Wests Tigers and the North Queensland Cowboys will meet for the 50th time on Saturday night in Townsville.
In the lead up to the Round 26 game, we take a trip down memory lane to look at some memorable Wests Tigers moments against the Cowboys.
Head-to-Head
Played: 49, Wests Tigers 25, Cowboys 24
Premiership Glory
In 2005, Wests Tigers stunned the league world by shuffling, side-stepping and flick-passing their way to grand final glory with a 30-16 victory over the Cowboys.
Rated as 150/1 outsiders midway through the season, the Tigers manage to claim the game’s greatest prize under Coach Tim Sheens.
The Tigers ran in five tries to three through Daniel Fitzhenry, Bryce Gibbs, Anthony Laffranchi, Pat Richards and Todd Payten, with full-back Brett Hodgson kicking five from six goals.
The match will forever be remembered for Benji Marshall’s iconic flick pass for Pat Richards to finish off a 95‑metre try, one of the most replayed moments in NRL history.
Today, Marshall is the current Wests Tigers Coach, with 2005 premiership winning team-mates in Hodgson and Chris Heighington working as Assistant Coaches.
Richards is the NRL Senior Manager while John Skandalis works in the corporate sales team as a Senior Partnerships Executive.
2005 Tigers prop Todd Payten will go head-to-head with Marshall in his role as Cowboys coach on Saturday.
The 2005 Grand Final was game 13 between the clubs.
Biggest winning margin
Wests Tigers won by a massive 48 points in a 66-18 victory over the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval in Round 12, 2023.
David Nofoaluma, Starford To’a, and Junior Tupou scored two tries each in a match that saw the Tigers lead 24-6 at half-time.
Jahream Bula, To’a, Tupou, Api Koroisau, Fonua Pole and Alex Twal remain the only current Wests Tigers players from that win.
The result also produced the current record for most points scored in a match, the most tries (11), and most goals (11) between the clubs.
Most points scored in a match by an individual
Brett Hodgson still holds the record of 30 points from the 2005 Qualifying Final win over the Cowboys.
‘Hodgo’ crossed for a hat-trick of tries and kicked nine from nine as the Tigers ran in eight tries on their way to their premiership title.
His perfect nine goals remain the record for most goals in a match for the Tigers against the Cowboys.
Furthermore, Hodgson is the only Wests Tigers player to have scored a hat-trick against the Cowboys.
