Tigers claim success in battle of the basement

WESTS Tigers took a step towards avoiding their first NRL wooden spoon by beating fellow strugglers Newcastle 33-12 yesterday.

The win puts the Tigers two points above the Knights at the bottom of the NRL ladder with a bye in hand.

The Tigers’ attack looked the most cohesive it has at any point under new coach Ivan Cleary as Luke Brooks and Tuimoala Lolohea combined well. Moses Suli had the best game of his young career.

NSW State of Origin prop Aaron Woods was also in form with four offloads and 161m in a dominant display.

Suli, 19, busted through seven tackles and had one try assist at left centre as Tigers fans got their best glimpse of the future of the club in Newcastle.

In their best half of football since Round 1 last year, the Tigers went to the break with a strong lead of 20-0 after Lolohea and Brooks twice combined for tries.

The first came when Lolohea landed a lofted cut-out ball perfectly on the chest of winger Malakai Watene-Zelezniak to score in the eighth minute, while they also put Suli into space for fullback Kevin Naiqama to cross.