Tiger Town roars as history is made at Leichhardt

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Wests Tigers v North Queensland Cowboys

The Wests Tigers have created an unlikely piece of history tonight running out 66-18 winners over the North Queensland Cowboys in a match that left everybody speechless.

It was one-way traffic right from the very first few minutes as Luke Brooks in game 200 showed that he was going to mastermind the performance tonight and it was going to be a big one. In just the sixth minute it was the work of Api Koroisau out of dummy half to put Stefano Utoikamanu over.

The Tigers doubled their lead inside ten minutes when Junior Tupou spread the ball left and the Cowboys defence left in two minds and the space opened up. The defensive fragilities of the North Queenslanders was on show on both sides of the field as this time it was down the right that they opened up and David Nofoaluma got his first. Not everything went the Tigers way inside the opening 20 minutes after Joe Ofahengaue was denied by the bunker after knocking on his grounding attempt.

Only getting one tackle in the oppositions 20 in the first half lead to the Cowboys only points when Kyle Feldt was able to get one back on Junior Tupou when the North Queenslanders spread the ball right and got over the line.

If things summed up the awful night for the Cowboys, it was the efforts of Kyle Feldt who cruised back to clean up the kick but made a meal of it losing it backwards for Jahream Bula to get over on the stroke of half-time.

Things continued poorly for the Cowboys to start the second half when Fonua Pole again went through the middle of the defence to get over close to the posts. The points continued to pile on as Junior Tupou added his second again with the North Queensland defence looking like a park team.

Back-to-back tries for the Cowboys gave hopes of a comeback when they started to get some quality ball in attacking position with Luciano Leilua outjumping the Tigers to score to a chorus of boos and then Reuben Cotter strolled through a defence lap.

If there was any outside hopes of a comeback they were dashed entirely when the Tigers managed to run in five tries inside the last fifteen minutes to create a record scoreline. A quickfire double to Starford To'a set up by some good work from Jahream Bula on the second keeping the ball alive.

In his final Tigers game, Joe Ofahengaue put his name into Tigers history making amends for his overturned try in the first half. David Nofoaluma and John Bateman confirmed the victory with two more tries for the Tigers.

Next weekend, the Wests Tigers have the bye before returning to Campbelltown to take on the Canberra Raiders. Meanwhile, a likely weakened Cowboys side heads to Parramatta where they will need to change the fortunes of their season in a clash against a confident Parra side.