West Tigers

PNG national, Justin Olam was impressive in his Tigers debut, scoring a try, notching up over 100 run meters and performing several line breaks and tackle busts.

Being known for his physicality and hard running, Olam has again put them all on show in the match motivating his team to West Tigers first with of the season.

Having taken one of the competition heavyweights to the wire, the Tigers should be walking that little bit taller, but the deflating nature of the loss will have left them feeling flat.

The Broncos, meanwhile, continue to march on and are now inside the top four with all their remaining matches against sides currently below them on the ladder.

Their renaissance under the astute leadership of Adam Reynolds has been remarkable and with a top-four finish at their mercy they can dare to dream of a first premiership since 2006.

No fewer than seven of Ivan Cleary's men are part of the Blues squad for the series decider, so the Panthers mentor could be weighing up the possibility of resting players with eight rounds to go in the regular season.

No such luxury for the Tigers who need all hands on deck and firing at the same time if they are to turn CommBank Stadium into their field of dreams for the third time in 2022 after upsetting the Eels and Rabbitohs there in the space of five days in April.

With Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr running amok out wide and Tevita Pangai jnr on a mission in the middle, the Bulldogs stormed to their third win of the season and gave hope for better things to come in the run home.

Interim coach Mick Potter has had his first taste of success after four games at the helm while his counterpart Brett Kimmorley will look to open his account in his second game at the helm.

Souths have already lost more games than they did all season in 2021 and their devastating left-side attack seems to have deserted them.

In contrast the Tigers have gradually found their feet and the inclusion of Brent Naden gives them another strike weapon out wide.

When the sides met in round seven it was the Tigers coming away with an upset 23-22 victory on the back of a late Luke Brooks field goal so Michael Maguire's men will have plenty of belief heading into Saturday's rematch.

“It’s Luke Brooks this time, it’s a dream,” Dan Ginnane said on Fox League.

A charge-down field goal attempt with less than two minutes to go from Damien Cook led to accidental off-side giving the Tigers’ a full-set, and unlike last week against the Eels when finished by Jackson Hastings, Brooks slotted the one pointer for the 23-22 win over South Sydney.

Rewind six days, coach Michael Maguire was under pressure, Luke Brooks was maligned and the Tigers were winless and looking down the barrel of six straight defeats to start the season.

Hastings slotted the monster kick and ran another 30 metres to celebrate as the Wests Tigers secured their first win of the season in front of over 28,000 on Easter Monday.

With scores locked at 20-20 with 10 minutes to play, Hastings had a five-minute period to forget, knocking back two chances at a field goal to come up with no result on the last play.

However, the 26-year-old turned hero on the stroke of full-time with his strike stunning the Eels, who were poor by their usual standards in such a big game.

Both sides were desperate to kick-start their season after consecutive losses and it was the Warriors who held their nerve in a tryless second half.

The Tigers made a promising start when skipper James Tamou left Josh Curran in his wake and carried Reece Walsh over the line with him to give the home side a 6-0 lead.

Six minutes later the Warriors opened their account when a Chanel Harris-Tavita bomb was spilt by David Nofoaluma and Euan Aitken pounced to score.

The Tigers should relish a return to their heartland at Campbelltown Stadium, having not played there since round nine last year, but they'll need a lot more than just a vocal crowd to get them across the line.

After some promising signs against Melbourne in round one the Tigers reverted to old habits against the Knights and were blown off the park, while the Warriors pushed the Titans all the way in a free-flowing contest at Cbus Super Stadium.

The Rundown

Team news

The Tigers were completely outclassed by the Knights, losing 26-4 and Peachey’s time on the sidelines did nothing to help his team.

With eight minutes to go in the first half, the Tigers utility was wrestling with Jake Clifford who was attempting to find his feet and play the ball.

Peachey then slapped the ball from his hands, prompting referee Ben Cummins to give him his marching orders.

“Lara it is frustrating, it is so frustrating for Tigers fans to sit there and watch, this is their captain, Tyrone Peachey is their captain,” Corey Parker said.