Coaching Insider: Round 8

Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire has been impressed with how his playing group have responded at training this week in preparation for the Round 8 clash against St George Illawarra at WIN Stadium.

Although Maguire admitted the results aren’t where they need to be, he said his players are determined to remain united as they aim to turn their fortunes around.

“I’ve got a group who started back in November and they’re working extremely hard towards what we’re trying to create at the club. The whole organisation is all working together,” Maguire said.

“We want to be better than where we are now — we need to do that on the park.”

With Wests Tigers re-signing young hooker Jake Simpkin throughout the week, Maguire said it shows where the club is at as they’re building for success.

“It’s really good [re-signing Simpkin],” Maguire said.

“That’s what we are at this present moment, young guys really wanting to play. We’ve got to understand where we are at this present time. We’ve got a number young guys who could be the next stars of the game.”

Wests Tigers will be aiming for their second win of the season when they face the Dragons — who sit sixth on the ladder with four wins and three losses.

“They’ve got quality across the park,” Maguire said.

“For us, we need to focus on what we need to do, and we want to perform on the park.”

Joey Leilua has been recalled to the starting side for Sunday’s clash, while young outside back Zac Cini is set to make his NRL debut.

“Joey’s gone away and looked at his game and he’s in really good spirits. I’m really looking forward to bringing Joey in,” Maguire said.

“We do our review and look at what we need to improve on, and obviously there are some defensive lapses and that’s a big one we need to work on.

“We need to work for each other in defence and we understand what we need to do.”