Tamou sees “silver linings” in seemingly endless Tigers woes

James Tamou sees plenty of “silver linings” from the Tigers’ failed 2021 NRL campaign and tenth year in a row watching finals from the sidelines, declaring his team has “actually come out of it better” than before.

The Tigers struggled to string form together in 2021 and eventually slipped to thirteenth following a string of losses to end the season. It marked the tenth consecutive year the Sydney club had failed to qualify for the competition’s postseason.

It wasn’t all bad though, claims veteran James Tamou.

Yes, the club has taken a beating over the past few years, he said. But, every downturn in fortune comes with a lesson — or in the case of the struggles in Campbelltown, a whole pile of them — and the Tigers are doing everything they can to learn them. Their time at the wrong ends of beatings, missed opportunities, and more than a few Jason Maguire sprays has hardened them for the year ahead.

“It was a tough end to last year and some of it was tough to watch,” he said. “But if you look for a silver lining I think we have actually come out of it better. We understand the commitment to each other that is needed whether it is through training or game day.

“We had a young group and the players have grown with another year of experience.

“[The team] got better with losses, as weird as it sounds. You learn from them. That has given us inspiration for pre-season. We go into 2022 with a more of a commitment to each other.”

Some in rugby league’s wider community have pointed the finger at Maguire, especially considering how long he’s been at the club. His tenure at Wests began in 2019–replacing Penrith-bound Ivan Cleary–has seen barely an uptick in fortunes. In the years preceding they finished 9th, 14th, and 9th. Since he’s come on board, 9th, 11th, and 13th.

“Madge” isn’t to blame though, Tamou says: it’s purely on the players.

“Madge has been Madge, he hasn’t changed too much in how he goes about things,” the hulking forward said. “We have had to go away as players and take a look in the mirror. It is a tough job being a coach. When the team is going good it is the players and when the team is going bad it is the coach.

“But the coach isn’t the one out there. I think that is another big thing we can take away since the off-season is us boys having to take a look in the mirror and understand what’s needed for this team to succeed. I know I have done a lot of thinking on what I can do better for the team to see as much improvement as possible.

“Madge has been to the top. He has got the blueprint as to what is needed. We have just got to be better in ourselves. We need to show commitment and uphold the standards over the season.”

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The Tigers have a rocky start to the season fixture-wise. They open their account with the Storm at CommBank Stadium in round 1, then play the Knights (on the road), Warriors, and Titans.

Before that, they’re hosting the Sea Eagles in a televised trial match on Feb. 18, and will head up the freeway to Gosford a week later to face the Roosters in another early warm-up game. There’s one focus in those two games, Tamou says, as well as the following month that opens the season; repay the fans for keeping the faith all these years.

Putting on a show for them will be “massive,” he admits.

“I think coming into the side last year we took that all on board that the team hasn’t experienced finals in a long period of time,” he said. “To get into the top eight where they deserve to be and where the fans deserve and know we can be. I was watching the finals series and I was just watching it and burning, which is a good thing because you use it as motivation.

“I know some boys are feeling that way as well and not only for ourselves but for the fans.

“For 80 minutes a week, they come to the stadiums and cheer. We want to pay them back. The fans are everything and they are a big reason why we want to take this team to where it deserves to be.”

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