Wests Tigers fans can dare to dream of their first NRLW finals foray after a thrilling 27-26 victory over Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
But their leaders are not prepared to call it just yet, despite a club-record fourth straight win that pushed the black-and-golds to third spot on 12 points with three games to play.
The visitors led 20-0 after as many minutes and 26-6 early in the second half but needed a 68th minute field goal by halfback Raecene McGregor to break a 26-26 deadlock after Newcastle’s second-half rally tied the game three minutes from the final siren.
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t even looked at the table,” Wests Tigers coach Craig Sandercock said.
“I don’t know what’s going on. We’re just trying to get better every week.
McGregor slots the field goal!
“We’re a team of... there’s no superstars, we’re just a team of battlers trying to do our best every week. I’ll have a look at the table maybe before the last round, or the end of the last round, and we’ll go from there.”
Centre Namoe Gesa (groin) and lock Holli Wheeler (neck) joined a mounting injury toll, but Wests Tigers added the Knights to their list of scalps after accounting for the Warriors, Dragons and Sharks in the past three weeks.
Wests Tigers finish the regular season with three straight home games, against the Bulldogs at Campbelltown next Sunday, Titans at Campbelltown the following Sunday, and Raiders at Leichhardt on September 11.
“I’m the same as ‘Sandy’,” said captain Kezie Apps, who returned against the Knights after missing the Warriors victory the previous week because of a calf injury.
Shaylee Bent Try
“I think we’re just taking it week by week, to be honest.
“I think that’s the best approach for us, and just build on each game, find out where we can get better, then take each game as it comes.
“Then at the end of the 11 rounds, we’ll see where we sit and just go from there.”
Sandercock has worked wonders in his first season in charge of Wests Tigers, who have been wooden-spooners the past two seasons and finished eighth in a 10-team league in their maiden NRLW campaign of 2023.
Their six wins this year match the six they accumulated in their first three seasons.
“The girls, from day one, they’ve bought in,” Sandercock said.
Harmony Crichton Try
“That’s our senior players and our youngest ones, they’ve all bought into our systems that we’re trying to put in place. They’ve all trained hard and they thoroughly deserve what they’ve achieved so far, but obviously we’ve got so much to do.
“We’re nowhere near where we want to be or need to be, if we’re going to compete at the back end of the season. We’re under no illusions of that ... but we’re really proud of the effort the girls put in.
“Hopefully we can fix up a couple of those little areas that we seem to be falling down on every week, and once we sort those out, we’ll have a much better footy team.”
