Tigers tear it up, pile on pain
THE Panthers are under immense pressure to shake off a losing slump after they were mauled 30-4 at Suncorp Stadium last night.
Wests Tigers appeared to pull off their own magic trick during the Magic Round’s second night, by making the Panthers disappear in the opening stanza of the match.
The 35,122 fans were treated to a near-perfect half by the Tigers, who completed at 90 per cent and piled on 26 points in 25 minutes.
Last night’s match was described as a must-win for the Panthers, who have now fallen to five straight losses and a 2-7 win-loss record.
Coach Ivan Cleary could do nothing but watch on in horror as his Penrith side missed 24 tackles and made four errors in the first half alone.
By the end, they had 36 missed tackles and 10 errors.
Penrith’s poor ball handling and defensive effort allowed the Tigers’ veteran playmakers to capitalise and put on their own magical performance.
They welcomed the return of Benji Marshall from a hamstring injury following their 42-12 loss to the Roosters in Round 8.
And the former Brisbane Bronco used his old stomping ground to put on a masterclass against the Panthers.
His combination with halfback Luke Brooks, hooker Robbie Farah and fullback Moses Mbye was close to perfect as they piled on the points.
The four of them were able to control the match from the kick-off, with clever dummyhalf runs and pinpoint accurate kicks. A Marshall 40/20 in the 10th minute epitomised the Tigers’ dominance as they ran riot at Suncorp Stadium.
Their win will be a muchneeded confidence boost as they travel down to play Melbourne at AAMI Park.
For Penrith, the alarm bells will be ringing loudly for Cleary and his staff.
They went into the game boasting five straight wins against the Tigers.
Last night’s game was a huge contrast to their Round 4 outing, which saw a total of 17 points scored.
The Tigers had 20 points within 11 minutes last night.
Skipper Mbye opened the scoring in the fourth minute and from there, the Tigers were able to outscore the clock for the next 20 minutes.
Five consecutive tries followed to give the Tigers a 26-0 lead after 25 minutes.