Maguire proud of Wests Tigers fight

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Wests Tigers Head Coach Michael Maguire said he was proud of the fight shown by his side after they battled bravely against the South Sydney Rabbitohs tonight at ANZ Stadium.

With a strong completion rate and some quality play from likely Origin selections Damien Cook, Cody Walker and Cameron Murray, South Sydney consolidated their spot atop the Telstra Premiership ladder with a 32-16 win over Wests Tigers, who refused to go away and threatened to hit back on several occasions in the match.

While disappointed with the result and the lack of some polish in key situations, Maguire said he was again impressed with the resilience shown by his side.

“This group — they’ll just keep fighting," he enthused.

"The pleasing thing to know is that even though we were down by three tries they were fighting. If they continue to do that, we’ll be able to do what they did out there.

“It’s frustrating for all of us, but we gave ourselves a chance in the second half. We came through and they managed to get some tries off set pieces which the boys have been working at.

“We’ve just got to keep working hard, it's as simple as that," he said.

"If the boys keep turning up and keep doing the things they’re doing, we'll get there.

"We’re taking each day and we’re growing as group — we’ve just got to make sure we capitalise in these games. The Rabbitohs were able to capitalise on that in the second half, and as a team we need to be better than what we showed tonight."

With captain Moses Mbye sidelined with a groin strain, Corey Thompson was a standout for Wests Tigers at fullback, with an incredible 15 tackle breaks and a try standing out to Maguire in an impressive showing by the diminutive Thompson.

“He's a really good fella," Maguire said of Thompson.

"He competes and you can see in the back end of the game, he’s a little competitor.

"He values what we are as a team and I thought he tried hard.”

Sitting just outside the top eight after tonight's loss, Wests Tigers will look to bounce back in Round 13 when they take on the Canberra Raiders in the club's first home game at Bankwest Stadium — a venue they will play four home games at in the space of five weeks as they look to climb back in to the finals race.