Wests Tigers scrape through to unlikely victory over Brisbane

IT DOESN’T get much worse than this. With the line wide open and the game in the balance, no professional footballer should make this mistake.

Oh dear.

THE Wests Tigers are not helping themselves.

Heading into their round 12 clash against a heavily weakened Brisbane Broncos outfit, Wests sat 13th on the table. Desperate for a win having racked up just eight points in the previous 11 rounds, what better week to claim an unlikely victory than when your opposition has the majority of its stars sidelined on representative duty?

And early in the second half, it looked as though the Tigers would do just that.

Leading 14-8 with 47 minutes gone, Wests had another opportunity to get on the scoreboard and push for a likely win.

Attacking deep in the Broncos half, Luke Brooks took the ball on the third tackle of the set, putting a grubber kick through for flying centre Tim Simona to grab in open space in the in-goal.

All Simona had to do was get two hands on the pill and ground it over the white line. Unfortunately, that task was too great, with the 24-year-old juggling the ball five times before spilling it onto the turf.

Despite it being rather clear that no try had been scored, the centre still did his best at selling it, throwing his hand up in the air in celebration.

WATCH THE BOMBED TRY IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

Fans on Twitter couldn’t believe their eyes when the pill went down, and understandably, Simona suffered social media’s backlash.

Jeez, way to bomb a try.#NRLBroncosTigers

— The Bear (@26bear) May 27, 2016

How has Simona not scored that 😂 #NRLBroncosTigers

— Tom Shaw (@Ts_TomShaw) May 27, 2016

Any mums in the crowd, best not hand your newborn to Tim Simona tonight.#HandsLikeFeet#NRLBroncosTigers

— Former Legend (@Former_legend) May 27, 2016

Tim Simona - u just dropped the game!

— Tim the Yowie Man (@TimYowie) May 27, 2016

Tim Simona gets an Academy Award nomination for selling that no try #NRLBroncosTigers

— Aaron Thomas (@azsportza) May 27, 2016

Channel Nine commentator Phil Gould made light of the situation with a hilarious commentary upon watching the replay.

“He only had to grab this and put it down, there wasn’t a defender in sight,” Gould said.

“He’s go it. Oh, ah, ah, Ow, ah, Oh! No.

“He’s spilled his lollies. He had it five times. Can you believe that?”

Oh, Simona, its going to be a while before you live this one down.

Fortunately, the fumble didn’t prove too costly for the Tigers, who went on to win by one point after a thrilling finish, 19-18.

Led by impressive halfback Luke Brooks, the Tigers held off a furious Broncos finish on Friday night to claim their first win since 2010 in Brisbane.

The home side’s second successive defeat came with them missing more than 1100 NRL appearances due to State of Origin call-ups for Corey Parker, Sam Thaiday, Josh McGuire, Matt Gillett, Darius Boyd and Corey Oates.

A much needed win.

The Tigers, who were missing NSW Origin pair Aaron Woods and Robbie Farah, started brightly but fell behind when Jordan Kahu’s cutout pass put winger Greg Eden over for his first NRL try. New signing Elijah Taylor levelled things when he crashed over after a Brooks’ inside pass and the visitors took the lead as Tim Simona crossed, again after clever work by Brooks.

Within three minutes of Simona’s crucial fumble, that error looked vital as the Broncos closed to within two points when James Roberts made the most of an offload by Ben Hunt to score.

Joshua Addo-Carr’s try with 16 minutes to go put the Tigers six points clear and then a Mitchell Moses field goal inside the final five minutes appeared to have iced the points.

A sharp cross-field kick by Hunt, however, allowed Lachlan Maranta to bring the Broncos within one point.

Hunt then had the chance to force the game to golden point but missed a field-goal attempt as the siren sounded, condemning the Broncos to their third one-point loss of the season.

The victory is the side’s first at Suncorp Stadium in six years.

— with AAP

Originally published as Wests Tigers scrape through to unlikely victory over Brisbane