That’s the way you do it.
The Wests Tigers scored a big 38-14 win over the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium tonight to exact revenge for their 25-24 golden point loss just four weeks ago.
The victory was built on tough defence, even at times when the Bulldogs had repeat seat after repeat set.
And it was fitting that veteran winger Pat Richards converted his own try from the sideline a minute from fulltime for the final score of 38-14.
A 55 metre penalty goal by Richards – possibly a rugby league record – a few seconds before the end of the first half had given the Tigers heart after the Bulldogs had scored to get on the scoreboard for the first time in the match.
Tries to Tedesco and Brooks in the second half pushed the score out to 32-6, before the Bulldogs hit back to make it 32-10 and then 32-14.
The Tigers tonight did what they haven’t done all year: defend stoutly on their line, and when they had the ball slowly built pressure.
There’s no doubt coach Jason Taylor would be delighted with his team’s fourth win of the season.
He would be even happier with the way they played, so different from their approach against the Raiders last week and the Dogs four weeks earlier.
It was a very mature effort from a very young, massively talented team.
At one stage in the second half, between the 60th and 70th minute the Bulldogs had all the ball and the young Tigers were immense in defending their line.
And it was just one lapse that had spoiled what would have been a perfect first half of football for Wests Tigers.
Four minutes from the break the Bulldogs were able to pierce the Tigers’ right hand defence for the first time in 36 minutes.
The Tigers had dominated the entire first half up until then, both in attack and defence.
Winger Kevin Naiqama, who was named man of the match, scored the second try in the corner to add to his incredible effort in throwing the ball back into the field of play for James Tedesco to score the first Tigers try less than five minutes into the match.
When Luke Brooks scored after his high kick hit the goalposts and rebounded into his arms, the Tigers were erasing the memories of the previous week’s nightmare against Canberra.
But that erasing feeling didn’t last long.
When the Bulldogs pulled the scoreline back to 16-6 it seemed the Tigers would go to the sheds with heads down and full of worry about what was to come from the Dogs of war.
Suddenly though, with 15 seconds to go, they got a penalty 55 metres out from the Bulldogs’ tryline.
Skipper Robbie Farah looked around and saw that master goalkicker Pat Richards had returned to the field after going off to be treated for bleeding on his cheek.
Farah threw him the ball and asked him to kick for two points.
Channel 9 commentators Ray Warren and Phil Gould confirmed that they had never before seen a successful kick of more than 52 metres in distance.
Trust Pat Richards to prove them wrong; the ball cleared the black dot and kept sailing towards Auburn.
That made it 18-6 but more importantly it lifted the spirits of the Tigers players as the trudged off to hear what their coach, Jason Taylor, thought of their first half performance.
