Round 5 STORM V WESTS TIGERS

[TITAN PETE]

STORM V WESTS TIGERS - 8TH APRIL, 7:00PM, AAMI PARK | #NRLMELWST

Storm

1 Billy Slater
2 Matt Duffie
3 Will Chambers
4 Junior Sa'u
5 Mahe Fonua
6 Gareth Widdop
7 Cooper Cronk
8 Jesse Bromwich
9 Cameron Smith (c)
10 Bryan Norrie
11 Tohu Harris
12 Ryan Hoffman
13 Ryan Hinchcliffe

Interchange
14 Jason Ryles
15 Lagi Setu
16 Siosaia Vave
17 Kevin Proctor
18 Slade Griffin
19 Junior Moors

Coach: Craig Bellamy

Tigers

1 Tim Moltzen
2 Joel Reddy
3 Blake Ayshford
4 Chris Lawrence
5 James Tedesco
6 Benji Marshall
7 Braith Anasta
8 Aaron Woods
9 Robbie Farah (c)
10 Jack Buchanan
11 Bodene Thompson
12 Liam Fulton
13 Adam Blair

Interchange
14 Ben Murdoch-Masila
15 Ava Seumanu***ai
16 Matt Bell
17 Eddy Pettybourne

Coach: Mick Potter

[TITAN PETE]

Tigers throw Anasta into the No.7 jumper
By Steve Jancetic
AAP
Tue 02nd April, 6:41pm

Wests Tigers coach Michael Potter's patience has taken just four weeks to wear thin, with young halfback Jacob Miller dumped and back-rower Braith Anasta pitched into the No.7 jumper.

Just weeks after pleading for Tigers fans to give the 20 year-old time to find his feet in the NRL, Potter punted Miller to the NSW Cup as he attempts to turn around a 1-3 start to the season - which included last week's 26-0 shutout by Manly.

He has plumped for experience in the form of Anasta - who last month admitted to enjoying the role of playing in the back-row and being free of playmaking responsibilities after spending much of his time at Sydney Roosters playing five-eighth.

"Milky (Miller) has been up now for four weeks and he's had some good football up there, but we've decided to send him back to gain a little bit more experience," Tigers assistant coach Royce Simmons said.

"We're hoping Braith helps steer us around the park with his experience, a lot of football and representative football in the halves."

Miller wasn't the only No.7 to feel the axe with Penrith halfback Luke Walsh also dumped - with 22-year-old local junior Blake Austin to play his 15th top grade game against North Queensland on Saturday night.

Cowboys coach Neil Henry has resisted the urge for change despite three straight losses for the pre-season fancies, with only a positional change seeing Glen Hall move from the bench into the starting back row.

Parramatta winger Vai Tautai has survived despite a horrible night against the Sydney Roosters in which he was peppered under the high ball.

He is likely to be targeted again when Cronulla - who will have Chad Townsend in place of the injured Todd Carney in the No.6 jumper - visit Parramatta Stadium on Saturday night.

Canterbury have named Tim Lafai in the centres for the suspended Krisnan Inu, with skipper Michael Ennis needing to pass cognitive tests before he is cleared to face Manly on Friday night.

Brisbane are hopeful of having Josh Hoffman (Achilles) and Justin Hodges (hamstring) available for the local derby against Gold Coast, who have named Ashley Harrison (concussion) at lock after he missed the win over Penrith.

The Warriors have named big winger Manu Vatuvei (ankle) on an extended bench for the home game against South Sydney, while Canberra will be without Blake Ferguson for between 3-6 weeks with a fractured cheekbone.

[TITAN PETE]

late mail.

Storm v Tigers

STORM: Slade Griffin and Junior Moors to drop off the interchange bench.

TIGERS: No changes expected.

[Skyfire]

Storm to win. Looking forward to this match up, missed most of the game this round.

[TITAN PETE]

Storm fight back to take Tigers 26-12
By Melissa Woods
AAP
Mon 08th April, 10:03pm


NRL champions Melbourne suffered an almighty scare by a fired-up Wests Tigers before escaping with a 26-12 win at AAMI Park on Monday night.

In a gripping encounter the home side didn't hit the front until the 66th minute, with man of the match and halfback Cooper Cronk orchestrating a brilliant final 20 minutes.

After a try by Cronk they sealed the victory, which was a club record 13th in succession, with six minutes remaining with some individual brilliance by premiership winger Sisa Waqa in his first game of the season after a hand injury.

Little went right for most of the match for the home side, who looked shell-shocked as they were out-enthused and outplayed across the park.

Melbourne's usual weapons - their kicking game and their defence - let them down while their attack was uncharacteristically sloppy with credit due to the Tigers' punishing defence.

The teams went to the sheds at halftime locked at 6-6, with Tigers winger James Tedesco opening the scoring in the 18th minute.

The Storm answered through forward Siosaia Vave, who crashed over just two minutes before the break.

While the home side would have copped a spray from coach Craig Bellamy, it was the visitors who came out firing in the second half.

They dominated possession with four repeat sets before Robbie Farah put up a bomb that was taken by Ben Murdoch-Masila, who managed to get a one-handed pass away to Benji Marshall.

That gave them a 12-6 lead and it looked like an upset was on the cards.

But the undefeated Storm showed why they are top of the competition ladder as they started to build some momentum while the Tigers ran out of steam.

The penalty count blew out against the visitors, giving Melbourne even more ball with the pressure finally telling on the Tigers.

Winger Mahe Fonua scored a well-deserved try off a Billy Slater rocket pass in the corner in the 62nd minute and skipper Cameron Smith levelled at 12-12.

Just minutes later Smith sent the ball on to Cronk, who found Chambers who broke through a tackle by Tedesco and after running downfield, passed back inside to the game's leading No.7.

The Tigers' experiment with Braith Anasta at halfback gave the team more shape, particularly with Benji Marshall troubled with a toe injury for much of the game.

Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter lamented the 14-7 penalty count against his side, and suggested that senior Melbourne players, such as Smith, helped sway it.

"There's a lot of talk going on out there and a lot of influence from senior guys and I don't think we get the rub of the green some times," said Potter.

"Different people have different influences."

The Tigers were left to rue a try early in the second half that was disallowed because Murdoch-Masila was deemed to have touched a Storm defender as his teammate Eddie Pettybourne drove over the line.

Skipper Robbie Farah described it as a "weird one".

They also had former Storm forward Adam Blair put on report in the 60th minute for bending the leg of Kevin Proctor in a tackle.

"The result's the most important thing and we didn't get that. I am pleased with some facets of what we did tonight but we need to do it for 80 minutes," said Potter.

Storm coach Bellamy said his team was flat after their three-day break over Easter but he was happy with the way they fought back in the second half.

"The first half we lacked a little bit of energy but in the second half we certainly picked that up," he said.

"The two things that were really important for us were patience and persistence and I was really proud of that."

When asked about Potter's complaints Bellamy said the Storm should have received more penalties with the Tigers constantly trying to slow the ruck down.