Tigers set for toughest draw in 2014 competition?

NRL.com yesterday published an article below which ranks all 16 clubs draws for the upcoming 2014 season.

CLICK LINK FOR ARTICLE -  http://www.nrl.com/how-tough-is-your-teams-draw/tabid/10874/newsid/75666/default.aspx


It determines the toughness of a side's draw by ranking the sides they play over the course of a season. Essentially it comes down to which team's a side may play twice in that season. The more top 8 sides you play twice in a season, the higher your ranking. Below are the 2014 numbers.


2014 draw difficulty (hardest to easiest)
1 – Wests Tigers (difficulty score of 225, six repeat games against top-eight teams)
2 – Eels (223, six)
3 – Broncos (220, six)
4 – Dragons (218, four)
5 – Sea Eagles (208, six)
=6 – Bulldogs (204, four)
=6 – Raiders (204, four)
8 – Roosters (201, six)
9 – Knights (200, four)
10 – Storm (199, four)
11 – Panthers (198, four)
12 – Cowboys (197, four)
13 – Titans (193, three)
14 – Rabbitohs (192, four)
=15 – Sharks (191, four)
=15 – Warriors (191, three)


2013 draw difficulty1 - Warriors (224, five)
2 - Raiders (222, six)
3 - Tigers (213, five)
=4 - Eels (212, four)
=4 - Rabbitohs (212, six)
6 - Bulldogs (211, six)
7 - Titans (208, five)
=8 - Dragons (201, four)
=8 - Cowboys (201, four)
10 - Sea Eagles (200, four)
11 - Knights (199, four)
12 - Storm (196, four)
13 - Broncos (195, four)
14 - Roosters (192, four)
15 - Sharks (190, four)
16 - Panthers (188, three)

For Wests Tigers the news is daunting. We are ranked the highest in the league with 6 repeat fixtures against top 8 sides from 2014, Amongst them Souths, Manly and the Roosters. As mentioned yesterday, the month of August appears the worst for the club, just before the finals hit.

2014 shapes as a tough season for Wests Tigers. The draw alone has its challenges. A lot will rest on how some of our younger players respond in their second full season. The likes of Robbie Farah, Aaron Woods, Keith Galloway, Liam Fulton, Braith Anasta and Adam Blair will need a supporting cast if we're to succeed in 2014. The hope has to be that the likes of David Nofoaluma, James Tedesco, Tim Simona and Sauaso Sue can continue to develop at the rate of last season. I don't believe we can rely on the more structured halves set up we will inherit with Luke Brooks and Anasta. Sure, there will be benefits in having a more structured and predictable halves pairing (minus Benji). That Dynamic edge though that Marshall provided will hurt.

It would be fair to suggest though that Tigers, along with the Eels and Dragons face massive challenges in 2014 in order to succeed. It's not impossible though.