That's full time and as a Roosters fan I am very relieved that the Eels have held on! With that result, LeagueUnlimited can confirmed that the opening week of the finals will be Panthers (1) vs Roosters (4), Storm (2) vs Eels (3), Raiders (5) vs Sharks (8) and Rabbitohs (6) vs Knights (7). We look forward to bringing you live updates of every single match!
That's exactly what has happened, the Tigers will have a 20 metre tap with 14 seconds left
Going upstairs, ref thinks Guthersn has knocked on
Eels doing what is one of the most annoying things in Rugby League if you're team is behind in a close one with not long to go and taking an age to play the ball. Equally it is extremely satisfying if you're team is ahead
Forward pass by the Tigers and the Eels all celebrate. Only 1 minute and 30 seconds to go in this one, if the Eels play their cards right the Tigers won't touch the ball again
Tigers have the ball 25 metres out on play 1
Wow, that is a great passage of play. Luke Brooks put Luke Garner through a gaping hole and looked destined to score, but Clinton Gutherson pulled off a try saving, potential season saving tackle and it'll be a changeover. 3 minutes to go in this one
Gutherson kicks and the Tigers get a penalty for a crusher on Asu Kepaoa
Kickoff is short from the Tigers but Waqa Blake rises above the pack to catch the ball
Mitchell Moses is successful with the conversion, the Will Smith try means that the 2020 Wests Tigers are the first team EVER, in 112 years of Rugby League, that a team has conceded 26 points or more for 10 weeks in a row.
The Eels have the lead back! There was nothing doing, but t use the old cliche, Will Smith "played what was in front of him" and sold Adam Doueihi a dummy and ran his way to the tryline, getting his side back into the top 4... for now
Eels will back themselves to score the try
Penalty to the Eels, they will have a full attacking set if they opt not to take the two. Penalty is for Chris Lawrence running Waqa Blake off the ball
Strong contact from the Tigers on Clinton Gutherson but a play later Sivo makes a good run upfield
Asu Kepaoa does well to come up with the catch of the bomb under pressure
Brad Arthur still has two fresh men on the bench
Thomas Mikaele forces the offload and Reed Mahoney comes up with possession for the Eels
Possession for the match sitting at exactly 50/50
Blake Ferguson back to the 20 on the first again
Asu Kepaoa plays it on the 20 to start the set
Paulo plays it 12 out on the first
Mitchell Moses makes no mistake
It's been a prominent feature of the Eels game so far and a Junior Paulo offload yields the greatest possible result for the Eels. He popped the ball back to Reed Mahoney, who burrowed his way under the Tigers defence to score under the posts
Mitchell Moses puts a great bomb up and Asu Kepaoa struggles with it, with Waqa Blake passing to Ferguson who didn't score due to a Luke Brooks try saver. Eels will have the ball
Kick from Brooks finds the turf, Ferguson will play it on the 20
It was over 3.5, but Gutherson kicked on the 4th and it was a completely nothing kick, handing the ball right back to the Tigers
Moses' ball to Blake Ferguson is touched by Asu Kepaoa and the Eels will have a set starting on halfway. Over or under 3.5 for the tackle number Clint Gutherson kicks on in this set?
Luke Brooks kicks early and now the Eels get their first set restart
Set restart for WST, it is now 6 set restarts to 0 in favour of the Tigers
And Clinton Gutherson kicks early for the 7244423804th time in the game and it again doesn't yield a result, with Waqa Blake's flick back in field ruled forward. 7 tackles for the Tigers
So far, in 19 minutes of second half footy, the Tigers have had 87% of the ball. The last one was a double knock on so the Eels keep the ball
No way in hell they can complete, Brad Takairangi knocks the ball on in trying to force the offload
Blake Ferguson finally catches an Adam Doueihi bomb. Now we wait and see if the Eels can complete
Adam Doueihi makes no mistake and the Tigers now have a lead of more than a converted try
They'll take the two
Tigers again make ground down the left edge but won't score. A play later Andrew Davey is penalised for a late hit on Adam Doueihi and it's within kicking distance
Adam Doueihi has kicked it! 1/5!!!!
The Tigers are absolutely CARVING the Eels defence up, targeting that questionable right edge of Waqa Blake and Ferguson. Asu Kepaoa got into opne space and linked up with Brooks who was there in support and Adam Doueihi will have an easier kick this time
Tigers play it 15 out on the second
Adam Doueihi AGAIN misses the conversion, currently 0/4.
And now the Tigers have a try out of nothing! It was a horror show from Blake Ferguson under the Adam Doueihi high ball, who never looked comfortable and Asu Kepaoa was there to clean up and score the try
Mitchell Moses finds the touchline and the Tigers will have a scrum feed 10 metres out
Tommy Talau has open space ahead of him in a carbon copy of the last try but he put it down. Eels hang on
Set restart for WST
Tigers complete and a play later Matt Eisenhuth strips the ball. Tigers on the attack again
Shawn Blore plays it 21 metres out from his own line on the first
Adam Doueihi pushes it to the right of the sticks, Eels remain up by 4
Try confirmed, Adam Doueihi fired a bullet out to Tommy Talau who went over and remained in the field of play, getting around Sivo
Going upstairs, the ref thinks the Tigers have scored
Six more tackles for the Tigers after the Eels played at the ball. They are in great attacking position
Underway and Shawn Blore will take the first hit up for the Tigers and will get a penalty after Oregon Kaufusi had a foot in the play the ball
Teams are back on the field ahead of the second 40
Eels complete the set after points and again Moses puts up a huge bomb that David Nofoaluma coms across and takes. That'll be half time and news has again come through regarding Benji Marshall, sadly he will NOT be returning and has taken the field for the last time in Tigers colours
Mitchell Moses kicks the ball through the posts
The Eels finally score the try! It was the Moses-Gutherson combo, with Mitch finding the fullback who again put a kick in and the result was one better, with Brad Takairangi chasing through and grounding the ball.
Eels pass is touched by Talau and the count will restart
Clinton Gutherson kicks in behind the line and will get a repeat set for his side
Waqa Blake is ruled to have knocked on. It was a towering kick from Mitchell Moses that Asu Kepaoa was never a chance of catching. Blake came through and looked to have caught it and scored, however the bunker spotted a knock on. Parramatta will get it back however, the first knock on came from Wests
Going upstairs, ref thinks Eels have scored
Luke Brooks knocks on after receiving a sub-par pass from Tommy Talau
Reed Mahoney passes the ball forward again, this time not from dummy half
Mitchell Moses comes up with ball 20 metres out from his own line
Reed Mahoney passes it forward out of dummy half
Penalty to the Eels for putting Sivo into a dangerous position
Clinton Gutherson will play it 30 metre out from his own line on the first
News coming through that Benji Marshall WILL. be back at some point tonight
Adam Doueihi strikes it across the face and the Eels remain in the lead
The Tigers have hit back! Luciano Leilua went himself down the short side and was able to beat 3 Eels defenders and get the ball down
Going upstairs, ref thinks Tigers have scored
And the Tigers hit back with offloads of their own, with Harry Grant getting a miracle ball to Taylor, who linked up with Brooks who went for the kick. Blake Ferguson won the race to the ball and the Tigers will have a repeat set
The kick from Reed Mahoney just goes touch in goal and the Tigers will receive 7 tackles
Parramatta have already offloaded 10 times in 24 minutes
Early word on Benji Marshall is that the training staff are checking his knee and giving him an HIA. Unfortunately not looking likely to return
Mitchell Moses converts the try
And the Eels have scored off the back of a barrage of second phase play. The Eels went left, with Will Smith putting Andrew Davey through a hole, who found Sivo who ran the ball under the posts to put it down and give Moses an easy conversion
Tommy Talau is caught in the in goal after a Will Smith kick early in the count. Kicking early to Sivo looks to be a tactic of the Eels and it has almost payed off twice now. Repeat set for PAR
Zane Musgrove makes a complete mess of the play the ball and lets Parra off the hook
Tigers with a full set on the attack
Marshall will leave the field
Marshall still struggling and is getting a knee strapped. Will Smith hit him high and will be placed on report.
Benji Marshall is struggling in backplay with an injury
Tigers again make a break on the right hand side and the Eels are struggling in defence
Set restart for WST
Mitchell Moses kicks out on the full, Tigers will start the set right on halfway
Good take by Clinton Gutherson who was able to out leap Adam Doueihi to take possession
Touch finder is good by the Tigers who start the set 5 metres behind halfway
An obstruction has been found in the lead up and the call will be no try, with Andrew Davey denied his fist career 4 pointer. Penalty Tigers
Going upstairs, ref thinks Eels have scored
Penalty to the Eels for offside
Benji Marshall kicks on the third looking for the 40/20 but it isn't successful, with the Eels playing it on the 20 metre line
Thomas Mikaele takes the first hit up for the Tigers
Adam Doueihi also pushes the sideline conversion to the left and we are locked up again
It'll be overturned, Talau managed to stay in and execute one of those great winger putdowns we've become accustomed to. Tigers will have a kick to go 2 points ahead
Tigers make a break upfield and we'll be going upstairs to see if Tommy Talau has scored. Referee has no try
Mitchell Moses kicked early for Brad Takairangi who couldn't get there in time. 7 tackles for the Tigers
Challenge shows that Sivo was out before the contact, however the contact from Adam Doueihi is still deemed illegal and the penalty will remain. Challenge unsuccesful
It was an offload-a-thon for the Eels, with Kane Evans and Junior Paulo refusing to die with the ball. Gutherson then put in a 50/50 kick that found Sivo, who was in the open with just Adam Doueihi in front of him, who was able to hit Sivo into touch. Ruled penalty Eels for the contact, Tigers are challenging
Paulo again takes the hit-up off the kickoff
Moses puts the conversion left of the uprights
Try confirmed and it's Blake Ferguson who has well and truly broken his drought by now. It was a basic block play that featured brilliant execution by Mitch Moses and Clinton Gutherson to get the ball out to an unmarked Ferguson. Eels score first
Going upstairs, referee thinks the Eels have scored
Junior Paulo offloads to Moses who got a miracle ball to N. Brown who looked certain to score but was pulled down short of the line. Eels get a penalty a tackle later after a kick chaser was taken out
Just as the Tigers looked to be getting the upper hand, Harry Grant passes it forward out of dummy half, handing possession to the Eels 10 short of halfway
Set restart for WST
Moses kicks again to Kepaoa and both sides very much going set for set to start this game off
Brooks kicks for the Tigers and Clinton Gutherson takes it, slips over and then runs to play it on the 20 metre line
Eels complete with Mitch Moses bombing down to Asu Kepaoa, who takes it cleanly and will also play it 13 out from his own line
Underway and Junior Paulo takes the first carry of the night and plays it 13 out from his own line
Hello and welcome to LeagyeUnlimited's coverage of the final game of Super Saturday and it's the Tigers up against the Eels, who with a win will travel to Qld next week to take on the Storm while a loss would see them drop out of the top 4 (provided Canberra hold on against the Sharks). The Tigers will farewell two club legends in Benji Marshall and Chris Lawrence and are 1-17, while the Eels have made a host of changes. Brad Takairangi will play centre with M. Jennings out while Will Smith will be the 5/8th, replacing Jai Field. Reagen Campbell-Gillard is out with Kane Evans starting at prop and Daniel Alvaro coming onto the bench. Andrew Davey will start pushing Lane to the bench and George Jennings also grabs an interchange position. About 5 minutes until kickoff now
Referees & scorers:
Referee: Ben Cummins
Touch Judges: Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski, Belinda Sharpe
Video Referee: Steve Chiddy
WESTS TIGERS (24)
Tries: Tommy Talau (2), Luciano Leilua, Asu Kepaoa, Luke Brooks
Field Goals:
Conversions: Adam Doueihi (1/5)
Penalty Goals: Adam Doueihi (1/1)
PARRAMATTA EELS (28)
Tries: Blake Ferguson, Maika Sivo, Brad Takairangi, Reed Mahoney, Will Smith
Field Goals:
Conversions: Mitchell Moses (4/5)
Penalty Goals: