The 2014 NRL draw released today made for decent reading for Wests Tigers fans. Three scheduled Sunday afternoon fixtures at Leichhardt Oval was clearly the highlight. Not one fixture last season was scheduled for the timeslot, bewildering many fans and players alike. Outside of this, the other potential advantage appears to be match ups with Souths, Brisbane and Penrith where origin players will be missing. The Tigers will also play a Manly side two days after an Origin fixture.
Thankfully, so far the Tigers have avoided the usual raft of Monday Night Football fixtures. Only one has been scheduled. April 24 v Eels. This is a win for the fans. Most cannot stand the grind of waiting till Monday night.
Now for the negatives. The big one appears to be the month of August. At a crucial point of the season the Tigers will have face up to a horror stretch which sees them at home to both Melboune and the Roosters, whilst travelling to face the Cowboys, Bulldogs and Raiders. This month looms as a black cloud over their season. This could in all reality be where the season slips away. The good news to this is that the horror stretch may allow our young squad to further develop in the rounds before. I'd rather face this stretch in August than in March.
All in all though, I think the draw has played out pretty well for the club. We should have every chance of heading in the right direction this season. Can we make the 8? Let's just see how it goes..........
No comments:
Post a Comment