Tigers rebuild has finally started: Cleary

Aug 19, 2017 - 5:31 PM The rebuild of the Wests Tigers has finally begun, according to coach Ivan Cleary.

The Tigers showed a stack of resilience in their 22-18 NRL loss to the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night, coming back from 16-0 down to take the lead midway through the second half.

It came after they upset Manly last week, while the Tigers also kept finals-bound Penrith at bay a fortnight ago for the majority of their clash.

Cleary says the team are leaps and bounds ahead of where he expected them to be after a turbulent opening few months at the club.

"We're further ahead definitely of where I thought we'd be," Cleary said.

"I made a comment a few weeks back that the rebuild hadn't started yet, but now I think it has. That's a credit to the players really."

The Tigers' newfound resilience was never more evident than on Saturday night.

With nothing to play for but pride, the Tigers of old could easily have thrown in the towel after the Roosters dominated possession and territory in the opening 30 minutes.

Instead, they withstood a significant amount of pressure on their own line in the second half as they attempted to hold their lead before finally cracking with seven minutes to play.

"We had a pretty tough period in the middle of the year after a lot of uncertainty and players leaving," Cleary said.

"There was a period of recovery for sure.

"In the last eight weeks we have been very competitive and won games that we should.

"We're definitely improving in the resilient stakes. You only get that confidence from demonstrating it and we've now done it a few times."

Source: AAP