It was a tough result for the Wests Tigers as they went down 24-10 to the North Queensland Cowboys in Round 26 of the Telstra Premiership.
The Tigers produced a gritty performance but couldn’t come away with the result.
Wests Tigers went into halftime leading 10-8 after two Jarome Luai-assisted tries, following a spirited first-half effort.
The visitors were scoreless in the second half despite going close on several occasions.
WT #257 Fonua Pole brought up his 100th NRL match for the Wests Tigers.
7th minute: Tom Chester finds a gap and scores. Scott Drinkwater converts. Cowboys 6-0.
13th minute: On the last play, metres from the line, Jarome Luai puts a well-weighted kick off his right foot through the Cowboys defence, which Jeral Skelton grounds in a close contest. Jock Madden converts. 6-6.
22nd minute: Drinkwater successfully kicks a penalty goal. Cowboys 8-6.
31st minute: Madden puts up a bomb on the last tackle from the left to the right edge. Samuela Fainu knocks it back into the hands of Luai, who throws a long pass to Junior Tupou on the left wing to score. Tigers 10-8.
34th minute: Tony Sukkar leaves the field for an HIA. He is cleared to return to play.
53rd minute: Heilum Luki makes a run and scores on the right edge. The try is converted. Cowboys 14-10.
58th minute: A Drinkwater kick deflects off the uprights and is caught by Jaxon Purdue, who scores. Drinkwater converts. Cowboys 20-10.
79th minute: Chester goes over on the right edge. Cowboys 24-10.
What they said
NRL Head Coach Benji Marshall
"I'm really proud of our players' effort."
"I asked them to fight for everything, even though we've got nothing to play for in terms of the table and the semis, and I thought they did a great job of that."
Wests Tigers now play the Penrith Panthers at CommBank Stadium in their final match of the season on Sunday, 6 September, at 4.05pm.
