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Courtesy of the official Wests Tigers website:
Wests Tigers' troubles at Fortress Brookvale
Jack Brady, National Correspondent, NRL.com
Tue 16th June, 10:19AM
There aren't many worse losing streaks than the Wests Tigers' record at Brookvale Oval as coach Jason Taylor's prepares his side to face the Sea Eagles on Friday night.
In a hoodoo perhaps worse than the famed Dragons curse when playing the Raiders, the Tigers haven't won at Manly's home ground since 2003 – with only Eels lock Anthony Watmough and the NRL's oldest player, Rooster Willie Manu, the only two still playing from that game.
From 1968, the Western Suburbs Magpies only won three times from 29 attempts at Brookvale Oval while Balmain won a quintuplet of games out of 39 dating back to 1965.
Not even the Wests Tigers could make way of the hoodoo in their two games against the Northern Eagles in 2001-02.
Tigers five-eighth Mitch Moses recalled the one and only time he entered Fortress Brookvale, and it wasn't pretty after the Tigers were dealt a masterclass by halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran – who picked up maximum Dally M points between them – in the Sea Eagles 40-8 win in Round 18 last year.
"We were absolutely flogged by them. It was my second game of first grade too and we didn't start off too well at all and it showed," Moses said.
"We're not looking into [previous history] too much though. We're just looking to take what we did on the weekend and take that into the game on Friday. It's not an issue for us. We're just focusing on our goal of keeping teams to three or less tries per game.
"If we do that then we reach that goal and we're happy.
"[Foran and Cherry-Evans] are world class players so we'll definitely watch them in the game and have a lot of pressure on them.
"We won't try and take them out of the game but try and lessen their involvement."
Positively, the Wests Tigers enter this clash off the back of a huge 34-6 win against reigning premiers South Sydney. Looking like world beaters despite missing Origin duo Aaron Woods and captain Robbie Farah, the Wests Tigers ended their four-game losing streak.
"[Beating Souths] was a big boost for our confidence.
"We have been low for the past couple of weeks so it's a big thing for us and hopefully we can take that into the game on Friday," Moses said.
"It was a long time [between wins] so there was a good vibe after the game definitely. Everyone was excited after the win and it's a lot better than losing.
"We were able to capitalise on the plays we have been working on the past couple of weeks. That's the most important thing. We were just flowing off that so it was good to finally show what we could actually do with the ball."
Meanwhile, Dene Halatau (bicep) and Sauaso Sue (shoulder) are unlikely to face the Sea Eagles on Friday night in a double blow for the Wests Tigers.
Wests Tigers' troubles at Fortress Brookvale
Jack Brady, National Correspondent, NRL.com
Tue 16th June, 10:19AM
There aren't many worse losing streaks than the Wests Tigers' record at Brookvale Oval as coach Jason Taylor's prepares his side to face the Sea Eagles on Friday night.
In a hoodoo perhaps worse than the famed Dragons curse when playing the Raiders, the Tigers haven't won at Manly's home ground since 2003 – with only Eels lock Anthony Watmough and the NRL's oldest player, Rooster Willie Manu, the only two still playing from that game.
From 1968, the Western Suburbs Magpies only won three times from 29 attempts at Brookvale Oval while Balmain won a quintuplet of games out of 39 dating back to 1965.
Not even the Wests Tigers could make way of the hoodoo in their two games against the Northern Eagles in 2001-02.
Tigers five-eighth Mitch Moses recalled the one and only time he entered Fortress Brookvale, and it wasn't pretty after the Tigers were dealt a masterclass by halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran – who picked up maximum Dally M points between them – in the Sea Eagles 40-8 win in Round 18 last year.
"We were absolutely flogged by them. It was my second game of first grade too and we didn't start off too well at all and it showed," Moses said.
"We're not looking into [previous history] too much though. We're just looking to take what we did on the weekend and take that into the game on Friday. It's not an issue for us. We're just focusing on our goal of keeping teams to three or less tries per game.
"If we do that then we reach that goal and we're happy.
"[Foran and Cherry-Evans] are world class players so we'll definitely watch them in the game and have a lot of pressure on them.
"We won't try and take them out of the game but try and lessen their involvement."
Positively, the Wests Tigers enter this clash off the back of a huge 34-6 win against reigning premiers South Sydney. Looking like world beaters despite missing Origin duo Aaron Woods and captain Robbie Farah, the Wests Tigers ended their four-game losing streak.
"[Beating Souths] was a big boost for our confidence.
"We have been low for the past couple of weeks so it's a big thing for us and hopefully we can take that into the game on Friday," Moses said.
"It was a long time [between wins] so there was a good vibe after the game definitely. Everyone was excited after the win and it's a lot better than losing.
"We were able to capitalise on the plays we have been working on the past couple of weeks. That's the most important thing. We were just flowing off that so it was good to finally show what we could actually do with the ball."
Meanwhile, Dene Halatau (bicep) and Sauaso Sue (shoulder) are unlikely to face the Sea Eagles on Friday night in a double blow for the Wests Tigers.
