LADDER LEADERS FALL TO TIGERS
THE Wests Tigers have celebrated Robbie Farah’s 250th game milestone – and ruined John Sutton’s 300th – with a stunning 22-6 upset of NRL leaders South Sydney.
The Tigers produced arguably their best performance of the year to not only keep their finals ambitions alive, but end the Rabbitohs’ winning streak at nine. More importantly, the impressive victory in front of a strong crowd of 25,963 yesterday lifts the Tigers to within four points of the top eight with six games remaining in the season.
The win may have come at a cost however, with rookie Luke Garner, winger David Nofoaluma and Farah all failing to finish the night due to concussion. Farah, playing against the Rabbitohs for the first time since his switch in June, left the field following a head clash with George Burgess in the 71st minute.
The Tigers had five head injury assessments, with only Elijah Taylor returning to play.
For the Rabbitohs, the heavy defeat opens the door for defending premiers Melbourne or St George Illawarra to move to the top of the table by the end of the round.
Their six points is the lowest by the league’s best attack this season. Down 10-0 at halftime, the Rabbitohs had a number of looks at reducing the deficit in the second half but were turned away by a Tigers defence reminiscent of their early-season form.
A Moses Mbye try extended the lead to 16, however, it wasn’t until Corey Thompson’s 80m intercept try in the 67th minute that an impressive win was sealed.
Rabbitohs five-eighth Cody Walker nabbed a consolation try to avoid their first scoreless effort in over two years.
The early signs pointed to boilover, with Esan Marsters crashing over in the eighth minute following huge runs from the Tigers’ forwards.
Sam Burgess tried hard to inspire his teammates with some crunching hits, including a jolting stop on Farah that was put on report.
However, the Tigers continued to absorb all the pressure before turning the heat back on their opponents through Nofoaluma’s diving effort for a 10-point lead at halftime.