I saw this post and was wondering what type of players Madge might go after, but also wanted to have a look at the tigers and see what sort of players he brought in / let go and how his gameday squad typically lined up... also have a look at what kind of cattle he was dealing with.
He was there from Round 1 2019 (post-Cleary) to Round 12 2022... so was right in the middle of that transition to Vlando ball... a general idea of his typical 17 over those 3.5yr is below.
Looking at that list players like Eisenhuth (2024), Tuilagi (2025), Aloiai (2025), Chee-Kam (2024) and Seyfarth (2025) might be ones he could look to bring in... some off contract in 2024, but others are free agents as of Nov 1.
I think guys like Mikaele and Garner would've definitely been on his list of targets, but they've just re-signed in the last few months. Mikaele was his second most used player behind Luke Brooks.
Someone like Hastings might also be on his radar given he actively recruited him at tigers and he's on the outer at knights, but Hastings might head back to ESL.
Typical 17:
1. Dane Laurie (Moses 2019 and Doueihi 2020, but actively recruited Laurie... he likes a playmaking fullback)
2. Nofa
3. Doueihi / BJ Leilua / Jimmy Roberts (appears to favour strike over defence in the position)
4. Esan Marsters / Tommy Talau
5. Tommy Talau / Maumalo (he likes meter eating wingers... actively recruited Maumalo)
6. Benji / Doueihi / Moses
7. Brooks / Hastings
8. Tamou
9. Harry Grant (2020) / Liddle / Simpkin
10. Aloiai / Twal
11. Luciano
12. Garner / Tuilagi
13. Eisenhuth / Twal / Offa (almost exclusively used as a third prop, but there was talk of Hastings playing some lock when brought in)
14. Elijah Taylor / Moses / Peach (didn't really use a specialist hooker... more someone that can play a bit of hooker if needed)
15. Twal
16. Mikaele / Uto
17. Chee-Kam / Blore / Seyfarth / Tuilagi (more a specialist second rower than a utility forward)
Building on this one a bit more and where it might've gone wrong for Madge at the tigers... based mostly on memory and just whatever stats I can be bothered to grab from Rugby League Project.
2019 they were basically the same as the previous year under Ivan, except their attack actually improved. 2020 onwards they became horrendous defensively, but how much of that is on the sudden change to Vlando ball??
2020 and 2021 were notorious for blow out scores and if you lost momentum you were basically fucked. Long kicking was absolutely necessary to be successful under early Vlando ball as well and they had Brooks... who's not a noted long boot and his best kicking comes when he's on the front foot.
Under Vlando ball the world also moved to a more mobile forward pack... Madge was operating with his lock as a third prop for the most part, so he was running guys like Twal and Offa back there, which was no longer the meta... and he had an ageing Tamou as the starting prop. So his middles weren't really setup for Vlando ball, similar to broncos getting caught out in the early days.
For the most part I think he struggled to settle on his halves and mostly halfback... Brooks was the big money man, but throughout Madge's tenure he chopped and changed him between 6 and 7, so it would seem he wasn't sold on him as a 7, and he eventually recruited Hastings and played him as a 7... so it would seem that he likes a more typical game managing halfback, but even when he got Hastings he wasn't exactly setting the world on fire.
I somewhat remember Madge's time at tigers as being pretty lacklustre in attack as well... he went out and recruited Laurie for fullback, but he was pretty ineffective at tigers and was looking like a flop... but we all know what he can do based on his time at panthers.
What would be disappointing about that period under Vlando ball, is that Madge didn't seem to pick up on the new meta by 2022 and adjust his style... particularly defence. Whether that was due to a lack of cattle and tigers not representing a great destination for recruits to adjust his roster, but he had managed to get his halfback in Hastings and they were still pretty poor.
Having an assistant like Trent Barrett is potentially perfect for Madge... someone that can be a halves and attack coach, which I think has been Barrett's most successful stints as an assistant... whilst Madge focusses on defence.
I'm sure Madge has picked up on the current meta in the NRL world so I would expect he has some ideas on how defences operate nowadays... and they were pretty effective at stopping Qld and Australia... although torpedoing fullbacks in the face won't cut it... unless you're from Mt Druitt.
