The Wests Tigers have pulled off the biggest upset of the round 2 weeks in a row now, as they were able to over come the Storm 10-8 on Saturday night.
MATCH DETAILS
The Tigers displayed impressive defence once again, reducing Melbourne’s lethal attack to just one try for the entire game. Ivan Cleary’s side competed well in the forwards, and were able to grind out the match against the Storm, waiting for their opportunity to strike. They scored their first six points of the game by kicking three penalty goals, however once the Storm crossed the try line in the 63rd minute through Suliasi Vunivalu, it was clear that the Tigers needed to pull off something bigger to get the win. That came in the 77th minute when Luke Brooks crashed over the try line, leaving it too late for the Storm to cross the line again.
FOUR POINTERS
Benji Right at Home
Benji Marshall has been superb since returning to his true home, the Wests Tigers. Marshall was impressive last week against the Roosters, and his experience was vital against the Storm on Saturday night. The veteran playmaker constantly put pressure on the Storm with his kicking game, and he did a great job of organising his side in attack… It’s great to see Marshall still performing well in the Tigers jersey.
Yet Another Professional Foul
It’s only Round 2 of the NRL season, yet we have already seen numerous players sent to the sin bin for professional fouls, which was once again the case on Saturday night. This time it was Ben Matulino who was given a 10 minute rest after trying to stop a quick tap by Cameron Munster. The penalty proved costly for the Tigers, with the Storm grabbing their only try of the game while Matulino was off the field.
Cleary can Coach
Phil Gould is starting to look quite foolish for getting rid of Ivan Cleary, as the former Penrith coach is demonstrating just how good of a coach he is with his great work for the Wests Tigers so far. The Tigers were tipped for the bottom 4 this season, and absolutely no one would have tipped them to win in the first 2 rounds, yet here they sit in the top 4, after knocking over the top 2 teams in the competition. It’s only early days, but Cleary seems to be doing a great job with the Tigers.
Disappointing Milestone for Billy
The Storm usually win their milestone games, but on Saturday night they were unable to give Billy Slater a victory in his 300th game. Slater was strong in his first game of 2018, running for 104 metres and touching the ball 26 times. Melbourne will be disappointed to have lost for Slater in such an important game in his career.
THE RESULT
Melbourne Storm 8
Tries:ย Vunivalu
Goals:ย Smith 0/1
Penalty Goals: 2/2
Wests Tigers 10
Tries:ย Brooks
Goals: 0/1
Penalty Goals:ย 3/3
SQUADS
Storm: 1 Billy Slater, 2 Suliasi Vunivalu, 3 Will Chambers, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Brodie Croft, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Cameron Smith (c), 10 Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Ryan Hoffman, 13 Dale Finucane Interchange: 14 Tim Glasby, 15 Kenny Bromwich, 16 Christian Welch, 17 Sam Kasiano Reserves: 18 Young Tonumaipea, 19 Joe Stimson, 20 Billy Walters, 21 Brandon Smith
Tigers: 1 Tuimoala Lolohea, 2 Corey Thompson, 3 Esan Marsters, 4 Kevin Naiqama, 5 Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, 14 Benji Marshall, 7 Luke Brooks, 8 Russell Packer, 9 Pita Godinet, 10 Ben Matulino, 11 Chris Lawrence, 12 Robbie Rochow, 13 Elijah Taylor Interchange: 14 Matt McIlwrick 15 Alex Twal, 16 Michael Chee Kam, 17 Matthew Eisenhuth Reserves: 18 Josh Aloiai, 19 David Nofoaluma, 20 Tim Grant, 21 Tyson Gamble
https://nothingbutleague.com/2017/09/21/2017-nrl-season-review-wests-tigers/
