Wests Tigers have provided their fans a moment of déjà vu as the club won by a single point at CommBank Stadium for the second time in just five days.
Michael Maguire’s men held a 12-10 halftime lead and were able to hold on to win 23-22 in a tightly-fought affair against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
David Nofoaluma got the scoring underway for the evening, latching onto a cut-out pass from Daine Laurie and barging past two defenders to score his fourth try of the season.
Nofa gets things going
To compound the Rabbitohs’ woes, centre Taane Milne was penalised for an attempted high tackle and was sent to the sin bin.
However, South Sydney were able to overcome the man advantage and Cody Walker equalised the scores before Alex Johnston put his side in front with a try in the left corner.
Shortly after Milne’s return, Wests Tigers began to target the right edge of South Sydney and were quickly rewarded. Halves Jackson Hastings and Luke Brooks combined to send Ken Maumalo over to level the ledger.
Maumalo takes back the lead
The joint-venture then took control of the proceedings and starved their opponents of the ball for the remainder of the first half, but were unable to convert possession into points.
A late break to South Sydney saw Alex Twal sent to the sin bin for a professional foul, but the home side held on to enter halftime with a two-point advantage.
After the break, South Sydney capitalised on the depleted defensive line and re-claimed the lead through Josh Mansour.
Wests Tigers were then hit by a pair of injuries, with Daine Laurie straining his MCL and Jacob Liddle going off for a head injury assessment.
Despite this, the resilient Wests Tigers hit back off a scrum play that saw Nofoaluma cross for his second try of the night. Luke Brooks then picked up the scraps from a South Sydney error and ran sixty metres to give his side a six-point lead.
Brooks streaks away to take back lead
When Keaon Koloamatangi crashed over with eight minutes to play, the game appeared destined for Golden Point.
However, after weeks of intense media scrutiny, five-eighth Luke Brooks stepped up to kick the match-winning field goal with just one minute left on the clock.
Luke Brooks the man of the moment
The win is the second of the season for Wests Tigers, and it will provide the playing group with another boost of confidence after Monday’s victory over the Eels.
Head Coach Michael Maguire will be particularly impressed with his side’s completion rate, which sat at an impressive 95% at full time.
Wests Tigers will now enjoy an eight-day turnaround before travelling south to Wollongong to face the Dragons next Sunday afternoon.
