Match Report: NRLW Round 7 vs Dragons

In their Gadhu Gathering contest at Allianz Stadium, Wests Tigers were too strong, with Indigenous players Caitlin Turnbull and Tiana-Lee Thorne standouts throughout the match.

After a period of sustained early pressure attacking the Dragons line, Wests Tigers produced first points when Jetaya Faifua, making her first appearance at five-eighth for the club, stepped her way through to score.

Emily Bass’ conversion made it 6-0 to the Tigers at Allianz and they held a one-player advantage for the next 10 minutes too after Hannah Southwell was sin-binned for a spear tackle on debutant Portia Bourke.

The Dragons came close to scoring their first in the 15th minute, however it was ruled out due to a knock-on in the lead-up from Teagan Berry.

Minutes later, after a try-saver on Berry by Caitlin Turnbull, Zali Hopkins pounced on a Raecene McGregor grubber kick to finally put first points on the board for the Red V.

A Caitlin Turnbull line-break nearly created points for Wests Tigers in the 23rd minute, and it was only five minutes later that Jetaya Faifua grabbed a second off the back of another long-range bust, this time from skipper Kezie Apps.

Another tough conversion was slotted successfully by Bass to make it a 16-6 Wests Tigers lead at half-time.

Turnbull was inches away from scoring moments later, however it was the Dragons who crossed next through Tori Shipton.

At 16-12, the next team to score was likely to win the match and despite numerous chances, neither team could post further points.

Wests Tigers deserved their victory in a match that ebbed and flowed throughout the entirety of the contest and will look to go back-to-back when they take on the Cowboys at Leichhardt next weekend.

Wests Tigers 16 (Faifua 2, Thorne tries; Bass 2/3 goals) defeated Dragons 12 (Hopkins, Shipton tries; McGregor 2/2 goals) at Allianz Stadium.