Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses shining lights for Wests Tigers against Newcastle Knights

TYRONE Roberts went up for sale on eBay this week. Started $2.60. Peaked at $130. So why are we telling you this?

Tigers Luke Brooks makes a break and sets up a try for Dene Halatau during the round 10 NRL game between the Newcastle Knights and the Wests Tigers at Hunter Stadium , Newcastle .Picture Gregg Porteous

TYRONE Roberts went up for sale on eBay this week.

Started $2.60.

Peaked at $130.

Which is around time someone from the online auction company twigged that, err, maybe this was the work of a disgruntled Newcastle fan - and not the Knights halfback testing himself on the open market - and promptly pulled the post down.

So why are we telling you this?

Well, to explain exactly how tough life can be when you’re the playmaker of a losing side.

One that in Roberts’ case, had lost five consecutive games before getting home against Wests Tigers late yesterday.

It’s a pressure which now, with the Tigers having been dusted in four of five themselves, is only going to increase on youngsters Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses.

But, please, save them the eBay gags for a week or two yet.

Understanding that against a Newcastle side that defended exactly as you’d expect a team playing for its season in May, only their long kicking game kept the visitors in it.

Brooks, too, scored one try and set up another. Moses, meanwhile, providing enough flashes of brilliance - including a couple of smart breaks upfield - to suggest the Tigers’ woes have less to do with wayward halves than a pack failing to win the wrestle.

It was a truth coach Jason Taylor admitted afterwards.

“I thought our halves kicking, considering they were on the back foot, kept us in the game,’’ he said. “Particularly in the second half, they really did well with their long kicking.

“That helped keep Newcastle at bay for longer than we otherwise should’ve.”

And for further proof, take a look at the numbers.

While Tigers Origin prop Aaron Woods was outstanding - running for roughly 170m and making 40 tackles - no other forward in their pack broke triple figures. Seven, in fact, recorded 65m or less.

Asked afterwards about his halves, coach Taylor continued: “They’re playing off the back foot.

“I thought Mitch Moses was really good for us tonight. Played great.

“Some really strong running, made some breaks and gave us some opportunities with the plays that he came up with.”

After copping much of the heat for a Knights losing streak that had stretched five games, Roberts too enjoyed his best game of the season - passing or bombing for three of four tries.

Igniting a backline play that led to the Knights first try, for winger James McManus after nine minutes, the enigmatic No.7 also produced a pair of towering bombs that brought touchdowns for prop Dave Fa’alogo and centre Joseph Leilua.

Yet while he and forward Korbin Sims were standouts, much of the Tigers woes came from their own making.

Like the visitors offloading only three times, compared to Newcastle’s 11.

Or that Pat Richards, the winger dubbed Iceman so composed is he under pressure, incredibly dropping three bombs - including one that gifted Fa’alogo his try with 21 minutes gone.

And Richards, it should be noted, was hardly the Lone Ranger.

For proof, consider the Tigers scrum just 15m from the Knights tryline, with five minutes remaining and the difference four. A feed they inexplicably lost.

That one you will find today on eBay.

Originally published as Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses shining lights for Wests Tigers against Newcastle Knights