The Cowboys take on the Titans in an unpredictable all-Queensland affair in Townsville. Later, the Wests Tigers meet the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
A Luke Brooks field goal secured back-to-back wins for Wests Tigers after defeating South Sydney 23-22 in a thrilling clash at CommBank Stadium.
He has been challenged for as long as I can remember, and obviously he has got a good partner now in Jacko. Over the last couple of weeks we have been able to win the completions which is something every team talks about and it is an important part in winning the game": Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire. For them to keep turning up and keep us in the fight was pretty special but we can't keep asking ourselves to keep doing it. "We were under 70 per cent completions and had 16 errors - a lot of them at the back end of the field. To our middle's credit, I thought their resilience was superb. In the Warriors and Titans games we were very close, we had a bit of a hiccup against Newcastle and Cronulla. What I have seen over the last month is how the group has really galvanised and someone like Luke Brooks has gone through a fair bit in his career and what a special moment that was to see him kick the field goal. - Just as the game looked to be slipping from the grasp of the Tigers, Ken Maumalo scored in the 24th minute after Luke Brooks fired a long pass to centre Starford To'a to create space for the Kiwis winger.
'IT'S A DREAM!': Brooks the hero as Tigers pull off stunning repeat in Bunnies boilover.
Souths finished with 16 errors to three, more than the 14 they have averaged all season, and completed just 67%. “I have to give Jacko (Hastings) a wrap, he has taken a lot of pressure of me, the last two weeks I have come to the game feeling calm, and sort of enjoying my footy again.” “Seeing him talk after the game and talk about his feelings, he doesn’t really talk like that and I think these last couple of weeks, he would never say it was hard, but it would have been hard.” “I thought I don’t know how he is getting himself to training with a positive attitude, to get himself to the next week, everything seemed to be lumped on his shoulders and a change of number seems to be doing the trick.” “In short the answer is no, but if you have a look at Hastings career, he has done a hell of a job at Salford, played in big games and big moments and the way that he has introduced himself to Tigers fans has been great,” Cronk said. “It eases the pressure on me and it just allowed me to just come in when I want the ball and I think he has been enormous for me so I can’t thank him enough.” “We have seen players under pressure throughout the history of the game, but Luke Brooks, the pressure that has been applied to him over the opening five rounds, I felt for him,” Greg Alexander said. “He is marshalling his team, he is telling them where to go and what they need to do, and that’s been missing from the Tigers so he holds the keys to the Tigers victory, he needs a lot to happen around him, but he is the key man for Wests Tigers.” Michael Maguire, in a last-ditch attempt to revitalise his side, swapped Brooks and Hastings’ positions in the playmaking roles once the now halfback served a suspension for a dangerous tackle. “He just is taking control and led the team around, that came out naturally in him, he is a natural leader,” Brooks said. A lovely sleight of hand from fullback Daine Laurie to set up David Nofoaluma for the first try of the evening to make it five in his past five games at the venue and he finished with a double. In only his second game in the No.7, Hastings looked at home, directing his teammates and being the organiser the Tigers so desperately needed at the start of the season.
Souths are 1-17 with Tass 18th player. Wests Tigers. 1. Daine Laurie 2. David Nofoaluma 17. Luke Garner 4. Starford To'a 5. Ken Maumalo 6 ...
Alex Twal 16. Alex Seyfarth 12. Luke Brooks 7. Luke Garner 4. Garner comes back into the side at centre with Gildart joining the bench. Jake Simpkin and Kelma Tuilagi are also out, with Liddle named at hooker and Seyfarth second row.
Lightning has struck twice for the Wests Tigers, stunning the South Sydney Rabbitohs thanks to a final minute field goal from Luke Brooks.
The Rabbitohs finished with 15 players after losing Hame Sele to a concussion and Jacob Host to a dislocated shoulder. Souths challenged given there was only two minutes left, but the call was proven right - and a strange game, as those between the Rabbitohs and Tigers often are, came to an end shortly after. It came after a bizarre incident on the previous set, where Damien Cook had charged the ball down and regathered, only for a brilliant refereeing call to intervene, saying that the chargedown had grazed another Rabbitoh, who was accidentally offside.
David Nofoaluma got the scoring underway for the evening, latching onto a cut-out pass from Daine Laurie and barging past two defenders to score his fourth try ...
Shortly after Milne’s return, Wests Tigers began to target the right edge of South Sydney and were quickly rewarded. A late break to South Sydney saw Alex Twal sent to the sin bin for a professional foul, but the home side held on to enter halftime with a two-point advantage. However, South Sydney were able to overcome the man advantage and Cody Walker equalised the scores before Alex Johnston put his side in front with a try in the left corner.
Luke Brooks was the hero as the Wests Tigers defeated South Sydney 23-22 in a thriller on Saturday night.
How good for the Tigers! Stoked for them. And at the death! The Wests Tigers have pulled off a thrilling one-point win for the second week in a row thanks to the efforts of one of their star players.
Luke Brooks has gone from Wests Tigers punching bag to match-winner, making it two straight for the joint-venture with a shock 23-22 victory over South ...
"What a special moment it was for him to kick the field goal. They also bagged their first try of the second half with the Tigers down to 12, with Alex Twal off the field for a professional foul just before the break. Bizarrely, Souths scored both their first-half tries while down to 12 men, with Milne sin-binned for a late high hit in the lead up to the Tigers' opening points. Laurie was involved in everything before his injury, putting David Nofoaluma over for the Tigers' first with a quick catch-and-pass from Hastings. The win came at some cost, though, with Tigers fullback Daine Laurie suffering a medial injury in his knee and expected to miss a fortnight. It came at the end of an enthralling clash which featured Brooks putting the Tigers six up with a 70-metre runaway try late on before the Rabbitohs hit back to level the scores.