Time for me to tell you about my Tigers. Some of you might remember when I posted about their incredible run to the NRL Championship in 2005 and their return from the heavens in '06. Things are looking good for the Tigers in 2007 as they are currently in 4th place (in a 16 team league) ten weeks into the season.
It didn't start too well, though. After four weeks they were winless, losing three games by two points or less before finally getting over the hump with a two point overtime win. Since then they have been undefeated and won their fifth consecutive game on the weekend to improve to 5-4.
Here's a look at their week-by-week results:
Week 1: @ Melbourne Storm
L 16-18
Week 2: vs Manly Sea Eagles
L 8-19
Week 3: @ Parramatta Eels
L 20-22 (OT)
Week 4: @ North Queensland Cowboys
L 24-25
Week 5: vs Cronulla Sharks
W 14-12 (OT)
Week 6: bye
Week 7: @ Canterbury Bulldogs
W 34-18
Week 8: vs Melbourne Storm
W 30-12
Week 9: vs St George-Illawarra Dragons
W 27-8
Week 10: @ New Zealand Warriors
W 30-26
Their worst performance of the season was the week two loss. It was played in terrible conditions (wind, rain) but they were really disappointing. The games in week 3 and 4 were there for the taking, especially the one against the Cowboys, which they were leading 18-6 with twenty minutes to play.
The game against the Bulldogs was the first time when you could say "great performance" but the win the following week was even better. The Storm are the favourites to take the title this year and the Tigers simply out-enthused and outplayed them. They lost their star player Benji Marshall to a shoulder injury five minutes into the game but stepped up big time and were leading 22-0 at the break.
Rugby League's showcase, the three game State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland kicks off tomorrow night. No Tigers players were selected to play for either team, which I'm a bit disappointed with seeing as our key playmaker Robbie Farah is leading the Player of the League voting. But I'm also happy because, unlike some of the other teams, we'll have our best players available during this period of the season.
For more info on the Tigers, visit
www.nrl.com.au or
www.weststigers.com.au. You can also visit their wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wests_Tigers.