The Wests Tigers secured their first win at Go Media Stadium since 2016, defeating the New Zealand Warriors 32-14 in a convincing and resilient performance in Auckland.
Despite trailing by 10 points in the 16th minute, it was a 33rd-minute try from 21-year-old debutant, Tino Tavana, which started an unstoppable eight-minute surge of 16 unanswered points – giving the Tigers a 16-10 lead at halftime.
A strong defensive effort from the Tigers kept the home side at bay for long periods of the match. The Tigers had five players make over 40 tackles, led by Alex Twal with 48 and Api Koroisau with 47.
Jock Madden played a key role in the halves, with his kicking game proving pivotal throughout the match. The half, scoring in his first game for the Club since 2022 and finishing with four from six conversion attempts.
Key stats:
- Adam Doueihi: ran for 208 metres from 14 carries, with nine tackle breaks, two line breaks and two try assists.
- Five tigers players recorded 40+ tackles: Alex Twal (48), Api Koroisau (47), Terrell May (42), Samuela Fainu (42), Kai Pearce-Paul (41)
- Api Koroisau: recorded 130 passes and 135 receipts.
- Kai Pearce-Paul: scored his third try in Tigers colours, along with 14 hit-ups and 52 post-contact metres.
- The Tigers secured their first win at Go Media Stadium since Round 25, 2016
The moments
10th minute: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad scores on the right edge, assisted by Taine Tuaupiki. The conversion was unsuccessful with the Warriors leading 4-0.
16th minute: Warriors cross for a second time through Tanah Boyd setting up Jacob Laban. Boyd converts to extend the hosts lead to 10-0.
19th minute: Warriors centre, Adam Pompey is sin-binned for a professional foul after tackling Tino Tavana from a goal-line restart.
33rd minute: Adam Doueihi goes for a strong 30+ metre run down the field and passes it off to debutant, Tino Tavana on the wing for the Tigers first try of the match. The kick goes unconverted, reducing the margin to 10-4.
36th minute: Jock Madden puts up a bomb, which is tapped back by Tavana, collected by Sunia Turuva and shifted to Kai Pearce-Paul, who crosses for the Tigers second try of the match. Jock Madden converts, levelling the match 10-10.
40th minute: On the stroke of half-time, Royce Hunt crashes over to put the Tigers ahead, it was converted, sending Benji Marshall’s side into the sheds ahead 16-10.
60th minute: Doueihi makes another impactful run, breaking away deep in the Tigers half, linking with Jahream Bula, who finishes for his first try of the season to extend the lead to 22-10.
69th minute: A defensive lapse allowed Nicoll-Klokstad to get his second try. The conversion is missed, narrowing the score to 22-14.
75th minute: Doueihi offloads to Luke Laulilii on the sideline, who puts it back inside to Jock Madden to score. He converts his own try, pushing the lead to 28-14.
80th minute: Turuva crosses on the right edge to seal the result. The try was unconverted, ending with a 32-14 victory for the boys in orange, black and white.
What they said:
NRL Head Coach, Benji Marshall
“It was probably the most resilient performance I've seen from us in a long time.
“I was very proud of the team, just to show the resilience to fight back. I think the Warriors were 17 from 18 at one stage, giving us nothing at all. I thought our left edge, after they got dusted a little bit early, made some adjustments on the run to fight back and do a fair job, which is hard, especially having two 19-year-olds out there that are still learning the positions.
“I was just really happy we played the type of footy that we've been talking about wanting to play.”
On Jock Madden:
“He's been on the bench for two games with us, biding his time, and had a great preseason.
“I thought he was the difference tonight. He put Adam in position so he could just run. He did all the kicking, took all the pressure off Adam and let him just play.
“His grandfather passed away last week, and he didn't make the funeral because he wanted to play for the team, and he said his grandfather would want him to play. So we're really proud of him for that, and his grandfather would have been really proud of him.
Captain, Api Koroisau
When asked about coming back from a 10-point deficit in the first half:
“Honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with the Warriors putting on points, but just how we just stopped them rolling. We've had issues with that in the past, and we've let a lot of teams get a lot of points on us. And yeah, just the chat out there. You know, the other leaders were really up, and I think even the rookies did a really great job of doing their job. So, it was a great team effort.”
When talking about Tino Tavana’s debut:
“He’s just one of those special kids, super talented, and obviously needed to do a bit of work in the preseason. But he proved it to us over those three months and really came out and didn't leave anything on the field tonight. It was great to see him take that opportunity.”
