Wests Tigers will be cheering on two of the club’s Under 17s pathways teams on junior representative Grand Final Day at CommBank Stadium this weekend.
Ladies first, and Wests Tigers will take on the unbeaten Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the Lisa Fiaola Cup Grand Final before Wests Magpies tackle the New Zealand Warriors in Harold Matthews Cup decider.
Wests Tigers booked a place in the Lisa Fiaola Cup decider after defeating Illawarra Steelers 32-14 at Leichhardt Oval in the semi-final.
Match: Steelers v Wests Tigers
Semi Final -
home Team
Steelers
away Team
Wests Tigers
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
The Tigers ran out convincing winners posting seven tries to three after leading 16-6 at half time.
That win followed a narrow victory in week one of the finals, also at Leichhardt, over the Central Coast Roosters.
Coach’s Comment – Scott Clark
I think playing the week before gave us good momentum going into this game, and we were confident in our own ability.
We knew if we stuck to our game plan we could get the win, and we did. The team held strong in defence and played to our strengths in attack.
Match: Magpies v Sharks
Semi Final -
home Team
Magpies
away Team
Sharks
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Wests Magpies progressed to the Harold Matthews Cup Grand Final after a nail-biting 8-6 win over the Sharks at Leichhardt Oval.
In a low scoring but gripping semi-final the Magpies prevailed after being held scoreless in the second half to march through to the Under 17s decider.
They will now play the Warriors in the premiership decider after the New Zealand team upset the Bulldogs in the semis.
Coach’s Comment: Stephen Isdale
The boys were champing at the bit to play footy after earning the week off and they knew they had to play for the full 60 minutes against a quality Sharks side.
Our kicking game was so important in this win, given the match was played in low-scoring weather conditions.
Our first and only try came from a cross-field kick from Alex Isdale and then we adjusted in the second half to kicking early in the set and trusting our defence.
I thought Maddax Fui and Christian Taupau-Moors were strong up front, and Siotame Havea Junior came up with some big one-on-one strips that changed the momentum of the game.
