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Wests Tigers skipper Robbie Farah led his team to a comfortable 36-12 victory over Cronulla in an NRL trial match at Gosford on Saturday night.
Farah scored two tries and set up another two as the Tigers skipped away to an easy win in the first game of a double-header.
The scoreline wasn’t the only concern for the Sharks, with lock Paul Gallen a late withdrawal with a thigh injury while Trent Barrett was hardly sighted after half time.
The Sharks looked rusty in the first half as a string of fumbled passes and muffed catches left them 18-0 down at the break.
However, they were unlucky not to have the lead in the 11th minute with a disallowed try to Reece Williams because of a dubious push on Mitch Brown, who dropped a simple catch from a Trent Barrett bomb.
The Tigers were missing superstar Benji Marshall but Robert Lui put in an impressive display at five-eighth and Moltzen hardly missed a beat at halfback.
Lui combined beautifully with Farah to score the Tigers’ second try.
The hooker passed to his No.6 from dummy-half, Lui duly broke three tackles before handing the ball back on a platter.
Farah also set up Mitch Brown’s second-half try, before going it alone in the 60th minute.
The Sharks came out firing in the second half, with Siosaia Vave bursting through the Tigers defence to put Kelly in.
Vave also put in a pass to Isaac Gordon, who scored a consolation try in the 66th minute.
Daniel Fitzhenry missed the match with a groin strain, but Tigers officials were confident the winger would play the opening round.
Tigers coach Tim Sheens lauded the efforts of his skipper, but didn’t get carried away with praise for the rest of his team.
“I didn’t think it was a great game, but I was happy with Robbie Farah in particular, he led the show,” he told reporters.
“Our forwards tackled alright, but it was just a scrappy game. A lot of errors from both sides.
“But we got through without injuries and we won it strongly.”
Sheens said his men were fortunate to get so far in front in the first half.
“They (the Sharks) dropped a lot of ball. We started poorly and if they had have been stronger with the ball in hand, we would have been in a lot of trouble,” he said.
Sharks skipper Trent Barrett said his side had a lot of ground to make up before they could hope to mix it with the best teams in the competition.
“We didn’t control the ruck and Robbie Farah cut us to pieces,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on.
“I know it’s only a trial and you want to take positives out of it, but there weren’t too many.”
Barrett said the good showing from Vave in the second half could see him landing a regular spot in the senior side.
“It’s a terrific effort from him, when you look at where he’s come from,” the skipper said.
“He hasn’t even played a first grade game yet.”
Barrett sat out the second half but said he would be right for the opening round.
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