Wests Tigers have bowed out of the 2015 Auckland Nines — going down 22-4 to the Sydney Roosters in their quarterfinal match on Sunday afternoon.
New recruit Kevin Naiqama got the match off to a perfect start with a try in the third minute — wrestling his way away from Brendan Elliot to score in the corner.
Tim Simona was unable to add the extras though, leaving the score at 4-0.
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From that point on, it was all the Roosters, as the former NSW Origin halves pairing James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce took control of the match.
First it was Pearce, who leveled the scores in the fourth minute after stepping his way through the line. Maloney's successful conversion gave Trent Robinson's men their first lead of the match — holding a slender 6-4 advantage at the half-time break.
Pearce grabbed his second try of the match when he was quickest down-field to a Maloney kick after the break, before the halfback put Nathan Stapleton away in the corner to guarantee the victory in the 14th minute. Maloney got on the scoreboard himself as the clock ticked down for one final try — giving the Roosters a 22-4 victory and providing them with first revenge over former NRL Assistant Coach and now Wests Tigers NRL Head Coach, Jason Taylor.
The next chance for fans to see Wests Tigers in action will be this coming Friday, when the Club's NYC and NSW Cup squads take on Parramatta in trial matches.
The NRL squad will play Parramatta in Alice Springs the following week on February 13.
