It was an emphatic performance from Wests Tigers on Friday night as they produced a 34-18 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium.
A brilliant team performance from start to finish, six different players scored tries for Wests Tigers as they began season 2017 with a 16-point win over their more fancied opponents.
Off the back of another fast start that saw Wests Tigers lead 18-4 midway through the first half, a superb opening to the second half saw Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses and young Moses Suli all grab tries and blow Wests Tigers out to an unassailable 34-8 lead.
The Rabbitohs would rally late with a hat-trick to Bryson Goodwin to add some respectability to the scoreboard, but the result was simply never in doubt for Jason Taylor's men.
Take a look at some of the key numbers to come out of last night's big win below!
Be there for our first home game of 2017 when we take on the Penrith Panthers!
32
In their last four meetings between the two sides, Wests Tigers have scored an average of 32 points against the Rabbitohs — winning by a combined scoreline of 128-60.
200
Three Wests Tigers players made their Club debuts last night, with Matt McIlwrick receiving the prestigious honor of being the 200th player to play for Wests Tigers. Jamal Idris (199) and Moses Suli (201) also joined the list, with Suli scoring a try in what would become a memorable NRL debut for the teenager.
1
After scoring his first try of 2017 and 75th try for the Club, vice-captain Chris Lawrence now requires just one more try to level Benji Marshall's all-time record for the most tries for Wests Tigers. Marshall has the record of 76 tries in 201 games, with Lawrence just behind on 75 tries in 195 games. James Tedesco also moved to fifth on the all-time top try-scorers, with his 46th try for the Club in just his 70th appearance.
10
Dominating the Rabbitohs in the middle of the field, Wests Tigers had 10 players crack more than 100 run metres for the night — David Nofoaluma (205m), James Tedesco (193m), Aaron Woods (184m), Sauaso Sue (151m), Tim Grant (138m), Moses Suli (124m), Mitchell Moses (122m), Chris Lawrence (122m), Michael Chee Kam (107m) and Luke Brooks (103m). Overall, Wests Tigers had 1806m to the Rabbitohs' 1431m.
0
Since Jason Taylor took over as Head Coach at the start of 2015, Wests Tigers are yet to lose a season opener — beating the Titans 19-18 in 2015 as well as the Warriors 34-26 in 2016.
Be there for our first home game of 2017 when we take on the Penrith Panthers!
