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Opinion
In an uninspiring clash, the Wests Tigers have kept their slim finals hopes alive this afternoon. The Tigers beat the Canterbury Bulldogs 28-16, with the best thing about the victory, for Michael Maguire, being the two competition points.
It was the Tigers who would strike first, after a Dylan Napa crusher was called late in a tackle count.
Some bright play from the Tigers followed. Adam Doueihi switched play back towards the right and found Luke Brooks in support. He then gave the ball to Jacob Liddle, who drifted across field, spotted a gap and found Luciano Leilua who crashed over.
The lead wasn’t to last long. With barely ten minutes gone, a quick play the ball from Jeremy Marshall-King set Nick Meaney against a backpedalling defence.
Meaney burst through the middle of the ruck and found Jake Averillo in support. Averillo was caught but his speculative flick pass found Meaney backing up to score.
The Tigers were to retake the lead after 24 minutes, with back-to-back Bulldogs errors yielding field position.
Ken Maumolo got himself one-on-one with Corey Allan, after a classy long ball from Moses Mbye, and he did enough to score. A conversion from the sideline made it 12-6.
Both sides were guilty of making too many errors, and a Bulldog scrum base play gone wrong created another opportunity. A pinpoint Brooks cross-field kick was taken by a leaping Maumolo and he had claimed a double.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
However, just as you thought the Tigers were in control, the Bulldogs hit back. This time, off a Michael Chee-Kam error, the Bulldogs got a chance.
A quick play the ball play again featured Marshall-King. Averillo got a good ball away to Corey Waddell who ran a great line to score. The margin was reduced to six points at halftime.
Whatever Trent Barrett said at halftime, it didn’t have the desired effect. Ava Seumanufagai knocked on in the first play from the kick-off.
The resulting block play penalty from a Tigers’ bomb extended Wests’ lead to beyond a converted try.
Perhaps still on the back foot from the early error, the Bulldogs conceded again with 30 minutes left in the game. Doeuihi aimed his kick at the Tigers’ right edge and Tommy Talau launched himself to score.
The Tigers led 26-12 at this stage.
The Bulldogs came again but, as has been the case so often this year, poor discipline and errors hurt them. Jack Hetherington’s concession of a penalty while on attack appeared to burst the Bulldogs’ bubble.
Both sides were struggling to generate much in attack, until an Allan try reduced the margin to ten with 15 minutes remaining. A smart second-man play and crafty pass from Will Hopoate created the chance.
That was as close as they got, with a series of Bulldogs errors killing any momentum. Doueihi iced the win with a penalty goal with three minutes remaining and the 28-16 victory was complete.
Michael Maguire described it as a “scrappy win” but was happy with the efforts of his players to close out the win. “Completions and building pressure” were still seen as areas to improve.
From Trent Barrett’s perspective, “individual errors and ill discipline” hurt the Bulldogs, with the first 20 minutes of the second half being especially disappointing.
3 points: Stefano Utoikamanu is fast becoming the enforcer for the Wests Tigers, and he was no different today. With the game on the line for the first 50 minutes, Utoikamanu led all forwards for metres gained. His work rate was exceptional.
2 points: Luke Brooks is a much maligned player but he was better today. His kicking game was first class, notching his first 40-20 for the season and an accurate cross-field kick leading to a try. Brooks also seemed to take the line on more in this afternoon’s effort.
1 point: With the Bulldogs halves still struggling, Jeremy Marshall-King was Canterbury’s pick this afternoon. Much of their better play was created off his well timed dummy half runs. The Meaney and Waddell tries both came via Marshall-King.
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