Media Reports

[Guest]

Tigers end week of misery with win
May 21, 2010 - 10:00PM

Wests Tigers 23 bt Newcastle 6

It was far from pretty, but the Wests Tigers have emerged from their week from hell with an inspired 23-6 NRL win over Newcastle in atrocious conditions at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

After being embarrassed 50-10 by Souths last week, the Tigers went into hiding as they desperately sort to lift themselves out of a four-game trough.

And while their performance in torrential rain in Newcastle might not have turned their season around just yet, they collected the two points they so desperately needed and forced their way back into the top eight.

Star player Benji Marshall had another indifferent match, including falling victim to an apparent 'crusher' tackle by Cameron Ciraldo with 15 minutes to go.

However, the five-eighth, maligned for his performance against the Rabbitohs last week, proved his match-winning qualities when he kicked a field goal in the 70th minute and crossed under the posts with six minutes remaining to seal the win.

Marshall emphatically threw the ball into the air after scoring and centre Geoff Daniela crossed in the dying minutes also, signalling an end to one of the most torrid weeks in the club's history.

Following their massacre at the SCG, coach Tim Sheens was heavily criticised and rumours of player disharmony began to circulate.

But a few days of soul searching in Newcastle leading into the game evidently paid off.

Newcastle battled hard in the first half and some tenacious goal-line defence leading into the break saw them hold on to a 6-6 score.

But just five minutes into the second half, a lapse in concentration by the Knights defence allowed Tigers centre Chris Lawrence to score a soft try from a blindside scrum play.

The 10-6 advantage was always going to prove difficult to pull back in the dumping rain, and a penalty goal with 16 minutes left and Marshall's field goal put the result beyond doubt.

Newcastle's only joy came in the ninth minute of the match, when five-eighth Ben Rogers showed Brad Fittler-like footwork to score under the posts and open the scoring.

Second rower Gareth Ellis scored a rare try for the Tigers as their only first half points.

WESTS TIGERS 23 (G Daniela G Ellis C Lawrence B Marshall tries B Marshall 3 goals B Marshall field goal) bt NEWCASTLE 6 (B Rogers try W Naiqama goal) at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Referee: Jason Robinson, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 14,458.

 

[Guest]

WESTS TIGERS BEAT KNIGHTS 23-6 IN NRL
By Wayne Cousins
21/05/2010 9:46:31 PM

A committed Wests Tigers ended a four game losing streak tonight with a gutsy 19-6 victory over Newcastle Knights at EnergyAustralia Stadium in round 11 of the Telstra Premiership.
In a match played in driving rain, Wests Tigers showed plenty of determination in defence before piling on same late points to secure a much needed victory.
Wests Tigers went into the match as per the team named on Tuesday by coach Tim Sheens with Josh Davis remaining the 18th man. The team wore the Wests Magpies heritage jersey as they looked to end a four game losing streak.
The match is being played in wet conditions. Winger Daniel Fitzhenry moved to full-back with Beau Ryan shifting back to his regular position of wing.
Wests Tigers bombed a perfect scoring opportunity early when a pass by centre Geoff Daniela to Ryan saw the winger drop the ball into touch after good work by half-back Robert Lui to offload in a two man tackle.
Two minutes later, Newcastle had half an opportunity to score when a crossfield kick saw winger Akuila Uate catch the ball before losing it in a tackle by fellow Fijian winger Lote Tuqiri just 10 metres out from the Wests Tigers line.
The Knights opened the scoring two minutes later when five-eighth Ben Rogers stepped past hooker Robbie Farah to race 20 metres before stepping again off his left foot to best Fitzhenry to score under the posts. Full-back Wes Naiqama converted the try for a 6-0 lead after 10 minutes.
Wests Tigers got back to 6-4 when Lui turned the ball inside for second-rower Gareth Ellis to cross for his second try of the season from 15 metres out. Five-eighth Benji Marshall converted the try for a 6-6 scoreline after 14 minutes.
Fitzhenry cleared a crossfield kick to the posts from half-back Scott Dureau in the 18th minute just before a Knights defender got to the ball to give the home side a repeat set of six. The pressure was relieved when Ellis forced second-rower Cory Paterson into touch just metres before the tryline.
Fitzhenry again defused a grubber kick to prevent winger Cooper Vuna from getting the ball just before the corner post. The Knights then knocked on from the scrum through Rogers.
A drop ball by Rogers gave Wests Tigers a scrum feed from 15 metres out in the 27th minute. A minute later, Wests Tigers got a penalty five metres out when Farah had the ball stripped.
Wests Tigers got another set of six when a grubber kick by Marshall saw Naiqama force the ball dead with Lui in pursuit. A pass by Marshall for Daniela was then intercepted by Vuna on his own tryline to take the pressure off the home side.
Fitzhenry again did well in the 33rd minute when he defused a swirling bomb just 10 metres out from his line.
A grubber kick by Dureau saw Fitzhenry and Ryan go for the ball with Fitzhenry knocking it forward into the arms of a Knights player before the home side dropped the ball. The referee ruled knock on against the Knights before reversing his decision. Newcastle then dropped the ball in the next set.
The scores remained 6-6 at half-time.
2nd Half
Some fine play in the 44th minute around the middle of the ruck saw Farah get lock Chris Heighington away before he was pulled down 10 metres short of the line. Marshall put a short grubber kick through on the next tackle with the ball knocked on by the Knights.
From the scrum, Farah, sneaking into lock, picked the ball up to offload to centre Chris Lawrence who charged down the blind side to crash over in the corner. Marshall failed to convert the try for a 10-6 scoreline after 47 minutes.
With heavy rain falling, Wests Tigers were forced to dig deep in defence after Ryan dropped the ball in trying to play the ball before a penalty to the Knights applied plenty of pressure. Fortunately, a drop ball 10 metres out saw prop Andrew Fifita toe the ball through before diving on it in the 53rd minute.
Two minutes later, Lui put a nice grubber kick through in-goal with the Knights forcing it dead to give Wests Tigers a repeat set.
A knock on from a Marshall grubber kick by the Knights in front of their posts gave Wests Tigers another set of six.
The Knights got the ball back when Vuna intercepted a pass from Marshall 10 metres out from the tryline.
Marshall converted a penalty goal in the 63rd minute after Rogers was penalised for lifting Heighington into a dangerous position.
Wests Tigers went to a 13-6 lead courtesy of Marshall when he landed a vital field goal in the 69th minute.
Farah then landed a big 40/20 kick in the 73rd minute. Fromthe scrum win, Lui ran towards a defender to put Marshall into a huge gap to score under the posts. Marshall converted his own try for a 19-6 lead after 75 minutes.
Wests Tigers finished the game off well when Lui threw a cut out pass to draw in two defenders to find replacement winger Mitch Brown, who threw a ball inside. Daniela allowed the ball to hit his leg before swooping the ball up to dive over for a 23-6 lead. Marshall failed to convert the try but brought up 500 career points in the victory.
For Wests Tigers, Ellis, Heighington, Lui, Marshall and Fitzhenry were the pick of the players in a good team victory. **Fitzhenry may well have found himself a new home at full-back after defusing several kicks in his finest performance of the season.**
Earlier, Wests Tigers lost 22-18 to Newcastle in the U20s to end a seven game winning streak.
Wests Tigers have now won five of their 10 matches in the Telstra Premiership. They will now prepare for the Warriors at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Friday night, May 28.

 

[Guest]

Now that comment about Fitzy is definitely designed to stir people up on here. I urge you all not to fall for it!

 

[Guest]

Tigers prevail in wet and wild Newcastle

Updated May 21, 2010 22:15:00

Wests Tigers bounced back from last weekend's embarrassment with a gritty 23-6 victory over the Knights in Newcastle on Friday night.

The Tigers were trounced 50-10 by South Sydney at the SCG last Sunday but they showed renewed attitude in defence against the Knights, especially in the second half when they kept the home side scoreless.

They crossed for four tries amid driving rain to secure their fifth win of the season and end a four-match losing streak.

It was also enough to push the Tigers back into the top eight, albeit with round 11 yet to be completed.

"It's no secret, but we were pretty embarrassed with our performance last week," Tigers captain Robbie Farah told Grandstand.

"We knew we had to do our talking on the field and we apologised to the fans last week, but nothing less than a 100 per cent effort would have been good enough and I think we came out and showed that."

Star five-eighth Benji Marshall had another indifferent match, including falling victim to an apparent 'crusher' tackle by Cameron Ciraldo with 15 minutes to go.

However, Marshall, maligned for his performance against the Rabbitohs, proved his match-winning qualities when he kicked a field goal in the 70th minute and crossed under the posts with six minutes remaining to seal the win.

Marshall emphatically threw the ball into the air after scoring and centre Geoff Daniela crossed in the dying minutes also, signalling an end to one of the most torrid weeks in the club's history.

Following the massacre at the hands of the Rabbitohs, Tigers coach Tim Sheens was heavily criticised and rumours of player disharmony began to circulate.

But a few days of soul searching in Newcastle leading into the game evidently paid off.

The Knights battled hard in the first half and some tenacious goal-line defence leading into the break saw them hold on to a 6-6 score.

But just five minutes into the second half, a lapse in concentration by the Knights defence allowed Tigers centre Chris Lawrence to score a soft try from a blindside scrum play.

The 10-6 advantage was always going to prove difficult to pull back in the dumping rain, and a penalty goal with 16 minutes left and Marshall's field goal put the result beyond doubt.

The Knights' only joy came in the ninth minute of the match, when five-eighth Ben Rogers showed Brad Fittler-like footwork to score under the posts and open the scoring.

Second rower Gareth Ellis scored a rare try for the Tigers in the first half via an angled run that was aided by a neat off-load from half-back Robert Lui.

Tigers: 23 (G Ellis, C Lawrence, B Marshall, G Daniela tries; Marshall 2 conversions, pen goal, field goal)

Knights: 6 (B Rogers try; W Naiqama 1 conversion)

 

[Staks]

Cuz you stirrer ! lol Great work !

 

[Guest]

Wests Tigers bounce back to best form with impressive win over Newcastle

By Ben Horne
May 21, 2010

It was far from pretty, but the Wests Tigers have emerged from their week from hell with an inspired 23-6 NRL win over Newcastle in atrocious conditions at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
After being embarrassed 50-10 by Souths last week, the Tigers went into hiding as they desperately sort to lift themselves out of a four-game trough.

And while their performance in torrential rain in Newcastle might not have turned their season around just yet, they collected the two points they so desperately needed and forced their way back into the top eight.

Star player Benji Marshall had another indifferent match, including falling victim to an apparent 'crusher' tackle by Cameron Ciraldo with 15 minutes to go.

However, the five-eighth, maligned for his performance against the Rabbitohs last week, proved his match-winning qualities when he kicked a field goal in the 70th minute and crossed under the posts with six minutes remaining to seal the win.

Marshall emphatically threw the ball into the air after scoring and centre Geoff Daniela crossed in the dying minutes also, signalling an end to one of the most torrid weeks in the club's history.

Following their massacre at the SCG, coach Tim Sheens was heavily criticised and rumours of player disharmony began to circulate.

But a few days of soul searching in Newcastle leading into the game evidently paid off.

Newcastle battled hard in the first half and some tenacious goal-line defence leading into the break saw them hold on to a 6-6 score.

But just five minutes into the second half, a lapse in concentration by the Knights defence allowed Tigers centre Chris Lawrence to score a soft try from a blindside scrum play.

The 10-6 advantage was always going to prove difficult to pull back in the dumping rain, and a penalty goal with 16 minutes left and Marshall's field goal put the result beyond doubt.

Newcastle's only joy came in the ninth minute of the match, when five-eighth Ben Rogers showed Brad Fittler-like footwork to score under the posts and open the scoring.

Second rower Gareth Ellis scored a rare try for the Tigers as their only first half points.

The Tigers came up to Newcastle early in the week to bond together before they faced the Knights, and coach Sheens said the mini-camp played a significant part in the win.

"The attitude of the club is to win and we wanted to win so we needed to all come up together and we did. The extra day made a big difference in our preparation,'' Sheens said.

"Plenty of people tried to derail us and we came up to stay tight.

"They're not easy to beat up here, they're always a better side at Newcastle and considering the conditions … the boys really hung together and we worked really hard this week to get that to happen.

"We copped plenty and rightly so, we're not going to say we didn't deserve what we copped ... but they came through tonight which was good.''

Knights coach Rick Stone admitted it wasn't the best week to come up against a Tigers side who had pride to restore.

"Look their resolve, their concentration, their execution was good, there's no doubt about that,'' Stone said.

"And given they had been hammered a little bit in the press probably didn't help our cause, we came up against a team that was pretty committed, executed really well considering the conditions and they were definitely the better team on the night.''

AAP

 

[Geo]

Now that comment about Fitzy is definitely designed to stir people up on here. I urge you all not to fall for it!

:laughing: :laughing:

I think I've worked it out finally…...

Cuzzo picks the team.....Each week Sheens drops Fitzy but when it's published Cuzzo puts Fitzy in.....

 

[Jazza]

Pride restored, for now: Farah
GREG PRICHARD
May 22, 2010

Newcastle 6 Wests Tigers 23

Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah says winning last night was the easy part for his team, coming off the back of a 40-point flogging from South Sydney last weekend. Trying to keep the momentum going will be the hard part.

''It's a big win for us but we have to back it up next week,'' Farah said. ''We've had trouble finding that consistency. It was easy to get up for tonight's game, after the embarrassment of last week. Our pride was hurt. I knew we would be up for it, but now the challenge is to get up for the Warriors [at Campbelltown on Friday].''

There was nothing pretty about the win, in the pouring rain at EnergyAustralia Stadium, but after four straight losses, Wests Tigers would have happily sifted through garbage to find two competition points. It had to be about true grit if they were going to win last night and after falling behind early they eventually forced their way past Newcastle, before managing to make it comfortable inside the last 10 minutes.

You can't quite say they are back, but the commitment was a good sign after four straight defeats. The nature of the loss to the Rabbitohs convinced Tigers coach Tim Sheens to bring his team to Newcastle early and they had been in camp together since Wednesday in preparation for a critical game.

''Plenty of people tried to derail us,'' Sheens said. ''We needed to stay tight and we did. People talk about poor Newcastle and poor other clubs because of injuries, but we're struggling a bit, too. We've got five or six starters out. We copped plenty after last week and it was important to stay tight as a group. We stuck to the senior guys and they came good.''

The Tigers started off looking determined enough, but still a little unsure of themselves and they didn't react well to bombing the first try-scoring opportunity of the game.

Beau Ryan, named at fullback but playing on the wing, only had to catch a pass from centre Geoff Daniela to score in the fifth minute, but the ball was a little out in front of him and he couldn't handle it.

In the ninth minute, Knights five-eighth Ben Rogers took advantage of some shoddy defence to step through the line untouched 30 metres out and go on to beat a flimsy tackle from Andrew Fitzhenry and score.

Mistakes began to come regularly from both sides, and when Wes Naiqama knocked on in the 12th minute from what should have been a regulation take of a Tigers' clearing kick - even in the rain - the Tigers were good enough to lock the game up off the subsequent set.

Halfback Robert Lui ran across field and handed a ball back inside to English second-rower Gareth Ellis, who was running hard on an angle. Knights prop Ben Cross couldn't stop him and Ellis had a free run to the try line after that.

The Tigers were slightly the better team, but weren't able to show it on the scoreboard. Rogers was perhaps the worst offender when it came to mistakes, knocking on when he tried to take a pass from a Knights' scrum win deep in Tigers territory in the 24th minute and losing the ball in a tackle down the other end.

The Tigers dominated possession early in the second half and it soon paid off, when centre Chris Lawrence scored from a trademark blindside move off a scrum win inside Newcastle's 20-metre area.

When the Tigers were awarded a penalty within shooting range, they decided to go for the points on offer since they were so hard to come by the other way, and Marshall's successful kick at goal in the 64th minute made it 12-6.

The game was at the crossroads then. It was still close enough for the Knights to come back, but another point was probably going to be enough for the Tigers to seal it, in the wet conditions. Marshall did that with a field goal, 11 minutes from full-time. Two tries inside the last 10 minutes were cream on the cake for the visitors.

The defeat meant the Knights, who beat Sydney Roosters last weekend, still haven't been able to put back-to-back wins together this season. Their coach, Rick Stone, said the Tigers handled the difficult conditions better.

''They had an 88 per cent completion rate in the second half and 63 per cent of the ball,'' he said. ''Our discipline at times left a lot to be desired and allowed them to keep the pressure on us. They had 25 sets to 14 in the second half and it was hard to handle that avalanche of possession against us.''

WESTS TIGERS 23 (G Daniela, G Ellis, C Lawrence, B Marshall tries; B Marshall 3 goals, field goal) bt NEWCASTLE 6 (B Rogers try; W Naiqama goal) at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Referees: Jason Robinson and Alan Shortall. Crowd: 14,458.

go on to beat a flimsy tackle from **Andrew Fitzhenry** and score.

Well that should even up any stirring caused by Cuzzo :laughing:

People talk about poor Newcastle and poor other clubs because of injuries, but we're struggling a bit, too. We've got five or six starters out.

Now the excuses come out :wink:

 

[Guest]

This link has Sheens post-match talk:

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27156654-5018866,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;