2021 NRL Round 8, Dragons 8 Tigers 16 – Report

Craig Cauchi reviews the encounter between the Dragons and the Tigers. Here’s how the game went.

SCOREBOARD

Player of the Year Points

3 pts – Adam Doueihi Tigers)
2 pts – Daine Laurie (Tigers)
1 pt – Zac Cini (Tigers)

MATCH REPORT

1st Half

The Dragons got on the board early through a penalty goal and after a couple of completed sets extended their lead with a try to Cody Ramsey. Ben Hunt ran it on the last and with Josh Kerr keeping the ball alive, the Dragons halves combined to create space for Jack Bird on the other side of the field to set up Cody Ramsey in the corner. The ball was coughed up by the Dragons off the restart but they weren’t made to pay despite numerous attempts from the Tigers. The Tigers forwards interchanged some passes in the middle but it wasn’t until Adam Doueihi cut back inside and passed it for Daine Laurie to split the defence up the middle. Luke Brooks placed a fifth tackle kick with David Nofoaluma getting above the pack to knock it back for Tommy Talau to score. A crazy period of play preceded the Dragons taking back the lead with a penalty goal. Zac Cini’s last ditch effort prevented Billy Burns from scoring only for the Tigers to hand the ball over with a forward pass from dummy half. Matt Dufty ran the short side of the scrum and had the ball illegally stripped from his possession. The Tigers found space out wide against the Dragons but couldn’t get over the line as the Dragons held on to an unlikely lead at half time.

HALF-TIME: St George Illawarra Dragons 8 vs Wests Tigers 6

2nd Half

Debutant Zac Cini almost started the second half in great fashion for the Wests Tigers, touching down when a Luke Brooks kick failed to be defused. The bunker reviewed the play and judged Joey Leilua to have knocked on in contesting the kick. The Tigers were straight back on attack with an error from Jack Bird and earned themselves a repeat set. This time the debutant wasn’t denied with the Tigers finding Zac Cini off of a lovely play from the scrum. It took a while for the Tigers to turn their domination into points and with 15 minutes left to play they created enough space for Joey Leilua to shrug off defenders on his run to the line. The Tigers doing enough to earn their second win for the year.

FULL-TIME: St George Illawarra Dragons 8 Wests Tigers 16

Injuries

Zac Lomax (Dragons) – thumb
Cody Ramsey (Dragons) – ribs

Match Review Committee

Tommy Talau (Tigers) – Grade 1 Shoulder Charge – Early Guilty Plea 1 match ban, Guilty at Judiciary 2 match ban.

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