THE ANALYST

From the opening minute of the second half, you could tell there was something different about the Wests Tigers.

I would like to know what was said in their dressing room at half-time.

Maybe they won't tell us what happened. Modesty will probably prevent the coach from talking about it. But I'll bet my bottom dollar a little pep talk went a long way towards turning the tide in this contest.

I don't know quite how to describe their first 40 minutes of play. It was somewhere between nervous and lethargic.

Maybe it was fear of failure.

Perhaps confidence levels were shaken a little by their stunning collapse in the game last weekend against the Raiders in Canberra. We call this the "here-we-go-again" syndrome.

Maybe they'd been reading the media reports suggesting they couldn't win games without their playmaker, hooker Robbie Farah. Sometimes if you hear something often enough it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's not that they weren't trying. They just looked as though they were strangled with anxiety. It was as if they were hoping everything would be all right rather than just ripping in and making things happen.

They were dutifully running through their various patterns and plays but there wasn't a great deal of impact to any of it.

They did force a couple of line breaks and created two distinct scoring chances in the first half but blew both opportunities with poor finishes.

The Tigers forwards had no physical presence and, as a result, all their team's attacking raids headed across field because of the lack of "go-forward" from their big men.

They weren't any better without the ball either.

Their defensive line was struggling to reset. Souths were beating them to the punch on just about every play-the-ball and, for the most part, the Tigers were being bent backwards on every set of six.

The Tigers' goal-line defence also left a lot to be desired. They were so tentative in their approach that even the Rabbitohs were making attacking football look easy. All Souths had to do was stand deep and run hard on to the ball to score the opening two tries of the game, and they were unlucky not to score a couple more.

The first 40 minutes was all South Sydney, and the 10-6 half-time scoreline flattered the Tigers.

Now at this point, I reckon I rated the quality and intensity of this contest at about five out of 10.

However, when the two teams returned from the break, a different complexion came over the game.

The Tigers' intensity level quickly spiked to a more respectable eight out of 10.

The Tigers' first set of six in defence was spirited. Their first six plays in possession produced five strong charges followed by a big kick and an enthusiastic chase.

This rejuvenated attitude took the Rabbitohs by surprise and set the trend for the rest of the game.

The Tigers were full of intent. The science and pretty stuff was put on the back-burner and replaced with a recipe of physical confrontation and very direct football.

It was a simple formula: they continued to run hard and tackle hard for the entire second half. They bustled and busted the Rabbitohs with some big hits, which forced their unsuspecting opposition into a number of handling errors at their own end of the field.

The Tigers' confidence levels rose and the football finesse suddenly returned to their fingertips.

They totally outclassed their opposition and, by the end of the game, their nervous and non-productive first half seemed like a lifetime ago.

It is amazing just how much the mind plays a part in the fortunes of professional sport. You can train the body and rehearse the plays but if the brain is confused and the thought processes clouded with negatives, nothing works.

In football, often it's not a matter of what you do; but rather the way you do it.

Someone at half-time yesterday pointed out the error of their ways.

Once that was sorted out, the Tigers knew exactly what to do.