3 minute read

Wests Tigers' NRL season is over after they went down 26-24 but not before a spirited comeback from the joint venture.

Wests Tigers' NRL season is over but only after putting up an almighty fight on both the field and scoreboard in a dramatic 26-24 loss to South Sydney.

On a chaotic Thursday night at Bankwest Stadium, Luke Brooks and Dane Gagai both spent time in the sin-bin for throwing punches that landed on each other's heads.

The pair could both face bans for striking, as the Tigers were at one stage reduced to 11 men with Alex Twal also off for a professional foul.

But it still only proved a minor hiccup in their comeback from 20-0 down.

A week after scoring 16 points in the final 11 minutes to beat Manly, the Tigers looked like they were going to do it again.

Unwanted star Benji Marshall showed signs of his magic best with a hand in three tries, after requiring strapping on his right ankle.

But the 35-year-old was left to rue a grubber-kick that went dead from 20 metres out on the second tackle with three minutes to play.

"He tried really hard," coach Michael Maguire said.

"He was in a bit of pain but he stayed out there and put that to the side.

"He worked really hard for his teammates. Along with Brooksy, they really had a fair crack tonight."

After the Rabbitohs scored three tries to lead 20-0 inside 27 minutes, the Tigers' near-thing began when Luke Garner hit a gap from close distance.

It was suddenly 20-12 at the break when Marshall floated a cut-out ball for Tommy Talau on the left edge.

The comeback looked over when Cody Walker helped Campbell Graham take advantage of the 11-man defensive line to make it 26-12.

But again, the Tigers refused to surrender.

Brooks scored next in bizarre circumstances, when Marshall scooped up a loose ball and flicked it back to a grubbering David Nofoaluma.

Brooks chased down the ball and kneed it over the line before falling on it.

Marshall then put a two-man cut out ball on Asu Kepaoa's chest to reduce the margin to two with 13 minutes to play.

But that was where it stopped, with Marshall's poor grubber ending their last real attacking opportunity and leaving them four points outside of the top eight.

It means if Cronulla beat the Warriors on Sunday, the NRL's top eight will be set in stone.

Meanwhile, Souths are now fifth and still possess one of the most dangerous attacks in the NRL.

They have won six of their past seven games, scoring the most points in the NRL during that run at an average of 32 per match.

Walker had a hand in all four tries with his quick hands, with Corey Allan also on fire early.

Walker put Gagai over for the night's first, and then backed it up as he and Cook bust the line open to allow Allan to go over.

They looked ready to put on a cricket score when Walker and Allan sent Alex Johnston away on the left wing in the next set, before Graham finished it off.

"We just showed for 29 minutes what we can do," coach Wayne Bennett said.

"We let ourselves down with mistakes and drop balls here and errors there and all of a sudden we looked like we could be beaten."