Wests Tigers will be looking to rebound from a tight defeat when they face off against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park on Saturday Afternoon.
Since 2000, the black-and-gold have played 32 matches against the ‘Silvertails’, emerging triumphant on 14 occasions.
Brookvale has not been a happy hunting ground for Wests Tigers over the past twenty years, although Michael Maguire’s side have won two of their last three games at the venue.
In the pandemic-riddled season of 2020, Wests Tigers entered Round 17 in 11th place and needed a victory to remain in touch with the top eight.
Match: Sea Eagles v Wests Tigers
Round 17 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
12th Position
away Team
Wests Tigers
9th Position
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
Their clash with the Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval did not start as planned, with Morgan Harper and Jorge Taufua scoring tries to give their side an early lead.
Benji Marshall cut the deficit with a grubber kick for David Nofoaluma, but the try was quickly cancelled out by two four-pointers from the home side.
2020 Match Highlights: Rd.17, Sea Eagles vs. Wests Tigers
Trailing by fourteen, Marshall combined with Joseph Leilua in a slick passing shift that enabled Nofoaluma to nab his second try of the evening before Luke Brooks deceived the Manly defence with a short ball to the sweeping Moses Mbye.
However, the Sea Eagles would soon have the visitors back on the ropes with three tries to Jake Trbojevic, Morgan Harper and Tevita Funa coming in quick succession.
Now down by fourteen points with just eleven minutes on the clock, the desperate Wests Tigers embarked on a comeback for the ages.
Moses Mbye stripped the defence and sent Adam Doueihi over to score before David Nofoaluma completed his hattrick by finishing a scintillating attacking movement that passed through nine different sets of hands.
With time ticking down, Brooks stood up once more for his side and put up a perfectly placed cross-field kick for the flying Adam Doueihi to tie the scores with two minutes remaining.
Blocking out the parochial Manly crowd, Doueihi converted his own try to give Wests Tigers the lead for the first time in the match as the club won its seventh game of the season.