Wrap up
The late breaking news before the game was new Tigers recruit Josh Reynolds was out due to a torn hamstring he suffered at training on Friday. This meant Benji Marshall’s NRL comeback started earlier than planned. And he did himself proud, having an influence throughout the game, and especially showing great leadership when Luke Brooks was sin-binned for 10 minutes, two minutes into the second half, for bringing down Blake Ferguson.
Latrell Mitchell made it 2-2 with a goal from the resulting penalty, but the Roosters did not score again in the 10 minutes when they had a one-man advantage.
Cooper Cronk and James Tedesco both had strong debut games for the Roosters, with the latter, a former Tigers player, being roundly booed every time he touched the ball.
Tedesco did, however, commit one howler. He dropped a pass from Ferguson when he should have scored a try. That was in the 14th minute and would have made a big difference to the course of the game.
With three minutes to go and the Roosters leading 8-4 after a try from Ferguson just before half-time, they were in the driving seat, or so it seemed.
But Corey Thompson – with a try after sustained pressure – and Tuimoala Lolohea – with a perfect conversion from the sideline – had other ideas. With less than two minutes to go, the Tigers were now in the driving seat, leading 10-8, and they held on for the final siren.
It was not a classic game by any means, but it certainly showed us the Tigers are better than most people seem to give them credit for, and that the Roosters have to ask some serious questions of themselves, number one being how could they manage to not take advantage of having an extra man for 10 minutes.
Thanks for your company. Until next time, good evening.
Full time: Wests Tigers 10-8 Sydney Roosters
It’s all over and the Tigers have won with a late try and goal. 10-8, which is apparently the lowest ever score for a Tigers v Roosters game.
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80 min: Roosters have the ball. It’s now or never.
Wests Tigers take the lead!
79 min: Tuimoala Lolohea with a perfect kick from the sideline, under serious pressure. Tigers 10-8 Roosters.
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TRY! Corey Thompson scores for the Tigers
78 min: Brilliant play by the Tigers. Well deserved try.
77 min: Penalty to Tigers after a late tackle. Time is running out.
76 min: Big kick from Cronk into touch, trying to wind the clock down and hold onto their lead.
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75 min: Six minutes to go and it’s Tigers 4-8 Roosters.
73 min: Benji Marshall puts his left shoulder to good use to stop the Roosters close to the line, but the Tigers need to work quickly to get back into this game.
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71 min: Good play from the Tigers but Tedesco intercepts a kick and saves the day. Making him even more of a villain to the Tigers fans.
Tigers 4-8 Roosters
68 min: Difficult kick for Mitchell, but he gets it. Beautiful kick. Tigers 4-8 Roosters.
TRY! Ferguson scores for the Roosters
66 min: Answer to my previous question is: score a try.
65 min: Knock-on given against Marshall. Now that the Roosters have the ball what are they going to do with it?
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GOAL! Tigers 4-2 Roosters
63 min: Lolohea scores and the Tigers are back in front, setting us up for a tight last 17 minutes or so.
61 min: Three-quarters of the game gone and it’s still 2-2. Tigers look more likely to score though.
Tigers go close, but no try
58 min: Drop out to restart after Mitch Cornish got his hand to the ball before Marshall.
57 min: What is up with the Roosters? They failed to take advantage of having an extra man for 10 minutes and now don’t seem to know exactly what to do.
55 min: It’s not often you get his far into an NRL game and find the score is still 2-2.
53 min: Tuimoala Lolohea misses what should have been a relatively easy kick for the Tigers. Possibly the fact that he took so long to take it affected him. Never mind, the time wasting is over now that Luke Brooks is back on.
49 min: The Roosters in general, and Latrell Mitchell in particular, are letting frustration get the better of them as they are not taking advantage of their extra man.
46 min: Marshall kicks into touch, which is a smart move given the Tigers are playing with 12 men at the moment.
45 min: Tedesco runs straight into Marshall, with a predictable response from the Tigers fans.
Tigers 2-2 Roosters
44 min: Latrell Mitchell equalises with a goal.
Tigers down to 12 men for 10 minutes
42 mins: Ferguson drops the hip and it’s a great run. Brought down by Brooks who gets 10 minutes in the sin bin for his trouble. And trouble is what the Tigers are in, being down to 12 men now.
41 min: Just a reminder, the Tigers are leading 2-0 over the Roosters.
Peep! Second half under way.
Can the Tigers hold on?
And an intriguing point about Mr Mitchell and his quiet first half.
Roosters need to get the ball to Latrell more, he’s had 3 runs! #NRLTigersRoosters
— Brad 🤙🏻 (@bradfogarty95) March 10, 2018
This person isn’t good with commas, but the sentiment is there.
There is no better sound then the boo’s of the West’s Tigers fans whenever Tedesco touches the ball. 🐯😂 #NRLTigersRoosters
— ♡ S A M D O G Z ♡ (@Samanthamare_e) March 10, 2018
Half time: Tigers 2-0 Roosters
Cooper Cronk says “Gee it’s good to be back playing footy,” as he heads into the sheds. I’m heading for a cup of tea myself now. Back soon.
40 min: Tedesco tidies up, much to the chagrin of the Tigers fans. Tigers lead 2-0 over the Roosters after 40 minutes of grinding football.
38 min: Penalty to the Wests Tigers, just when the Roosters were building momentum.
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36 min: Daniel Tupou forced into touch by strident defence from four Tigers.
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34 min: Mighty kick from Cronk.
33: Naiqama saves the day for the Tigers, dragging Manu into touch.
31 min: More good work from Cronk, but again there’s no one there to collect his pass.
29 min: Roosters getting the upper hand now, but still have not scored.
28 min: Cronk kicked but there was no one there to pick it up. He’s got a nosebleed for his troubles too.
26 min: Tigers have 55% of the possession so far.
23 min: Interchange Ben Matulino is on.
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21 min: Cooper Cronk’s pressure on Tigers captain Chris Lawrence makes him drop the ball just short of the line.
20 min: The bounce of the ball beat Esan Marsters when it looked like he was through for a try for the Tigers.
19 min: Kevin Naiqama has been busy and industrious for the Tigers.
18 min: Ferguson has been the key player for the Roosters so far.
17 min: Marshall puts the ball into touch and both sides get a momentary breather.
14 mins: Tedesco drops a pass from Ferguson. He should have scored a try there. The Tigers fans love it.
13 min: Tedesco being roundly booed every time he touches the ball. No way he can’t hear that.
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12 min: Marshall in some space after an offload. What a start from him.
10 min: It has been an exciting and positive start from both sides, so far anyway.
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8 min: Great play from the Roosters, leading to a penalty.
Tigers 2-0 Roosters
6 min: Goal for Tigers!
5 min: Good start from Marshall with a quick tap and some nice touches. No visible nerves from the veteran.
3 min: First touch for James Tedesco against his old club and the Tigers fans boo him loudly.
1 min: Good metres early on for the Roosters, but Tigers have the ball now.
Peep! The game is under way.
After a moment’s silence for Steve Folkes, the game has kicked off.
The players are on the field. Roosters are going for an 11th straight win over the Tigers.
And some are less positive.
“Tigers or Roosters?” Well one had Tedesco & Cronk & the other has a 40 year old Benji Marshall sooooo 🤔 #NRLTigersRoosters
— stacie ☕ (@stacierobyn_) March 10, 2018
Then again, some are more positive than I am.
Benji Marshall in a Tigers jersey. Some things are just right. #NRLTigersRoosters
— Anne Axe (@anneaxsson) March 10, 2018
Ten minutes to game time and it’s hard to see Wests Tigers winning without Josh Reynolds.
Sydney Roosters line up
1. James Tedesco
2. Daniel Tupou
3. Latrell Mitchell
4. Joseph Manu
5. Blake Ferguson
6. Mitchell Cornish
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
9. Jake Friend (capt.)
10. Sio Siua Taukeiaho
16. Ryan Matterson
12. Mitchell Aubusson
13. Isaac Liu
Interchange:
11. Boyd Cordner (capt.)
14. Dylan Napa
15. Zane Tetevano
17. Victor Radley
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Wests Tigers line up
1. Tuimoala Lolohea
2. Corey Thompson
3. Esan Marsters
4. Kevin Naiqama
5. Malakai Watene-Zelezniak
14. Benji Marshall
7. Luke Brooks
8. Russell Packer
9. Pita Godinet
17. Matt Eisenhuth
11. Chris Lawrence (capt.)
12. Robbie Rochow
13. Elijah Taylor
Interchange:
10. Ben Matulino
15. Alex Twal
16. Michael Chee Kam
18. Matt McIlwrick
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Don’t worry Roosters fans, I have a favourite song featuring roosters too. The Rolling Stones’ Little Red Rooster, from a time when Mick Jagger was still vaguely threatening in his demeanour.
What’s your favourite song about tigers? Mine is Hello Tiger by Urusei Yatsura, a Scottish band named after a Japanese cartoonist. And a sublime bit of Sonic Youth-influenced power pop it is.
Good afternoon and thank you for joining me for the live blog.
The big new so far is that Wests Tigers recruit Josh Reynolds is out and could be sidelined for at least a month due to a torn hamstring he reportedly suffered at training on Friday.
This means Benji Marshall starts his NRL comeback today, in his first game for the Tigers since 2013, with Matt McIlwrick promoted to the interchange bench.
Pádraig will be here shortly, which leaves enough time to have a read of Paul Connolly’s season preview, including his thoughts on the Roosters:
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