play their natural game ... play the game that got them to the grand final in the first place. That is, using the football and chancing their arm. The Cowboys are in the same boat.
"If they start thinking about what's at stake and start getting a bit conservative and playing a different game to what has got them to the grand final then they will start having problems."
Having spent five years in North Queensland, Sheens knows a thing or two about playing the underdog card. He has taken every opportunity in the past month to talk down his team's chances and kept the pressure on the opposition.
Every win can be improved upon and every opposition is bigger, more experienced and better credentialled than his band of "has-beens' and "will-bes'. And his pupils have paid close attention.
"I don't know about being red-hot favourites," classy hooker Robbie Farah said.
"They've got a heap of representative players and we don't have any. All we are trying to do is work on getting our own game right. We can't afford to worry about anything else."
Hooker Farah is one of the Tigers' four key men, providing the direction and variety which allows star halves Benji Marshall and Scott Prince to go to work. And waiting outside them is cagey fullback Brett Hodgson.
Farah's battle with the Cowboys' promising rake Aaron Payne is just one of the many enticing match-ups in a battle Tallis believes will mark a stylistic change in the code.
According to Tallis, who is now a member on the NRL board, both teams play a similar brand of quick, skilful attacking football which has proven too much for other lumbering, power-based sides to cope with.
"If you go through man-for-man, they both match up pretty evenly," Tallis said. "Both teams are very similar in their make-up and also in their tactics.
"The fact that they are playing off in the grand final probably means their style of using smaller, quicker blokes who can all use the football and can all get around the park reasonably well, is the way the game is heading.
"NSW used similar tactics in the State of Origin this year and I think you will see more and more sides using this style next year."
The similarities Tallis speaks of begin at fullback. The diminutive Brett Hodgson and Matt Bowen are both genuine match-winners. They are their respective team's best support players, but also have the ability to fill in at first or second receiver should their halves need a break or be caught out of position.
All four wingers have outstanding pace and great hands. At 190cm, Tigers' flyer Pat Richards is the odd man out next to team-mate Daniel Fitzhenry and star Cowboys Matt Sing and Ty Williams, who are all under 184cm.
Both pair of centres are rock solid, reliable contributors noted mainly for powerful defence. North Queensland's Josh Hannay and Paul Bowman have much more experience in big games, having been part of several Origin series with Queensland. But the Tigers' New Zealand three-quarter Paul Whatuira is the only one of the centres to have contested (and won) a grand final (in 2003 with Penrith).
"I suppose neither of us are that flashy, but I think we all work pretty well with our wingers in attack and defence," Hannay said.
"I know on our side we have enough blokes in our backline who can create things for the rest of us. It is up to us to work off them. I guess the Tigers' guys are the same. There aren't any frills about them but they are good support players. They are pretty quick and they work really hard, especially on kick-chase."
In the halves Scott Prince and Benji Marshall hold the key to the Tigers' fortunes, while Johnathan Thurston, with support from the versatile Justin Smith and former Rooster Brett Firman, will be North Queensland's attacking lynchpins.
Thurston, the Dally M player of the year, has had a stellar season and after a below-par game against the Tigers three weeks ago will be keen to make amends. He was sensational against the Eels last Sunday.
While Marshall gets most of the plaudits, the Cowboys believe Prince is the more important cog. His direction, creativity and kicking game allow Marshall to float in and out of the game and more often than not, his injection spells trouble for the opposition.
"Prince has just been sensational for the Tigers this year," Firman said. "He handles the ball more than anyone else in the team and just frees up Benji to chime in whenever he sees half a chance.
"Marshall is a sensational ball-runner but Prince is the one who sets up his outside men and sets up field position with his kicking. His kicking against Parramatta was unbelievable and we will need to shut down his time and space as much as we can."
Tallis pointed to the work of the Cowboys' backrow against up-and-coming Eels halfback Tim Smith as the sort of thing the Tigers' playmakers can expect on Sunday night.
Time and again on Sunday, North Queensland's hard-hitting pair, Luke O'Donnell and Steve Southern, raced up to put pressure on the 20-year-old Eel.
"The Cowboys can't give Princey or Benji room; if they do they can say goodbye," Tallis said.
"But we saw last week how effective it can be when you put pressure on the smaller, younger guys. They put him on the ground every time he came through or put in a kick.
"It doesn't have to be dirty or late, but if they just get there and take away their time and space it will really test them. I don't think they have been physically challenged like that very often."
Like the backs, the forwards have a remarkably similar look to them. The two second rows provide a hardworking edge which complements creative lock forwards Travis Norton and Dene Halatau.
Halatau produced the match of his career in the preliminary final win over the Dragons and his work out of dummy-half, particularly close to the line, will need to be monitored.
Finally, in the front row a couple of old stagers - Paul Rauhihi and John Skandalis - partner improving youngsters Shane Tronc and Anthony Laffranchi. They are not superstars, just fit in perfectly with the rest of the team by doing their job.
"It's going to be a sensational grand final," Tallis said.
"There are a lot of variables but if they both play the way they have been playing it will be one of the best grand finals we have seen in years.
"Every few years you get something new that changes the game a bit. The Broncos brought in the power game in the late '90s and 2000. The Roosters and Bulldogs took the defence to a new level after that. Now you have these two teams using different tactics again.
"It is a dream match-up for the fans. I can't wait."
The Australian
Pressure on favourites
By Dan Koch
October 1, 2005
DESPITE the best efforts of their wily old coach Tim Sheens, Wests Tigers will enter tomorrow night's decider a clear favourite with fans, bookies and league experts alike.
The Tigers can no longer bank on their opponents being burdened by the weight of expectation - as was the case in their playoff matches against the Cowboys, Broncos and Dragons, which the Tigers have won by an aggregate score of 104-24.
It is a new situation for the competition's young guns and the inherent pressure of that expectation looms as the X-factor in the seemingly endless pre-match analysis.
"They're certainly the favourites and deservedly so," Cowboys halfback Brett Firman said. "They beat us 50-6 last time we played them and they have been on fire the last few weeks.
"I think people accept now that they are a very good football team and they are expected to win on Sunday night. It's a bit different than in the past when people have been waiting for them to fall. It is different going into games you are expected to win."
Former Brisbane, Queensland and Australia captain Gorden Tallis supported Firman's view, saying the Tigers were in a new situation and could not afford to let the pressure affect the way they approach and play the game.
"The reward at the end of the game is huge but neither side can afford to change their style of play just because it is a grand final," Tallis said.
"They (the Tigers) have to play their natural game ... play the game that got them to the grand final in the first place. That is, using the football and chancing their arm. The Cowboys are in the same boat.
"If they start thinking about what's at stake and start getting a bit conservative and playing a different game to what has got them to the grand final then they will start having problems."
Having spent five years in North Queensland, Sheens knows a thing or two about playing the underdog card. He has taken every opportunity in the past month to talk down his team's chances and kept the pressure on the opposition.
Every win can be improved upon and every opposition is bigger, more experienced and better credentialled than his band of "has-beens' and "will-bes'. And his pupils have paid close attention.
"I don't know about being red-hot favourites," classy hooker Robbie Farah said.
"They've got a heap of representative players and we don't have any. All we are trying to do is work on getting our own game right. We can't afford to worry about anything else."
Hooker Farah is one of the Tigers' four key men, providing the direction and variety which allows star halves Benji Marshall and Scott Prince to go to work. And waiting outside them is cagey fullback Brett Hodgson.
Farah's battle with the Cowboys' promising rake Aaron Payne is just one of the many enticing match-ups in a battle Tallis believes will mark a stylistic change in the code.
According to Tallis, who is now a member on the NRL board, both teams play a similar brand of quick, skilful attacking football which has proven too much for other lumbering, power-based sides to cope with.
"If you go through man-for-man, they both match up pretty evenly," Tallis said. "Both teams are very similar in their make-up and also in their tactics.
"The fact that they are playing off in the grand final probably means their style of using smaller, quicker blokes who can all use the football and can all get around the park reasonably well, is the way the game is heading.
"NSW used similar tactics in the State of Origin this year and I think you will see more and more sides using this style next year."
The similarities Tallis speaks of begin at fullback. The diminutive Brett Hodgson and Matt Bowen are both genuine match-winners. They are their respective team's best support players, but also have the ability to fill in at first or second receiver should their halves need a break or be caught out of position.
All four wingers have outstanding pace and great hands. At 190cm, Tigers' flyer Pat Richards is the odd man out next to team-mate Daniel Fitzhenry and star Cowboys Matt Sing and Ty Williams, who are all under 184cm.
Both pair of centres are rock solid, reliable contributors noted mainly for powerful defence. North Queensland's Josh Hannay and Paul Bowman have much more experience in big games, having been part of several Origin series with Queensland. But the Tigers' New Zealand three-quarter Paul Whatuira is the only one of the centres to have contested (and won) a grand final (in 2003 with Penrith).
"I suppose neither of us are that flashy, but I think we all work pretty well with our wingers in attack and defence," Hannay said.
"I know on our side we have enough blokes in our backline who can create things for the rest of us. It is up to us to work off them. I guess the Tigers' guys are the same. There aren't any frills about them but they are good support players. They are pretty quick and they work really hard, especially on kick-chase."
In the halves Scott Prince and Benji Marshall hold the key to the Tigers' fortunes, while Johnathan Thurston, with support from the versatile Justin Smith and former Rooster Brett Firman, will be North Queensland's attacking lynchpins.
Thurston, the Dally M player of the year, has had a stellar season and after a below-par game against the Tigers three weeks ago will be keen to make amends. He was sensational against the Eels last Sunday.
While Marshall gets most of the plaudits, the Cowboys believe Prince is the more important cog. His direction, creativity and kicking game allow Marshall to float in and out of the game and more often than not, his injection spells trouble for the opposition.
"Prince has just been sensational for the Tigers this year," Firman said. "He handles the ball more than anyone else in the team and just frees up Benji to chime in whenever he sees half a chance.
"Marshall is a sensational ball-runner but Prince is the one who sets up his outside men and sets up field position with his kicking. His kicking against Parramatta was unbelievable and we will need to shut down his time and space as much as we can."
Tallis pointed to the work of the Cowboys' backrow against up-and-coming Eels halfback Tim Smith as the sort of thing the Tigers' playmakers can expect on Sunday night.
Time and again on Sunday, North Queensland's hard-hitting pair, Luke O'Donnell and Steve Southern, raced up to put pressure on the 20-year-old Eel.
"The Cowboys can't give Princey or Benji room; if they do they can say goodbye," Tallis said.
"But we saw last week how effective it can be when you put pressure on the smaller, younger guys. They put him on the ground every time he came through or put in a kick.
"It doesn't have to be dirty or late, but if they just get there and take away their time and space it will really test them. I don't think they have been physically challenged like that very often."
Like the backs, the forwards have a remarkably similar look to them. The two second rows provide a hardworking edge which complements creative lock forwards Travis Norton and Dene Halatau.
Halatau produced the match of his career in the preliminary final win over the Dragons and his work out of dummy-half, particularly close to the line, will need to be monitored.
Finally, in the front row a couple of old stagers - Paul Rauhihi and John Skandalis - partner improving youngsters Shane Tronc and Anthony Laffranchi. They are not superstars, just fit in perfectly with the rest of the team by doing their job.
"It's going to be a sensational grand final," Tallis said.
"There are a lot of variables but if they both play the way they have been playing it will be one of the best grand finals we have seen in years.
"Every few years you get something new that changes the game a bit. The Broncos brought in the power game in the late '90s and 2000. The Roosters and Bulldogs took the defence to a new level after that. Now you have these two teams using different tactics again.
"It is a dream match-up for the fans. I can't wait."
The Australian