Toothless Tigers fall to Bulldogs

CANTERBURY has all but killed off Wests Tigers’ NRL finals hopes after pulling off a surprise 16-4 upset last night.

Two tries to Kerrod Holland were enough for the Bulldogs to break a threegame losing streak at ANZ Stadium and claim an important two points as they seek to avoid the wooden spoon.

The Tigers had beaten high-flyers South Sydney and St George-Illawarra in the previous two weeks but showed none of the same urgency and spark against the Dogs.

Ivan Cleary’s side has been hot and cold all year, beating top-four teams regularly but then losing games it should have won.

The Tigers now sit six points outside the top eight.

In last night’s other match, a Gavin Cooper try two minutes from fulltime secured a comeback victory for North Queensland over Newcastle, ending the Cowboys’ five-game home losing streak.

Jonathan Thurston inspired the secondhalf comeback, scoring once and having a hand in the other two tries as the Cowboys edged Newcastle 20-18.

Two tries from Lachlan Fitzgibbon and one from Aidan Guerra, against one from Justin O’Neill, gave the Knights an 18-6 halftime advantage.

Coen Hess and Thurston scored within three minutes of each other early in the second half, but with Ken Sio more accurate with his conversions, the hosts were still behind until the dramatic late try. CANTERBURY 16 (Holland 2 tries, Martin 4 goals) d WESTS TIGERS 4 (Marsters try) at ANZ Stadium. Crowd: 9865. NORTH QUEENSLAND 20 (Cooper, Hess, O’Neill, Thurston tries, Thurston 2 goals) d NEWCASTLE 18 (Fitzgibbon 2, Guerra tries, Sio 3 goals) at 1300SMILES Stadium. Crowd: 11,709.