Wests Tigers beat Melbourne twice in one season for the first time with 11-10 victory in Auckland
THE Tigers have proved they might be the real deal in 2018 with their second win over the Storm this season as a Benji Marshall field goal secured an 11-10 win in Auckland.
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A BENJI Marshall field goal has created history for the Wests Tigers after they shocked the defending premiers Melbourne Storm for the second time inside the first five rounds.
Veteran Marshall continues to show he has far from a spent force after he slotted the one-pointer to give the Tigers an 11-10 win against the Storm in Auckland.
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It is the first time the Tigers have beaten the Storm twice in a season and it is the only time they have beaten them in consecutive matches.
Marshall said it was “his turn to step up” as he slotted the 28 metre field goal.
“The rule of thumb is if it’s on the left side of the post then it’s mine,” Marshall said. “If it’s on the right it’s Luke (Brooks’). Thankfully I struck it well.”
The two try to one win showed the Tigers two points win against the Storm in two was no fluke as they continue their giant-killing run.
Tigers coach Ivan Cleary said it was a historical win.
“We discussed the possibility or the opportunity that was in front of us,” Cleary said. “The draw put us against Melbourne twice in a few weeks. To have that chance twice in that period is a bit of history. To get that is a feather in our cap. They are never easy to beat. Very proud.”
Russell Packer picked up a knee injury late in the game which Cleary said left him a in a “bit of trouble”. Packer stayed on the field as the Tigers had exhausted their eight interchanges.
While Marshall was the hero with his 75th minute field goal, it was halves partner Luke Brooks who engineered the win.
He laid on one try and helped kicked the Tigers to victory.
His opposite No. 7 Brodie Croft had a night to forget for a Melbourne side who have now just won two of their opening five matches.
The first Tigers try came from a Josh Addo-Carr brain explosion. Addo-Carr threw a no-look pass when he panicked thinking a Marshall kick was a potential 40/20. Marshall booted the ball from well outside his 40 metres, with the Addo-Carr ball swooped up by Esan Masters who set up Josh Aloiai for the try after 35 minutes.
The Storm hit back quickly when a kick off the scrum saw Billy Slater race to the ball and score to have Melbourne leading 8-4 at halftime.
A Croft penalty goal was Melbourne’s only second half points midway through the second half. Croft failed to capture the kick-off restart gifting the Tigers possession.
Brooks made the Storm pay when he laid on a ball to Chris Lawrence who easily surged through Croft to score and draw the Tigers level.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said his side were not “controlling the ball well enough.”
“I’m going to sound like a broken record,” Bellamy said. “I’m happy with our defence but we can’t hang onto the ball to build enough pressure It’s simple but doing it seems to be the hard part.”
WESTS TIGERS 11 (J Aloiai C Lawrence tries T Lolohea goal B Marshall field goal) bt MELBOURNE 10 (B Slater try B Croft 3 goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: Adam Gee, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski
Originally published as Wests Tigers beat Melbourne twice in one season for the first time with 11-10 victory in Auckland