Sheens praises his tough Tigers

Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheen praised the effort of his team in a ‘difficult week’ for the club which ended with a fifth straight NRL victory over North Queensland at Campbelltown.

Injuries and illness meant the Tigers could only put in one decent training session according to Sheens, who was thrilled his side beat the Cowboys 26-18 in front of 13,059 fans on Sunday.

“We had plenty of issues and I’m really happy with the way the boys aimed up … I’m pretty happy with the way the boys stuck together in defence in particular,” Sheens said.

“Liam Fulton (shoulder) pulled out yesterday. Chrissy Lawrence wasn’t going to play, we had a little bit of illness and other issues in the camp. We just didn’t get in a training session, a really decent training session until yesterday (Saturday).

“I know every club has those sorts of issues but we had Matty Utai and Lote (Tuqiri)go home with the flu on Tuesday, so it was just one of those weeks.”

The Tigers also welcomed back captain and NSW Origin hooker Robbie Farah, who admitted to feeling a bit second-hand after playing against Queensland on Wednesday night.

“It was a tough game and I actually would have preferred to play a couple of days ago,” he said.

“You’re still on a high after the game on Wednesday night … when you have a few days off the soreness kicks in.”

“The boys helped me through it and the fact that we had a fair of possession got me through the game even though I was a little bit scratchy.”

Also on the back-up from Origin was Queensland pivot Johnathan Thurston who said the Cowboys had their chances to win the game.

“I thought we had enough ball but our execution and play down their end was pretty poor,” Thurston said.

“Errors, bad passing, dropped ball, we just let them off the hook too many times.”

The Tigers made a perfect start with Tim Moltzen scoring off a Benji Marshall bomb in the second minute.

Soon after North Queensland’s NSW forward James Tamou was placed on report for dangerous contact with Marshall after he had kicked.

The Cowboys hit back with tries to Glenn Hall and Antonio Winterstein before a 40-metre Lote Tuqiri intercept try a couple of minutes before halftime gave the Tigers a 14-12 lead at the break.

Marshall scored 17 minutes into the second half before winger Ashley Graham scored out wide for the Cowboys with Thurston converting to make it 20-18.

Moltzen sealed it for the Tigers with his second try two minutes from time.