I hesitate to come to the Tiger's defense, but I thought the Townsville crash in '98 (an EC-owned machine, not an ADF bird) was attributed to the pilot losing situational awareness at night ? That aside, the ADF found itself trapped in the position of being the first user of the Tiger when the French and German programs were delayed - keep in mind that, at the time the ADF selected the type in August 2001, initial deliveries to the ALAT were still planned for mid-2003, 18 months before the ADF was due to receive its first aircraft.
The power issue was always a clear & present danger, since the Tiger was designed for combat over the Fulda gap, not in 95F temps, and one surely has to believe that the ARH was always eventually intended to use the same upgraded engine being developed for the Spanish HAD variant once it became available (~2008) ?
As for the SH-2A(G) itself, much has been written over the past 9 years, but the original premise of the program (a compact shipboard helo) was lost when the proposed OPV replacement for the Freemantle class was scrapped in 1997 shortly after the selection of the Seasprite itself. Litton's withdrawal, the subsequent scramble to recover the mission suite, obsolescence issues resulting from the associated delays and the fact that 7 of the 11 aircraft were built in 1965-67 simply added to the program's woes.
Of course, Kaman's bid was originally A$200M lower than WHL's new-build Lynx offering, but I suspect that difference has already been eaten-up by the various players (mainly Kaman's shareholders).
The SH-2A(G) also never really fit with the 'consolidation' rationale of Air9000. Let's just hope MRH-90 lives up to expectations.
I/C