Wests Tigers Coach Tim Sheens has given his strongest indication yet that Robert Lui will be the half-back for the opening round against Manly at the Sydney Football Stadium on Monday, March 15.

Following his side’s 36-12 victory over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at Bluetongue Stadium, Sheens revealed Lui was set to partner Benji Marshall in the halves. Marshall missed the trial win over the Sharks with a minor ankle injury. Wests Tigers got through the trial with no injuries.

Whilst Wests Tigers fans celebrated a win after a disappointing lost to the Sydney Roosters last Sunday, Sheens was not getting too carried away.

“We need to do a fair bit more before we are going to be happy,’’ he said.

“We got through this without injury and we are winning strongly so I suppose that’s something but I wouldn’t take too much from it.

“Last week, the Roosters threw plenty at us and we fell into a hole. The Sharks dropped a lot of ball and we started poorly. Had they had been stronger with the ball in the hand we would have been in a bit of trouble.

“At the end of the day, Robbie Farah and Robert Lui both played well. Lui did step up.

“Robbie was quiet last week but this week he was much better and he led the way today on the back of some pretty solid work from the forwards.

“He got a full 80 minutes, he was creative and he worried them .He was the difference in the game.

“At the moment, I would be looking at Tim Moltzen at 1 and Robert Lui and Benji Marshall in the halves. That would the logical thing and that’s probably where we are going to go at this stage. I know what I am going to do for game one pretty well.”

Farah said he was pleased with the intensity in the defence and the hunger shown by his side.

“We were disappointed with our attitude last week, we treated it like a trial and the Roosters came out and were a lot more hungrier than us and it showed in the end result,’’ Farah said.

“In terms of tonight, we saw it as a dress rehearsal for round one. We didn’t want to go into round one on the back of two poor performances so that was a lot better.

“I got more involved tonight and there were a few more opportunities around the ruck. I was disappointed with my own game last week so tonight gives me a bit of confidence going into round one.

“My preparation for this season has been second to none and I have given myself every opportunity to start playing well from round one.”

Farah said he was more than comfortable to have Lui at half-back with Tim Moltzen at full-back. His combinations with Lui were lethal at times.

“It was a good opportunity tonight for Robbie to take a bit more control with Benji not there,’’ Farah said.

“It was important for him to lead the team around the park and I thought he was great. He took the line on a lot more than he did last week and that is when he is at his most dangerous.

“He is pretty elusive on his feet and he is a strong little boy.

“We work hard on our combinations and our skill work. Tim loves being able to work those combinations especially around the ruck and Robbie has been there throughout the pre-season. He has trained at seven so it has given us plenty of time to work on those combinations.”

Lui said he was happy with his performance and went into the game with no illusions.

“I just wanted to play good footy. I didn’t have any thoughts about round one as you never know what is going to happen in football,’’ he said.

“I played pretty good. Tim told me after the game that I still have plenty of work to do on my defence and on my attack so I just have to work on that at training.

“I have learnt plenty of things from Robbie, Benji and even Moltz, who is one year older than me. What we do at training we bring it out to the field. I am just keen to play, that’s what footy is all about.”

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