RUGBY LEAGUE NEWS:
Round 9:
Tigers torment woeful Dragons
Written by: Matt Starkey
May 13th 2007 05:46 PM

LINK TO MATCH PICS - CLICK HERE

Match summary
The Wests Tigers have won a sometimes dull game of footy out at Telstra Stadium, defeating a lethargic Dragons outfit by 27-8 in front of a modest 13,625 people.

The game began with both sides attempting to throw the ball around and looking for opportunities to score early on. More often than not the ball missed the mark though, and what could have been an open and entertaining contest slowly turned into a rather dour one.

The Dragons were first to score through the boot of Mat Head in the 12th minute. A few opportunities passed by before Robbie Farah started getting out of dummy-half more. He found Ben Galea in support in the 25th minute and who ripped up the middle and off-loaded to Liam Fulton to score the first try.

Things were looking a little dire for the Dragons towards the end of the first half, with Wests pressuring their line only for Fulton to be stripped of the ball by Chase Stanley, who sped 60m to score under the posts in the 34th minute.

A miss from Hodgson with a late penalty goal in the first half gave the Dragons an 8-6 lead at the break, one which they possibly didn’t deserve.

It was two different teams that came out in the second half with the Dragons looking to score from the get-go and capitalise on their lead. And they almost did, with Jason Ryles popping a great ball to Ben Hornby who took off downfield and found Head in support. But Head made a meal of the grounding under the sticks and an 8-point lead went begging.

There was some suggestion of a bad call from the video referee, but I guess you make your own luck in this game. It was undoubtedly the turning point of the match as the Tigers hit back almost straight away with a length of the field movement resulting in Fulton scoring his second for the day. Again Farah was the instigator with a good ball from John Morris, who seems to be settling into halfback nicely, sealing the try.

From there the Dragons never looked like scoring, but the Tigers began to gather more fluency in attack and starch in defence.

Galea scored a strong try in the 67th minute after receiving the ball from Hodgson close to the line with plenty of work to do. Young gun Chris Lawrence then helped himself to the try of the match, running powerfully through the Dragons defence only 10m out from his line and showing a clean pair of heals to run the length, making it 20-8 with Hodgson having a mixed day with the boot.

Morris came into his own with a few minutes remaining, lobbing over a field goal to ensure the two points in the 75th minute, before getting involved in the final try of the match for winger Daniel Fitzhenry, who took a good ball from Dean Collis to score in the corner.

The final score blew out to a 19-point difference proving that the Tigers can score plenty of points without star playmaker Benji Marshall, but his goal-kicking is being missed a little. The win is a good one for the Tigers, who take on the Warriors in Auckland next week, which is always a tough game.

Their form will also be helping Farah’s push to be named at hooker for NSW. He’s been in devastating form this season and it will be a real coin-toss between him and Danny Buderus.

As for the Dragons, well what can you say? They’ve won 2 games from 8 starts, they’re sitting in second last place on differentials to the Roosters and there doesn’t appear to be much light at the end of the tunnel. Plenty of people are speculating on the future of coach Nathan Brown, who’s tenure at the club must be becoming fragile at the very least.

They take on the Titans next Friday night in Wollongong and a loss there would really make things hard.

Match Scores:

Round 9 - Full Time :: May 13th, 2007 03:00 PM
Venue: Telstra Stadium
Crowd: 13,625
Referee: Ben Cummins

Wests Tigers 27
Tries: Liam Fulton (2), Ben Galea, Chris Lawrence, Daniel Fitzhenry
Field Goals: John Morris (1/1)
Goals: Brett Hodgson (3/6)
St George Illawarra Dragons 8
Tries: Chase Stanley
Goals: Mathew Head (2/2)

Halftime: Dragons 8-6

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match
3 Points: Robbie Farah (Tigers)
2 Points: Taniela Tuiaki (Tigers)
1 Point: Liam Fulton (Tigers)

Live Commentary
Cool and cloudy day here at Telstra Stadium. The Tigers are looking to back up last week's strong game against the Storm, as are the Dragons who had their second win of the season against the Panthers.

There's a few changes -

Tigers: Dean Collis comes into the side in jersey no 19 with Chris Lawrence going back to the bench. Jason Moodie and Blake Ayshford drop from the bench.

Dragons: Jason Nightingale replaces the injured Brett Morris on the wing. Simon Woolford also makes a comeback at hooker, replacing Ben Ellis. Beau Scott replaces Dan Hunt in the starting side. Rangi Chase and Corey Payne have been excluded from the bench, with the dropped Wes Naiqama to come off the bench in jersey no 20.

1 min: The Tigers get us underway in the first half.

7 min: No score yet, but both sides are willing to throw the ball around in the early stages.

12 min: PENALTY GOAL St George Illawarra Dragons
The Dragons take an early lead with a penalty goal by Mat Head. The game has been a little scrappy early on with both teams making mistakes despite their attempts to open the game up.
St George Illawarra Dragons 2-0

18 min: Neither side really taking the game by the scruff of the neck at this stage. Hornby and Creagh have been the best for the Dragons with Heighington and Tuiaki going well for Wests.

22 min: Plenty of mistakes in the game so far from both sides. Things starting to improve marginally as we approach the back end of the first half.

25 min: TRY Wests Tigers
The Tigers are in through Liam Fulton. Robbie Farah gets out of dummy half well and finds Ben Galea who storms into a gap before linking up with Fulton. He scores under the sticks and Hodgson makes short work of the conversion. The Tigers take the lead. Conversion attempt by Brett Hodgson successful.
Wests Tigers 6-2

32 min: The Tigers starting to get the better of the Dragons here, pressuring the line a lot and making good yards through dummy half via Farah.

36 min: Checking a try to the Dragons here...

36 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
Freakish try here with Stanley stripping the ball from Fulton and streaking away to level the scores up. Big turnaround here and Head adds the extras to take the lead as we approach halftime. Conversion attempt by Mathew Head successful.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8-6

40 min: ATTEMPTED PENALTY GOAL Wests Tigers
The Tigers get a penalty after Fitzhenry is taken out of the play when following through on a chip kick. Hodgson misses a difficult penalty shot on the bell, leaving the Dragons in the lead.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8-6

40 min: Fairly average first half but the Tigers must be pretty dark on themselves. They've had better opportunities and have dominated in patches, but are behind on the scoreboard.

The Dragons really got out of jail with the try to Stanley, but otherwise they haven't really looked like breaking the line.

Tuiaki, Heighington, Galea and Farah have been good for the Tigers. Hornby has been the Dragons best at this stage. The game is there for the taking, it just needs someone to stand up from either side and win it for their club.

41 min: The Dragons restart us in the second half.

43 min: Video referee checking another try to the Dragons...

43 min: No try to Head as he fails to ground a ball correctly. Geez, that might come back to haunt them.

44 min: TRY Wests Tigers
Massive turn-around here as the Tigers go the length of the field to score. Fulton scores after a great break by Farah with good assistance from Morris who gave the last pass. Hodgson misses again, and the Tigers now hold a slim lead when they could have been down by 8. Conversion attempt by Brett Hodgson unsuccessful.
Wests Tigers 10-8

53 min: A few mistakes starting to creep back into the game. Both sides are showing more interest to attack with the footy, but with little effect.

56 min: This game is grinding out with very little highlights so far. Hornby is still the best for the Dragons while Tuiaki and Farah are going well for the Tigers. The closeness of the scoreline is the only thing keeping people interested at this stage.

67 min: TRY Wests Tigers
Galea scores for the Tigers with a nice individual effort. He took a good pass from Hodgson but had plenty of work to do, swivelling and stepping through a few Dragons to score. Hodgson pushes them ahead by 8 and the Tigers appear to have good grip on the game now. Conversion attempt by Brett Hodgson successful.
Wests Tigers 16-8

73 min: TRY Wests Tigers
Another solo effort, this time with young gun Chris Lawrence. He goes straight through the Dragons defence and goes 90m to score. Naiqama let him through and the cover couldn't foot it with him. Hodgson misses from wide out. Conversion attempt by Brett Hodgson unsuccessful.
Wests Tigers 20-8

74 min: The Dragons fail to kick it ten, giving the Tigers another scoring opportunity.

75 min: FIELD GOAL Wests Tigers
Morris snaps a field goal as the Tigers look to wind down late in the game.
Wests Tigers 21-8

75 min: Crowd 13,625.

77 min: TRY Wests Tigers
A nice way to end things here for Wests, with Fitzhenry going in out wide. They create an overlap with a run-around and Collis engineers a try for his winger. Hodgson makes this one and the scoreline looks a little embarrassing now. Conversion attempt by Brett Hodgson successful.
Wests Tigers 27-8

80 min: Time's up here with the Tigers taking the spoils. They probably didn't play their best footy but it was enough to beat the Dragons, who looked very disorganised.

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