Brendan Wood reviews the Wests Tigers dominant 48-0 victory over the Brisbane Broncos at Leichhardt Oval. Here’s how the game went:
MATCH TIMELINE
| Minute | Scoring Play | Score |
| 10th | Try – David Nofoaluma (Tigers) | Tigers 6-0 |
| 15th | Try – Harry Grant (Tigers) | Tigers 12-0 |
| 22nd | Try – Luciano Leilua (Tigers) | Tigers 16-0 |
| 25th | Try – Benji Marshall (Tigers) | Tigers 20-0 |
| 34th | Try – Luciano Leilua (Tigers) | Tigers 26-0 |
| 43rd | Try – Luke Garner (Tigers) | Tigers 30-0 |
| 47th | Try – Sam McIntrye (Tigers) | Tigers 36-0 |
| 54th | Try – Billy Walters (Tigers) | Tigers 42-0 |
| 76th | Try – Luke Garner (Tigers) | Tigers 48-0 |
MATCH SUMMARY
1st Half
The first 10 minutes of the game were an arm-wrestle as both sides tried to find a rhythm. Eventually the Broncos were the first team to blink when they made an error deep in their own half. On the first play of the next set the Tigers made the Broncos pay. They spread the ball right off the scrum and created an overlap for David Nofoaluma to score untouched. Just five minutes later the Tigers followed up their first try with another. Off the back of a six again call, Harry Grant took off from dummy-half and found a hole in the Broncos defence to score.
The Broncos were their own worst enemy in the following set when they gave away a penalty to help the Tigers down the field again. The Tigers continued to heap the punishment on the Broncos through Luciano Leilua. Billy Walters went to the line and gave a late pass to Leilua who found another gaping hole in the defence to extend the lead to 16-0 after 22 minutes. Things only went from bad to worse for the Broncos when Jamayne Isaako lost the ball in a tackle. The loose ball was subsequently cleaned up by Benji Marshall who raced away and scored untouched.
Despite the weight of possession, the Tigers refused to let up. They built pressure on the Broncos by forcing a few goal-line drop outs. The Broncos tried to take the easy way out by going with a short drop out, but this backfired immediately when Luciano Leilua caught the ball on the full and palmed off a Broncos defender to score in the corner. The Tigers taking a commanding 26-0 lead into the halftime break.
2nd Half
The Broncos were hoping to get back on track in the second half, but their hopes were dashed very early on. They gave away a penalty to give the Tigers good field position and the Tigers pounced. Benji Marshall held up a pass for Luke Garner who got on the outside of some rushing defence from Jamayne Isaako to score in the corner. Once again, Tigers fans didn’t have to wait long to be cheering another try. David Nofoaluma drifted across field and stabbed a grubber into the in-goal. Tesi Niu made a meal of the loose ball and Sam McIntrye grounded the ball first to heap more misery on the Broncos.
The tries continued to come thick and fast for the Tigers against the hapless Broncos. Benji Marshall put up a bomb and Billy Walters got to it first. He kicked the ball on the full and won the race to the loose ball in the in-goal to score a special individual try. In the final 20 minutes the Broncos went close to scoring through Corey Oates, but he was dragged down one metre short. The game was delayed for several minutes after this tackle, as Oates suffered a badly broken leg and needed to be stretchered from the field.
Despite the break in play the Broncos still could not find their way over the line. The Tigers on the other hand would not be denied another try. Benji Marshall was again involved as he threw a pass to put Luke Garner over for his second try of the night. The Tigers held on in the final few minutes to ensure the Broncos were completely shut out, winning in dominating fashion 48-0.
GAME HIGHLIGHT
Tigers halves Benji Marshall and Billy Walters were the highlight. From start to finish they took control of the game and executed all their plays to almost perfection for the wet conditions. Considering both players have been out of the team several weeks, neither of them missed a beat. Marshall was back to his brilliant best, setting up several tries and scoring an opportunistic try of his own after a Broncos error. Walters also returned to the starting team in emphatic fashion. He setup a try for Luciano Leilua and was heavily involved in attack, but it was his individual kick and regather effort off a Marshall bomb that was the true highlight of all the Tigers’ tries.
SQUADS
Tigers: 1. Adam Doueihi 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Chris Lawrence 4. Moses Mbye 5. Tommy Talau 6. Billy Walters 7. Benji Marshall 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Harry Grant 10. Russell Packer 11. Luke Garner 12. Luciano Leilua 13. Matt Eisenhuth Bench: 14. Sam McIntyre 15. Thomas Mikaele 16. Luke Brooks 17. Chris McQueen
Broncos: 1. Tesi Niu 2. Jamayne Isaako 20. Richard Kennar 4. Darius Boyd 5. Xavier Coates 6. Anthony Milford 7. Brodie Croft 8. Tevita Pangai Junior 9. Issac Luke 10. Payne Haas 11. Ben Te’o 12. Corey Oates 13. Patrick Carrigan Bench: 14. Cory Paix 15. Thomas Flegler 16. Jamil Hopoate 17. Joe Ofahengaue
