Tigers fitness prevails, Bulldogs tinkering and Dragons crisis

Paul Kent dissected a chaotic Easter round on Kenty Blitz, praising the Tigers’ fitness-driven comeback while taking aim at the Bulldogs’ halfback mess, the Dragons’ deepening woes and the NRL’s latest officiating confusion.

Tigers’ fitness wins out

Paul Kent said the biggest factor in Wests Tigers’ stunning Easter Monday win over Parramatta was simple: fitness. He argued the Tigers were able to keep coming when the Eels started to fade late, with the match turning once the fatigue factor set in.

“I’ll tell you one thing. They were much fitter than Parramatta yesterday,” Kenty said. “Parramatta towards the end of the game, they were going down everywhere with cramp and you could see that the energy just got sucked out of their defence.” He said that late drop-off was the difference once the game was there to be won. “They just fatigued and gone and then suddenly the Tigers were back in the game,” he said.

Kent pointed to the Tigers’ hard pre-season as the foundation for their fast start. “The Tigers have had a very hard off season,” he said. “Teams know where they’re at in that regard.” He also referenced Nathan Cleary’s comments about Penrith knowing when they had the edge in fitness, saying that same edge can be felt in a game when one side starts dominating the collision.

Madden’s rise

Jock Madden was another major talking point, with Kent clearly impressed by the halfback’s calm and control over the Tigers’ last two games. He said Madden is not the sort of player who turns heads physically, but he absolutely understands how to steer a team around the field.

“He’s the most unlooking footballer,” Kent joked. “If he walked into the disco, he couldn’t pull a bird because he doesn’t look like he plays football.” But he quickly backed up the praise, comparing Madden’s football brain to some of the smartest halves in the modern game. “He reminds me of Justin Holbrook when he was playing,” he said. “He’s just that classic sort of knows how to play, bit Adam Reynolds too.”

Kent said Madden has clearly soaked up lessons from Adam Reynolds and brought them into his own game. “He’s done that and he’s clearly absorbed that while he was in Brisbane,” he said. “He’s bringing a lot of that IQ to the Tigers.” He added that Benji Marshall now faces a very good problem with Jarome Luai due back soon. “It’s going to be very interesting to see how that works out,” Kent said.

Bulldogs’ halfback mess

The Bulldogs’ handling of their halves situation also drew a long discussion, with Kent sceptical about the decision to tinker with the side around Lachlan Galvin and Bronson Xerri. He said Gus Gould’s explanation for the team changes may have sounded plausible, but it raised more questions than it answered.

“That is plausible,” Kent said. “But there’s a couple of things about that.” He argued that if the club had to move players around to protect a halfback, it suggested something deeper was going on behind the scenes. “If your centre is the most vocal player out there and your halfback and five-eighths aren’t doing that, then you’ve got a problem,” he said.

Kent also suggested the repeated changes were creating confusion and resentment inside the group. “Players start to sit there and think what the hell’s going on,” he said. “And it gets frustration. Frustration becomes bitching.” He warned that once that starts, it can split a playing group into factions. “It can cause problems,” he said.

Dragons hit crisis point

The Dragons were the clearest sign to Kent that a club’s internal issues can spiral quickly into full-blown crisis. He said their five straight losses, poor attack and lack of speed across the park pointed to a club that had serious structural problems. “The team just has no confidence,” he said. “They completely zapped tactically.”

Kent said Flanagan’s post-match press conference made it clear how badly the situation had deteriorated. “I felt sorry for him,” he said. “I’ve seen it a few times over the years where coaches are just lost for answers.” But he also stressed the Dragons’ issues go far beyond one coach or one halfback. “There’s so many things going wrong,” he said. “It’s probably prioritising how it gets fixed.”

He was especially critical of the side’s lack of speed and threat in the outside backs. “Dragons have got slow centres and they got slow wingers,” he said. “The halves aren’t testing you. The outside backs are slow and the forwards, well, they’re slow as well.” Kent said the club’s inability to create pressure or break teams open is making life much harder for everyone else on the field.

Flanagan under pressure

Kent said the decision to freeze contract negotiations at the Dragons was the biggest clue yet that Flanagan’s future may already be under threat. He said it was unusual for a club to remove the coach from the conversation unless serious change was being considered.

“To me that says the coach is in trouble,” Kent said. “I can’t see any other reason to stop negotiating players other than they’re looking at getting rid of the coach or they don’t want him having a say over it.” He suggested the club may be preparing for either a new coach to review the roster or a straight-out change at the top.

He also defended Flanagan’s ability, warning against assuming there is an easy replacement waiting in the wings. “I think Shane Flanagan can coach,” Kent said. “Be careful getting rid of him.” But he added that the current balance of the Dragons side is badly out of whack and the club has lost too many promising players along the way.

Manly’s reset

Kent ended on a more positive note by praising Manly’s response under Kieran Foran, saying their win showed what can happen when a team simplifies its football and plays fast, tough and direct. He said the Sea Eagles’ turnaround was proof that a fresh voice can quickly change a group’s mentality.

“They played a very different style to what they’ve been playing,” Kent said. “It was a Kieran Foran style of footy. Play fast, aggressive through the middle, tough football over the advantage line.” He said the team stopped trying to be cute and instead focused on winning the collision.

Kent contrasted that with St George Illawarra, saying the Dragons don’t have the personnel to copy that approach right now. “Saints don’t have the players to do that,” he said. “Dragons have got no threat.” The panel’s broader takeaway was clear: Manly have changed quickly because they had the right players to respond, while the Dragons are still searching for the right combination.