It was a varied weekend for the Wests Tigers senior development teams as the Club's Jersey Flegg Cup and NSW Women's Premiership sides recorded important victories to keep their top-five hopes alive.
Jersey Flegg Cup vs Sydney Roosters: 40-26 win
The Wests Tigers Jersey Flegg Cup side earned a much-needed win over the Roosters at Wentworth Park.
It only took four minutes for Kit Laulilii to score a thunderous try under the posts from a Jared Haywood dummy-half offload. Jack Attard converted, starting his point-scoring spree.
Only five minutes later, second-rower Pheonix Godinet collected a dropped catch from the Roosters to score the Tigers second try of the day. Attard converted.
The next try came through Attard, who ran 30 metres off an Archie Duncombe assist down the middle, giving himself an easy conversion.
The Roosters then scored their first try of the game, which was converted, reducing the Tigers lead to 18-6.
A Filipe Huahulu try on the wing and another from the Roosters sent the Tigers into the sheds leading 22-10.
To open the second half, Attard went on an 80-metre run down the left side to add to his tally, converting his own try again.
Soon after, Heith Pritchard added another, with Attard converting to extend the Tigers lead to 34-10.
The Roosters then ran in 12 unanswered points.
Glassie Glassie scored the Tigers final try in the 77th minute, with Attard converting to notch 20 points for the afternoon.
The home side closed the game with a consolation try, giving the Tigers a 40-26 victory.
The Wests Tigers take on the Rabbitohs at Lidcombe Oval on Saturday, 29 August, at 12.00pm in the final regular season match of the Jersey Flegg Cup.
A win in the final round this weekend secures the side’s first Finals berth since 2022.
NSW Women’s Premiership vs Mounties: Won 14-12
Wests Tigers kept their slim finals hopes alive with a gutsy 14-12 victory over Mounties at Lidcombe Oval on Saturday.
It was a solid victory over Mounties after the Tigers overcame a 6-0 deficit after six minutes to lead 10-6 at half-time following tries to Tia-Jordyn Vasilovski and Breeze E'e both within three minutes of each other.
Winger Vasilovski crossed in the 31st minute after a nice shift to the left before E’e enjoyed some good fortune for her try.
A penalty attempt from Wests Tigers centre Vasaliva Feleti went wide of the posts, with Mounties allowing the ball to bounce in-goal into the arms of E’e to take a 10-6 lead in the 34th minute.
Mounties then took a 12-10 lead in the 40th minute through a converted try to Layla Tima.
The Tigers regained the lead in the 54th minute when winger Jade Pond scored in the right corner after two strong runs and offloads from forwards Folau Vaki and Bianca Bennetts.
The victory over the fifth-placed Mounties saw Wests Tigers move to eighth position heading into the final round this weekend.
The Tigers sit two points outside fifth place with the top five teams moving into the finals.
Wests Tigers will need to beat the winless Bulldogs in the final match at Lidcombe Oval on Saturday, 29 August, at 10.00am, and hope results go their way if they are to progress further.
NSW Cup vs Sydney Roosters: 44-28 loss
Western Suburbs Magpies suffered a heavy loss to the Sydney Roosters at Wentworth Park on Sunday in Round 25 of The Knock On Effect Cup.
With their finals campaign over, the Magpies started strongly to lead 12-0 after 17 minutes before the Roosters clicked into gear to score 26 unanswered points in 23 minutes to lead 26-12 at half-time.
The Roosters then added three more second-half tries to their four scored in the first half to run out comfortable winners.
Western Suburbs hooker Bailey Hodges scored the opening try in the seventh minute when he showed a clean pair of heels to race 35 metres to score after good work from prop Mavrik Geyer and lock Charlie Murray for a 6-0 lead.
Five-eighth Javon Andrews crossed in the 15th minute after he followed through his own grubber kick to score next to the posts to make it 12-0.
Trailing 32-12 after 43 minutes, the Magpies hit back when prop Vaka Aho crashed over four minutes later.
The Magpies then scored two tries in eight minutes to winger Fiohiva Fainga'a to get back into the game at 32-28 after 65 minutes.
The Roosters then scored a further two tries to Taylor Losalu in six minutes to claim a 16-point victory.
Western Suburbs now sit in 10th place ahead of their final game of the season against the eighth-placed South Sydney at Lidcombe Oval on Saturday, 29 August, at 2pm.
