Three late tries to St George-Illawarra has seen the Wests Tigers suffer a disappointing 24-10 loss tonight in Round 18 of the Telstra Premiership.
Trailing 6-4 at half-time, the Tigers took an early second half lead before three tries in the final 10 minutes saw the Dragons claim the two points at Kogarah.
Tigers captain Api Koroisau suffered a pectoral injury in the second half with the hooker to undergo scans to determine the extent of the injury.
The match began with an early sin bin to Dragons captain Clint Gutherson, with the Tigers capitalising through a try to half-back Adam Doueihi for a 4-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes.
The Dragons hit back in the 20th minute to level the scores before a Valentine Holmes penalty goal on the stroke of halftime gave the home side a narrow 6-4 lead at the break.
The Tigers regained the lead midway through the second half, but with the score at 12-10 entering the final 10 minutes, the Dragons finished strongly with three tries in eight minutes to take the victory.
Key stats:
Adam Doueihi: The halfback scored a double to now be two points from equaling Joel Caine as the Club’s third-highest point scorer.
Alex Twal: On return, the imposing lock recorded a side-leading 53 tackles.
Running metres: Jahream Bula led the side with 193, alongside Jeral Skelton with 183, Starford Toa with 163, Terrell May with 176 and Heamasi Makasini with 151.
The Moments:
3rd minute: Clint Gutherson is sent from the field for a professional foul.
9th minute: Jock Madden finds his halves partner Adam Doueihi, who barges over on the left edge, taking three defenders with him to score the opening try of the match. Doueihi is unable to convert from the sideline, with the Tigers leading 4-0.
16th minute: Heamasi Makasini leaves the field for a head injury assessment. Makasini passes his assessment and is cleared to return.
20th minute: Tyrell Sloan is put into space on the left edge and goes over for the home side's first try of the contest. The conversion is unsuccessful, leaving the scores locked at 4-4.
40th minute: Valentine Holmes kicks a penalty goal for the Dragons to take the lead.
44th minute: Sione Fainu leaves the field for a head injury assessment. Fainu passes his assessment and is cleared to return.
48th minute: Doueihi puts through a grubber that initially appears to have no Tigers chasers in sight. As the ball is about to go dead, Doueihi comes from nowhere to toe it past the Dragons defenders waiting for it to roll over the dead-ball line, scoring his second try of the night. Madden converts to give the Tigers a 10-6 lead.
69th minute: The Dragons shift the ball through the hands before Valentine Holmes finishes on the left edge to level the scores. Holmes converts from the sideline to put the home side ahead 12-10.
72nd minute: Holmes finds space on the left edge for his second try of the night. He converts his own try to extend the Dragons lead to 18-10.
77th minute: Matthew Feagai crosses on the right edge. Holmes converts to extend the Dragons lead to 24-10.
What they said:
NRL Head Coach, Benji Marshall:
“To be honest, our discipline, attention to detail, and care wasn't good enough, so full credit to the Dragons, because they earned their win”
“We had a chance to turn up today and have a real crack at it, but again we weren't good enough”
