Easter Monday triumph: Wests Tigers give Eels the slip

Just two weeks ago the Wests Tigers beat Melbourne Storm at home in round two of the premiership.

So what kind of crazy scheduling is the NRL offering when the two sides meet again this Saturday in round five.

But it’s even more weird than that: Wests Tigers are giving up home ground advantage by taking the game against the reigning premiers across the ditch to New Zealand.

It’s part of a double header at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland in which the local side, the NZ Warriors, will take on the Cowboys.

In any other recent season even the most loyal Tigers fans would have marked the two Storm games as certain losses.

But not this year, not these Wests Tigers under the astute coaching of Ivan Cleary.

As they showed against the Eels yesterday at ANZ Stadium, the 2018 version of this club is made of stern stuff.

They responded superbly after Parramatta scored first for a 6-0 lead, with the Tigers finishing the first half well on top at 20-6.

It was 30-6 before the Wests Tigers had to defend stoutly when Parramatta seized momentum and started to look dangerous in the last quarter of play.

But Wests Tigers were able to hang on for a 30-20 win, their third in four games this season.

But for one refereeing blunder against the Broncos at Campbelltown in round three, they would be four from four – an incredible feat no fan would have dared to dream was possible before the start of the season.

What’s even more amazing is that this team is a work in progress and their fans can expect to see even more composure in defence and lots of flair in attack.

Against Parramatta was the first time Wests Tigers played a little bit of football and it looked good for the first hour.

But it was the forwards who set up the platform by running directly into the heart of the Parramatta defence at every opportunity.

Once again it was a real team effort from Cleary’s charges and it’s probably unfair to single anyone out.

But surely mentioning Corey Thompson can be forgiven; that’s how good his contribution was, and which included two tries in and around the corner post.

But his general play was also brilliant, and while there are a few contenders for the buy of the year tag, Thompson is right up there with the best of them.