Galvin leads Tigers to come from behind victory as pressure mounts in Redcliffe

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Dolphins v Wests Tigers

Despite trailing 18-12 with less than 20 minutes to play, the Wests Tigers led by young gun Lachlan Galvin have recorded back to back victories away from home for the first time since 2021, downing the Dolphins 30-18 at Kayo Stadium.

One feature of the Dolphins attack we missed in the opening fortnight was the running game of Jeremy Marshall-King. A smart run out of dummy half gave the Dolphins their first golden opportunity. From the ensuing play the ball, a great ball from Isaiya Katoa to Herbie Farnworth allowed the English international to draw and pass to find Jack Bostock to score the first try of the contest after 4 minutes.

The Tigers capitalised almost immediately on the Dolphins failing to complete the set after points. Some sharp work from their marquee man Jarome Luai to skip and dance fooled the Dolphins left edge. From there, it was quick hands to allow Sunia Turuva to cross for his fourth try in a fortnight and we were level at 6 apiece.

After a disappointing end of set from Lachlan Galvin at the midway point of the first half, the Dolphins capitalised with a beautiful set play. Farnworth got out of dummy half to unload to Kodi Nikorima who ball played magically to Daniel Saifiti to bust away before finding Herbie Farnworth to score after setting up the earlier try.

The Dolphins got back-to-back tries as they built momentum off the back of second phase play. Nikorima threw a dummy and went straight through some poor left edge defence and touched down despite the desperate cover tackle of Luai. The home side would later punish the Tigers for their poor first half discipline with an Isaako penalty goal.

Just when it looked like the Dolphins were going to run away with the contest, the Tigers capitalised on their first penalty of the opening stanza. A smart run from Tallyn Da Silva out of dummy half saw him outmuscle several Dolphins defenders to get the visitors to within 6 at the break.

Despite a shaky second half where both sides made mistakes and invited each other into the contest, it was the Tigers that opened the second half scorers' sheet in the 63rd minute. A beautifully weighted pass from Galvin landed on the chest of Starford To'a who drew the defence and found Turuva to cross for his fifth try in a fortnight.

The Tigers carried all momentum for the next little period and the Dolphins alarmingly high error count was their own undoing. A terrific crash ball from Apisai Koroisau found Alex Seyfarth and the rangy backrower crossed on the right edge to give the Tigers their first lead of the night.

In the dying minutes, the visitors were setting for the field goal but their captain Apisai Koroisau had different ideas. He caught the defence focusing their energy on Luai and he went all the way to score to seal the game. The only concerns for the visitors were leg injuries to outside back Jeral Skelton (knee) and Samuela Fainu (calf).