Round 6
Wests Tigers 30 d. South Sydney Rabbitohs 10

2008 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Wests Tigers add to Rabbitohs woes
Sun April 20, 2008
Wests Tigers have bounced back from a three game losing streak to defeat the hapless and out of form Rabbitohs 30-10 at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.

Souths got the better of the opening exchanges and led 10-0 following tries to Beau Champion and Ben Rogers in the 20th and 26th minutes respectively.

Chris Heighington scored eight minutes from half-time to get Wests back into the match, but Souths held a four point lead at the break.

The second half was all one-way traffic as the Tigers superior speed, fitness and skill began to show and even without Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall they had too many options for the Rabbitohs, who must now be wondering where their first victory will come from.

Dean Collis, Ben Te'o, Chris Lawrence and Stuart Flanagan scored the four unanswered tries for the Wests Tigers in the second half.

Wests Tigers Coach Tim Sheens said, "We will need to be better to beat Cronulla next week.

"I thought we tackled well in the middle and held their go forward. They run a lot from dummy half and it was tricky conditions in the cricket pitch area.

"We held them there and got a better look at their kickers and what they threw at us in the second half. It was a better half from that point of view.

"We still have plenty of work to do. A side on its game, we could have been 30 behind at half-time, given the amount of ball we turned over.

"I said at the start of the season that it was a watershed year for this club and for plenty of the players within the club.

"We have to play well. We can't continue to miss the semis and play up and down without giving our fans and our club something to cheer about at the end of the season.

"Everything is based around how we keep performing.''

Wests Tigers Captain Brett Hodgson said, "We put last week's match (loss to Canberra) to bed pretty quickly.

"We are playing good in patches and in halves but we are not putting the full 80 minutes together which is a little bit worrying for us.

"We just hung in there in the second half on the back of a good go forward and a good kicking game from Mathew Head and John Morris.

"The try to Chris Heighington under the posts five minutes before half-time really gave us a good bit of momentum going into the second half.''

A bizzare moment occured in the match today when the Tigers were penalised for being off-side from a goal line drop out. It's been a regular occurance for teams to be a metre or two off-side, but referees at NRL don't blow the whistle for them offences.

Sheens added, "I have been the only team penalised this season from a scrum and the only one in front from a line drop out, which everybody is in front from.

"The line drop out is not even taking from the line, it is taken a metre in front. Anyway, we set a precedent so it will be interesting to see how that one goes.

"I have often said that from a kick-off it is bad enough but a line drop out is never taken from behind the line.

"I love to see someone else penalised from a scrum because we are the only ones.''

Souths Coach Jason Taylor said, "There are a lot of people out there who want to bag us but they've never been through anything like this.

"They don't know what it's like to fight out of a hole - what it's like to come out of the other side when everybody was putting you down, everybody ruled you out and didn't think you would good enough.

"But we'll prove them wrong. We'll come out the other side.

"I would have hoped we'd be out the other side by now but we're not.

"But we will keep fighting, don't worry about that.

"We're all under pressure because we've got high standards and we want to win footy games.

"We're working hard to get out of the hole we're in but we're not out of it yet.

"We've got to continue to fight and do what we've got to do. This is part of sport.

"There are three ways we can handle this. We can drop our bundle and go backwards, we can hang in there and eventually we'll get a win or we can learn from it and come out of it a better side."

Souths Co-Captain David Kidwell said, "We're under a bit of pressure because we haven't won a game yet.

"But we're still fighting. We're a pretty shattered dressing room and that's what footy means to us.

"We're really disappointed in ourselves."

It was a good solid victory for the Wests Tigers and they'll take heart after losing their last three matches. Souths are now struggling at six losses from six matches and a few more losses of such proportions might see the Rabbitohs on the search for a new Coach such is the fickle nature of professional sport.

The Wests Tigers and the Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust deserve a huge wrap for allowing the spectators to run on the field five minutes after full-time for a good 15-20 minute period. It was great to see people of all ages out on the middle of one of Australia's most famous sporting venues either playing football, getting their photos taken or remembering the exact spot of many famous Rugby League and Cricket moments.

The NRL along with ground authorities need to look at doing this for ALL competition matches where people can enter the field for 15-20 minutes following the conclusion of the match in the organised fashion it was done today. Obviously the spectators enjoyed it and those who stayed to run onto the field will leave with a lifetime of memories and will want to comeback to the football again to enjoy the experience. This is one moment that watching football in front of the TV box simply can't capture or replicate.

Wests Tigers v Rabbitohs NRL Match Stats


Take to the turf at the SCG
Fri April 18, 2008
Fans attending the Heritage Round game between Wests Tigers and South Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday will have an added bonus to add to their match day experience.

The SCG is the traditional and historical home of Rugby League.

The SCG Trust will introduce the "Take to the Turf" where fans are permitted to enter the SCG field of play five minutes after the conclusion of the match on the sounding of the second siren.

Scoreboard announcements will be made providing directions throughout the event and at the conclusion of the match.

Patrons are invited to bring along a football to kick on the hallowed turf.

"Take to the Turf" will last for approximately 20 minutes.

Gates open at 12.30pm with the Toyota Cup game commencing at 12.45pm before the first grade game kicks off at 3.00pm.

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