Tigers have last laugh as Galvin’s Dogs stunned
Jasper Bruce |
Wests Tigers have had the last laugh at Lachlan Galvin, ambushing premiership hopefuls Canterbury for a 28-14 upset win in their first game against their former favourite son.
All eyes were on the Bulldogs’ mid-season signing Galvin before kick-off in rainy Parramatta on Sunday afternoon but it was his rival halfback Adam Doueihi who stole the show.
“All week everyone made it about him (Galvin) but for us it was never about him. It was about our club playing against the Bulldogs, they’re a top-four team,” said Tigers coach Benji Marshall.
“To put in that performance today was big for the whole club.”
Marshall’s decision to shift Doueihi from lock to No.7 proved a masterstroke as the off-contract utility scored one try and was pivotal in another two on the way to a game-defining 20-0 lead.
“I thought he was probably our best player today. I thought we needed a bit of experience there,” Marshall said.
“It helped everyone be able to do their job better today, including Jarome (Luai, five-eighth). I thought Adam was outstanding.”
Galvin was busy, booed by jilted Tigers fans with every touch, but couldn’t assert himself on the contest as Canterbury struggled for rhythm in the slippery conditions.
“I don’t think it (the booing) rattled him that much. It’s just, we got beaten as a team,” Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said.
“Not great conditions for a halfback when you’re behind a beaten forward pack. I thought he tried hard.”
The Tigers faithful rejoiced when Luai drove a high fend into Galvin’s face as he ran the ball in the first half and then stood over the 20-year-old to taunt him after the tackle.
But Luai insisted the altercation wasn’t personal, with the pair pictured catching up after fulltime.
“That’s footy bro, I’m a competitor,” he said.
“It doesn’t really matter who’s on the other side. It’s brothers and opposition, that’s how I see it.”
The clash of former teammates was a showing of the Tigers’ intent not to be bullied by Canterbury, who at one stage made errors in three consecutive sets coming out of their own end in the first half.
Superstar captain Stephen Crichton sent Jacob Preston and Jacob Kiraz over for tries either side of the break to pull the Dogs back into the fight.
But Canterbury will rue not scoring while the tiring Tigers lost Alex Seyfarth to the sin bin for a high shot on Harry Hayes.
Crichton was lucky not to have joined Seyfarth in the bin for an ugly high tackle on Taylan May that left his former Penrith teammate unable to finish the game.
With their loss, the Bulldogs blew a golden opportunity to move atop the ladder as they hunt a first premiership since 2004.
“They were clearly more desperate than us,” Ciraldo said.
Doueihi, already the Tigers’ form player, replaced Latu Fainu as starting halfback and helped put Jeral Skelton over for first points, bouncing away from three defenders and offloading.
He belted from dummy-half through Canterbury’s scattered defensive line on a 90-metre tear that allowed returning fullback Jahream Bula to score the visitors’ second try.
After right winger Skelton registered his double off Api Koroisau’s boot, Doueihi scooped up a dropped ball from Matt Burton and sprinted 85 metres for his own four-pointer and a 20-0 lead.
The Bulldogs threatened to chase the Tigers down in the second half with some dangerous attack down the right edge.
But just after Crichton and Galvin bungled a would-be runaway try, the home side marched up the other end where Samuela Fainu confirmed victory scoring from Luai’s suspect pass.
AAP
