Craig Fitzgibbon has done a great job at the Sharks already.
Coming in as coach he brought in some real quality players in Dane Finucane, Nicho Hynes and Cameron McInnes. You can just see their leadership has come through and they are just a real disciplined hardworking team.
Their defensive systems are really strong, Craig has brought them over from the Roosters.
I talked to Andrew Fifita in the offseason a bit and they were doing cultural stuff down there with their players, particularly around January 26. The boys were connecting over it and it's a big part of everything that they do down there at the Sharks. It's helped because you can see that buy-in - from the players and the coach and it's certainly made a difference on the field.
They've become contenders already. You look at Nicho, he's going to the next level and I think it there could be representative opportunities for him and Jesse Ramien as they continue to improve and impress.
Jesse is on the show Tuesday night and we will have a yarn about the influence Craig has had and the feeling in the camp among the boys.
Dean Widders reckons there could be rep opportunities for Nicho Hynes and Jesse Ramien. Source: AAP
Roaming Tigers
There were a lot of people that talked about the Daine Laurie and James Roberts incident up in Newcastle before the Knights game when they were out on the pokies at 10 o'clock at night. For a normal person, there's nothing wrong with that, you are not breaking any laws - a lot of people do it to relax.
But when you're looking to create a winning culture in a footy team, and you're looking to turn around a team that's been poor performers for nearly over a decade n over a decade, these are little things that you can't look past.
What coach Michael Maguire is trying to do is to get the players to apply themselves for all the little one-percenters - you got to make sure you're doing all the little things right.
For me, knowing both James and Daine and what they are capable of on the field, these little adjustments and checks off the field can make a big difference to their own personal performances.
Players are not taking any shortcuts on preparation, or shortcuts on the way they train and the way they recover during the week so that they're always giving themselves a chance to invest. You often can't win a game unless you're doing all the little efforts - they all add up.
So then off the field, you're making sure you're not in pubs and gambling the night before a game and staying with your team. That's what the Tigers need right now. They are a club that's trying to change its culture and they need to make sure that these little slip-ups don't go unnoticed and that everyone improves.
They just gotta make sure they check themselves, the Tigers, because some of the stuff that they're looking for on the field, is actually affected by their off-field behaviors.
They need everyone to do everything they can to get wins.
The Wests Tigers are winless after the opening three rounds of the competition. Source: AAP
Slipping out of contention
And finally, now the season has ended for my Parramatta Women's side after the Brisbane Broncos wiped us out, I can take a look at who I think will challenge for the comp. The Broncos are really heating up as favorites, as it gets to the business end they will be really hard to beat.
People like Ali Brigginshaw, Millie Boyle, Tamika Upton and Tarryn Aiken are really starting to come through.
But also, I've been really impressed with some of the Indigenous girls at St George-Illawarra - Shaylee Bent, Quincy Dodd and Jamie Chapman, and they are the ones to watch in the finals.
Join Dean Widders and Beau Champion for NITV's Rugby League panel show Over The Black Dot, Tuesdays live at 8.30pm.
Deano's Eels got dusted on the weekend and now they'll be watching the semi-finals Source: AAP
