The Wests Tigers were defeated 52-10 by the Cronulla Sharks away in Round 9 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
The Tigers were trailing 18-10 at halftime, but the hosts pulled away in the second half, scoring 34 unanswered points.
Adam Doueihi left the field in the 10th minute due to a shoulder dislocation sustained while scoring the Tigers first try of the evening, while Samuela Fainu also left the field due to injury late in the game.
Key Stats:
Defence: The Tigers made 427 tackles, with Alex Twal leading the side with 62, followed by Tristan Hope (58) and Terrell May (53).
Taylan May: The winger scored his third try in as many matches since returning to the side after an injury in the Tigers opening match.
The Moments:
4th minute: A mistake on a contested kick by the Tigers gave the ball to Cronulla’s KL Iro, who passed it to Teig Wilton, crossing for the opening try.
10th minute: Adam Doueihi wrapped around Jarome Luai to receive the ball and crossed the line for the Tigers first try of the match. Unfortunately, Doueihi dislocated his shoulder in the act of scoring and left the field. Luke Laulilii was unable to convert. The Tigers trailed 6-4.
16th minute: Luai passed the ball to Samuela Fainu, who stormed through the Sharks midfield before passing to Taylan May, who glided 45 metres to score underneath the posts, giving Jock Madden an easy conversion. The Tigers led 10-6.
20th minute: Hynes passed to Iro, who beat the Tigers defence to level the scores. Hynes converted, putting the home side ahead, 12-10.
34th minute: Blayke Brailey found Jesse Colquhoun metres from the Tigers line, who went through an open gap in the defence. The Sharks extended their lead to 18-10 going into halftime.
48th minute: Iro saw an opportunity to go over for his second try of the match. Hynes converted again, stretching the Sharks lead to 24-10.
56th minute: Brailey put a kick forward that was taken by Wilton for his second try of the match, converted by Hynes, the Sharks lead 30-10.
69th minute: Braydon Trindall puts Samuel Stonestreet over on the left edge. The try was converted, bringing the score to 40-10.
78th minute: Iro scored his third try of the match, bringing up the Sharks 50th point. It was converted, cementing a 52-10 victory for the home side.
78th minute: Samuela Fainu left the field with a suspected lower leg injury.
What they said:
NRL Head Coach, Benji Marshall:
“I thought we got taught a lesson by a classy side tonight.
“I don't know what team was out there, but that wasn't the team that we've played like and prepared like, it was actually the opposite.
“We play a brand of footy that's going to have mistakes sometimes, but it's what you do after it, and that's the part that I'm not happy with, what we did defensively after that.
“We’ve just got to get back to playing the footy that works for us on both sides of the ball, and defensively that's the most disappointing thing – that's not us.
