The Wests Tigers have been ridiculed left, right and centre heading into 2022 after a disastrous 2021 campaign, and with little sign of improvement on the way, they will need a major change in attitude to improve during the coming year.
A small recruitment window, where they have signed Jackson Hastings and Oliver Gildart out of the English Super League, as well as utility option Tyrone Peachey from the Gold Coast Titans, as well as continuing questions over coach Michael Maguire, leave the club with plenty to do if they hope to make a turnaround.
From attack to defence, the Tigers were a trainwreck last year.
They conceded 66 points to the Melbourne Storm in one of their lowest moments, although arguably their final round, losing 38-0 to wooden spooners the Wests Tigers was just as bad.
It was a loss which meant they finished the year with three straight losses, letting in 118 points at almost 40 per game over the final three weeks, and it more or less summed up their entire season.
Outside of the obvious problems with defence in the middle third and on the edges, their creativity severely lacked throughout the year. Daine Laurie was a bright spot, as were both young hookers Jacob Liddle and Jake Simpkin and gun forward Stefano Utoikamanu.
Those four players will need to continue, however, experienced guns who fell away need to stand back up and lead the team.
How will Luke Brooks perform?
This is the question which could well define the Tigersโ season.
Brooks has always been a player with plenty of potential, and yet, he has never been able to turn that into actual success on the field.
He holds the record for the most first grade games played without a finals appearance of all currently active NRL player, and itโs a record which looks like itโll only extend.
A decade of non-finals appearances has left fans of the joint venture calling for more, and it looked as if Brooks was going to be shipped off to the Newcastle Knights during the off-season following the departure of Mitchell Pearce, who is now with the Catalan Dragons in the English Super League.
Despite that, Brooks remains with the Tigers, and will need to steer the side around in a potentially new-look halves combination with Jackson Hastings to start with, then do enough to hold his spot when Adam Doueihi returns.
He has the potential, but the time for talk of potential is over. Itโs now the time for action.
Will James Tamou get back to his best?
James Tamou was completely and utterly underwhelming during his first season with the Tigers away from the Penrith Panthers.
While he was strong with the Panthers and turned into something of a pack leader, he underperformed as captain at the Tigers.
Even though he is unlikely to be captain and has potentially made off-field impacts on the likes of Utoikamanu and Alex Twal, itโs on-field where the Tigers desperately need his experience and leadership to shine through.
While he will still start the season in the Tigers 17, there is no guarantee he keeps his spot if he canโt get back to the level of output he had at Penrith.
But boy does he need to for the good of this club.
Who plays hooker?
The Tigers have two excellent young options to play in the number nine, but for most of 2021, couldnโt make up their mind over who it should be.
25-year-old Jacob Liddle was once the understudy to Robbie Farah who may wel have taken over sooner if not for injury, but managed 20 games last year, with only one of those coming from the bench.
Simpkin, on the other hand, at just 20 years of age, played nine games during his rookie season, starting five and coming from the bench for another four.
The former Queensland junior Origin star has all the talent in the world, but there is no guarantee that will get him the spot given the continued development of Liddle.
They both bring their own bright spots to the team, but Maguire needs to settle on his first choice and let the new spine gel into place.
Can Michael Maguire fix the teamโs attitude?
Speaking of Maguire, and there are few - if any - coaches who will be under as much pressure as he is coming into the new campaign.
To put it bluntly, the Tigersโ attitude in 2021 stank.
This was a team who let in 38 points on the final day of the season to the Bulldogs, who hadnโt threatened to post a score like that all season.
They let in 30 of more points in 14 of their 24 games and simply gave up more than they didnโt.
It was an absolute horror show for the joint venture, and if Maguire canโt fix the attitude in defence, he might as well pack his bags before the season starts.
Can Jackson Hastings cover for Adam Doueihiโs injury?
Jackson Hastings has arrived at the club from England with plenty of raps on him.
A former NRL prodigy, he was forced out of Manly over perceived attitude problems, with it never a question of his talent.
Now back in the NRL, he is likely to be handed the Tigersโ number six jumper for the opening rounds of the season, and itโll be big boots to fill given Adam Doueihi was their best player last year.
Itโs unclear what role Hastings will play when Doueihi returns, but it also doesnโt matter, because if Hastings canโt do the job while the star is out, itโll be season over before he even makes it back onto the park.
