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Wests Tigers are a breath of fresh air

Roar Pro
9th June, 2014
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James Tedesco (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Rob Cox)
Roar Pro
9th June, 2014
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Wests Tigers fans are smiling like the Cheshire Cat. They are sitting equal fourth on the ladder after a gutsy win at hostile Hunter Stadium on Sunday, a win coach Mick Potter described as “an achievement” in his typically understated manner.

And they are seeing the fruits of a well-executed youth policy, with several youngsters hitting fifth gear at the same time. Fans of the black and golds are just warming the vocal chords for a lengthy period of shouting the names of Luke Brooks, James Tedesco and Curtis Sironen.

With coach Potter at the helm this Tigers team isn’t going to be a carbon copy of the successful teams of seasons past, but the 2014 Wests has the grunt and the swagger to live up to the hype it is starting to generate.

The Tigers led the offloads 10-0 early in Sunday’s game. They drew level when young half Brooks sensed his team desperately needed something and he conjured a near-perfect 40/20.

They took the lead when Pat Richards went into his big bag of tricks and nailed a field goal while his side lost ground. To top it all off, they then made convention look pretty as centre Chris Lawrence crashed onto a Brooks and Tedesco marvel to seal it.

Tedesco regathered the opening kick off too – a Richards mid-field bomb into the wind that no other NRL side has in the kit.

That’s why Wests Tigers fans are smiling. In the era of complete, copy-cat and kick, Wests Tigers are the games’ innovators and they are only just getting started.

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