The Wests Tigers have managed to put in a dominant second half performance with four unanswered tries, running away 42-24 victors over the Newtown Jets on Saturday afternoon.
The match was fuelled with media attention with under fire NSW Origin Hooker Robbie Farah taking his place in the starting side for the Tigers, looking to put in a strong performance in front of large crowd at the beloved Leichardt Oval, where he was welcomed with chants of his name from the first minute of play.
It didn’t take long for the Tigers star to stamp his foot in the game, with a perfect cut-out pass from dummy half found winger Josh Addo-Carr, only for the speedster to drop the ball cold with no one in front of him.
With a mount of pressure mounting on Newtowns line, somee great goal line defence was rewarded with a try at the other end as a perfect Josh Cleeland grubber hit the goal post and straight into the arms of Jess Sene-Lefao, who crashed over right under the posts to claim the Jets first of the afternoon.
It only took a set later for Newtown to extend their lead, with Sene-Lefao crossing for his second try in almost as many minutes, after some great lead up play from Jordan Drew allowed the forward to score in the left hand corner. Kurt Capewell landed a brilliant sideline conversion to extend the lead to two converted tries.
Tigers returned fire fairly quickly after two unanswered tries, with Farah laying a brilliant short ball for Tyler Cassell who crossed for the home sides first try of the afternoon, reducing the deficit to just six points after 20 minutes.
The Origin star was playing brilliantly in the opening 25 minutes of the game, laying on another perfect pass to captain Jack Littlejohn as he leveled the game at 12 all after an exciting opening to the top of the table clash.
Tigers eventually managed to claim the lead, after a host repeat sets finally paying dividends as Jordan Grant barged his way over for a well earned try with just five minutes to play in the first half.
Newtown returned served moments later with Anthony Moraitis crashing his way over in the left hand corner, with Capewell failing to convert from the sideline to give the Tigers a two-point lead heading into the break.
A penalty goal right on half-time to Newtown set the scores at 18 all, with the score much defining a hotly contested battle between two sides vying for a top four spot at the games end.
The start to the second half was much like the first 40, with the Tigers amounting a heap of pressure on the Newtown defence with Farah leading the way with a pin point kicking game. It eventually paid off for the home team as Justin Hunt stepped his way through and planted the ball down to the left of the uprights.
Some brilliant second phase play off the kick off saw the Tigers march down the field in an attempt to extend their lead, with the ball finding the right man in Addo-Carr, as he stepped through two defenders to cross for the Tigers fifth of the afternoon.
Tigers managed to hold out the Jets with the some committed goal line defence, as the Jets repeatedly threatened their try line with some impressive attacking raids. Just when they looked to score, Addo-Carr plucked the ball from nowhere and streaked away under the posts with a length of the field try, extending the lead to an unlikely 18 points with just a quarter of an hour left in the game.
Curtis Sironen added more salt into the wounds of the Jets just five minutes later, crashing over for the TIgers fourth try of the second half and take a strong 24 minute lead with under 15 minutes left in what was a very one-sided second half.
Newtown managed to grab a late consolation try late in the contest through Jordan Drew, but it was to no avail as the Tigers ran out 42-24 winners to take a further lead in the top four of the Instrust Super Premiership NSW ladder.
