This was Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall after his team’s narrow 20-16 loss to Souths last Saturday in Gosford:
“I would have preferred to win, but at the same time, like we’re setting foundations for the way we want to play our footy, and I thought tonight we played the way we want to play and what we practised in the preseason. And it’s a credit to the boys, because they really dug in tonight.’’
The defeat was the first for Wests Tigers in 2026, which means they head into round four of the NRL with one win, one loss and one bye.
It’s good to hear that Marshall wasn’t too upset with the loss to Souths, or at least the first 20 minutes of the match when his team made a lot of errors, with and without the ball, allowing the Bunnies to race to a 12-0 lead.
It’s true that the Tigers got their game back on track and presented a real threat to Souths, who in the end had to rely on their superstars like Latrell Mitchell to fall over the line.
The Tigers finished the game without their halves, both Luai and Doueihi limping off towards the end.
However, even before the two generals departed Tigers found it almost impossible to break the Souths line.
Still, it was only round three, and Benji’s team are a work in progress and therefore can be given the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer.
Yesterday, Marshall named the squad to battle it out with the New Zealand Warriors in Round 4 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
The Tigers will head to Go Media Stadium, Auckland to face the Warriors for an 8pm NZ time (6pm our time) kick off this Friday, March 27.
With Jarome Luai sidelined by a knee injury, Jock Madden moves into the halves to partner Adam Doueihi, who has been named after being cleared of injury.
Sunia Turuva remains in the centres, with Jeral Skelton, Heamasi Makasini, Luke Laulilli and Jahream Bula making up the Tigers back five.
Bunty Afoa joins forwards Sione Fainu, Royce Hunt and Alex Seyfarth on the bench, with Faaletino Tavana also joining the six-man interchange.
THE TEAM IS:
Jahream Bula
2. Jeral Skelton
3. Sunia Turuva
4. Heamasi Makasini
5. Luke Laulilli
6. Jock Madden
7. Adam Doueihi
8. Terrell May
9. Api Koroisau (c)
10. Fonua Pole
11. Samuela Fainu
12. Kai Pearce-Paul
13. Alex Twal
INTERCHANGE:
14. Tristan Hope
15. Sione Fainu
16. Royce Hunt
17. Alex Seyfarth
18. Bunty Afoa
19. Faaletino Tavana