By The Numbers: Troubled times at the Tigers

It was supposed to be different this year. The club's greatest coach, Tim Sheens - the only one to have won a premiership and the last one to take them to the finals - was back, and he'd brought two of the team's greatest heroes with him in Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah.

Not only that, they'd brought some of the game's most in-form players in three-time premiership-winning dummy-half Api Koroisau from Penrith, fellow grand-finalist Isaiah Papali'i from the Eels, highly-rated English wrecking ball John Bateman, veteran representative prop David Klemmer, Panthers speed machine Charlie Staines and more.

Though they finished with the wooden spoon in 2022 and haven't made it to the NRL Finals for 11 years, there was a cautious sense of optimism around Leichhardt, and Concord, and Campbelltown and everywhere else the team has called home in recent years.

Yet here we are, four rounds into the 2023 season, and there's only one team in the entire NRL without a win so far in 2023. Despite the overhaul the club has been through and the looming optimism, the Tigers are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table again after a number of unconvincing and inconsistent displays.

Combining their form from last year with the opening rounds of this season, the Tigers have won just two of their past 20 NRL matches. These numbers haven't been seen since Newcastle won three consecutive wooden spoons between 2015-17 - but Newcastle have also been to the finals multiple times in the past decade.

Though a new coach and new-look team could arguably lead to claims that the side needs time to gel and work within a new system, Tigers fans are likely to find that excuse hard to swallow as teams like the Bulldogs, Warriors and Manly have all started the year with new coaches (two without NRL Head Coach experience), and all have at least two wins to their name.

Then there's the Dolphins, a team in its infancy that struggled to recruit high-profile players, a team most expected to be competing for the wooden spoon in their first ever season. Yet after just four games, they sit third on the ladder and have already developed a reputation for entertainment and quality football that far surpasses anything coming out of the Tigers' multiple locales.

COLD-HAND LUKE

Though coaches have regularly been the ones to face the axe, halfback Luke Brooks has also regularly faced scrutiny and the lion's share of the on-field blame. While that comes with the territory of being the team's lead playmaker, is it fair to hold him as the focus of accountability?

Despite the results, Brooks clearly has the skills and potential for growth. He was the Dally M Halfback of the Year in 2018, and as recently as last year one of the game's great halves, Andrew Johns, expressed his disappointment that Newcastle weren't able to arrange a deal for the No.7.

But as good as Brooks can be, his form has inarguably been waning in recent years. Though he's had a few injury issues in that time, Brooks hasn't finished in the Top 10 for Try Assists since 2019 - despite playing at least 17 games per season since then. Even more concerning is the fact that, when starting, Brooks has won a total of just 10 NRL games in the past two years.

But why should Brooks be scapegoated when he clearly loves the club? He could have gone somewhere else and grown into another spotlight instead of having it thrust upon him.

He's never played finals football, he's watched the likes of James Tedesco and Mitch Moses move on to greener pastures, grand finals and rep honours yet he's refused to go elsewhere when the opportunity has arisen. After years and years of the same issues, it's no wonder his form has seemingly tapered off a little. The relationship has gone stale, and years of online abuse have likely taken a toll - but as recently as his two-try effort two weeks ago, it's clear he's never stopped trying.

COACH CONCERNS

Maintaining a winning record has proven difficult for any coach who's taken the reigns at the Tigers. Even as the best coach in the club's history and the one who brought them an historic premiership in 2005, Tim Sheens couldn't even muster a 50% winning record during his time at the helm.

You could say that after a decade with Sheens at the helm the club were simply after a change - but at least two of the coaches employed by the club since Sheens' departure have enjoyed success elsewhere that wasn't forthcoming at the club. Michael Maguire took the Rabbitohs to premiership glory in 2014 but was booted by the Tigers after 80 games in charge after delivering just 29 wins.

Ivan Cleary's time at the Tigers will live on in infamy for the acrimonious end, but he lasted just 43 games before returning to Penrith, where he took the club to three successive grand final appearances and two premierships.

It's clear, given their track record, that these coaches were able and knowledgeable. So where did it go wrong?

Whatever the answer, it appears to be a universal experience. Because as well as Sheens, not one Tigers head coach has been able to return a winning record near 50 per cent.

TIM SHEENS
2003-2012, 2023
254 games, 122 wins.
48 percent

IVAN CLEARY
2017-2018
43 games, 18 wins.
41.9 percent

JASON TAYLOR
2015-2017
51 games, 20 wins.
39.2 percent

MICHAEL MAGUIRE
2019-2022
80 games, 29 wins.
36.3 percent

MICHAEL POTTER
2013-14
48 games, 17 wins.
35.4 percent

BRETT KIMMORLEY
2022
12 games, 1 win.
8.3 percent

WAYNE PEARCE
2000
26 games, 11 wins.
42.3 percent

TERRY LAMB
2001-2002
50 games, 16 wins.
32 per cent

While we can look at the numbers, identifying what's wrong at the club is a much tougher ask. Is it a cultural matter? A boardroom problem? Is Luke Brooks merely a scapegoat? Or is it something else?

Whatever it is, Tigers fans will be hoping a solution is found sooner rather than later - but with a match against the ladder-leading Broncos next on the agenda, it could still be a while.