The Wests Tigers have gone down 20-16 to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a hard-fought clash in Gosford.
It was a tough start for the Tigers, going down 12-0 in the first 10 minutes.
Benji Marshall’s side dug deep, shifting momentum toward the end of the first half, leading 14-12 at the break off the back of an eight-point try to Heamasi Makasini.
The second half was a tight contest, with both sides trading blows until an Alex Johnston try in the final 14 minutes sealed victory for the hosts.
Api Koroisau was instrumental throughout the evening, providing a strong performance at hooker, while Alex Twal was tireless on defence, leading the side in tackles with 37. Jahream Bula was strong at fullback, clocking up 189 run metres – including 74 post-contact. Royce Hunt made a big impact off the bench, with 100 run metres in his 23 minutes of action.
The Tigers were dealt multiple blows in the back end of the match as Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi left the field of play in the second half with injury – both will be sent for scans.
The moments:
4th minute: The Rabbitohs take an early lead, with Jye Gray crossing for the opening try of the match. Latrell Mitchell converts for his side to lead 6-0.
8th minute: Gray is involved again, assisting Jack Wighton on his outside, extending the Rabbitohs lead. Mitchell converts again. Rabbitohs lead 12-0.
37th minute: An impressive 40-metre run from Api Koroisau puts the Tigers in good field position. A quick play-the-ball allows Jarome Luai to set up Samuela Fainu for the Tigers first try. Adam Doueihi converts to make it 12-6.
40th minute: A floating torpedo bomb from Adam Doueihi is knocked on by the Moala Graham-Taufa. The loose ball is gathered by Jarome Luai and passed to Haemasi Makasini, scoring on the left edge. High contact by Latrell Mitchell is referred to the Bunker, resulting in the Tigers being awarded an eight-point try. Doueihi converts both attempts, giving the Tigers a 14-12 lead at halftime.
52nd minute: Off the back of a Jamie Humphreys bomb, knocked back by Alex Johnston, Latrell Mitchell scores on the wing to put the Rabbitohs back in front. The try is unconverted. Rabbitohs lead 16-14.
56th minute: Keaon Koloamatangi loses the ball forward, Peter Mamouzelos picks up the ball in an offside position. The Tigers opt to take the two points and Doueihi gets the penalty goal, levelling the match 16-16.
66th minute: Jarome Luai leaves the field of play with a suspected injury.
67th minute: Cody Walker puts in a grubber, which is collected over the line by Alex Johnston. The try is unconverted. Rabbitohs lead 20-16.
78th minute: Adam Doueihi leaves the field of play with a suspected injury.
What they said:
NRL Head Coach, Benji Marshall
“I thought it was a high-quality game. I thought we started poorly with our ball control and backing it up defensively, but after that to go into halftime leading and then come out pretty strong.
“I just said to the players, if you put in that sort of performance and you don't get the result, you can cop that, but if you don't play the way you want to play, then that's dramas for us.
I would have preferred to win, but at the same time, like we're setting foundations for the way we want to play our footy, and I thought tonight we played the way we want to play and what we practiced in the preseason. And it's a credit to the boys, because they really dug in tonight.
Benji Marshall NRL Head Coach
“There's a lot of good to take away from the game, and they had to score two tries off kicks at the back end to get through us. So that's positive for us. It's a credit to Souths, because we had them pinned in their half for a lot of that second half, and they just got some attacking, brilliant players who got them out of trouble and got them home at the end.
