Full Time
80:00
4:00pm Mon April 1, 2024
Round 4 - CommBank Stadium, Parramatta / Burramattagal - Crowd: 28608

Match Overview

42 per cent of the ball. Six tackles in the opposition 20 compared to 29. Three linebreaks to zero. Nine offloads to four.

Those sort of numbers last year would have seen the Wests Tigers on the wrong end of a lopsided scoreline. But this is a different Tigers team under Benji Marshall if Sunday's effort is anything to go by.

The Tigers held strong in defence to finish the first half level 6-all with the Parramatta Eels and carried the self-belief from that opening 40 minutes into the second, finishing 17-16 winners.

It was a dramatic finish to Monday's game after an Aidan Sezer field goal seemingly put the result beyond doubt, only for the Tigers to be penalized for accidental offside off the short restart.

It set the Tigers up for similar heartbreak to that they experienced last year against North Queensland when Valentine Holmes snapped a last-gasp penalty goal in a 27-26 win.

But Clint Gutherson sent his penalty goal attempt wide, seeing the Tigers hold on for a much-deserved victory and second on the trot after last week's impressive win over the Sharks.

The Tigers made a fast start on Monday as Lachlan Galvin took the ball right up to the line and put in a deft grubber for Justin Olam to score in the 3rd minute.

It was one of the few scoring opportunities the visitors had in the first half though, with Parramatta enjoying a lion's share of the ball in the second and hitting back in the 15th minute as a late offload from Gutherson saw Maika Sivo go over.

The Eels looked the likeliest to score for the remainder of the half but lacked their usual polish in attack, which was also a product of superb scrambling defence from the Tigers.

It meant Parramatta settled for a penalty goal on the final play of the first half.

As gallant as the Tigers had been defending their own line they had at times looked vulnerable of being pulled apart from long range and that was the case early in the second as J'Maine Hopgood went right through the middle to put Gutherson over in the 45th minute.

Galvin was then later sent to the sin bin for a hip-drop tackle on Kelma Tuilagi as things threatened to unravel for the Tigers but Marshall's side stood tall in defence once again to only concede the one penalty goal in the time without the young playmaker on the field.

Once Galvin returned the Tigers were gifted an immediate scoring opportunity after a Gutherson error on a bomb and capitalised off a clever Sezer wrap-around play, sending Olam across for his second of the day.

After Sezer showed his experience and guile, generation next announced itself once more for the Tigers as rookie playmaker Galvin took on the line and broke through before somehow squeezing a pass to fullback Jahream Bula as the visitors regained the lead.

A Gutherson penalty goal then saw the game tied up before Sezer stood tall to snap the game-winning field goal.

The Tigers will look to make it three straight wins when they play the Dolphins next week while the Eels face the Raiders.

3. Apisai Koroisau

The Tigers don't win this game without their experienced skipper. The numbers may not necessarily show it but Koroisau was all effort, made the right plays at the right time, putting in clever kicks to ease pressure and running out of dummy-half when the opportunity presented itself.

2. Lachlan Galvin

Electric. Two try assists and showed poise beyond his years to set up Bula for the late try, showing he won't lose his confidence despite being sin-binned for the hip-drop tackle.

1. Clinton Gutherson

Aidan Sezer, along with the field goal, was particularly impressive with a number of crucial tackles in defence. But Gutherson deserves the point after putting Parramatta on his back. Forget the missed penalty goal at the end. The Eels aren't in the game in the first place if it isn't for the heavy involvement from their skipper, who ran for 137 metres, had two linebreak assists, a try assist and try of his own.