Wests Tigers prevail in bizarre win over Warriors

v BYE

After blowing the New Zealand Warriors away in the opening half, the Wests Tigers have managed to hold on to record a 34-26 win in front of 10,917 fans at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

Establishing a 28-4 lead at halftime, the Tigers almost lost a seemingly unlosable game before a fortuitous call in the final minute saw James Tedesco race 50 metres to secure a much-needed win for under-siege coach Jason Taylor.

Opting to start the game with an extra forward, the Tigers dominated the opening proceedings to lead 16-0 after just 20 minutes.

In the absence of Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses produced his finest display in the NRL, having a hand in several tries as well as performing admirably as goal-kicker following the departure of Pat Richards.

With Curtis Sironen (5th minute), Kyle Lovett (14th minute), David Nofoaluma (18th minute), James Tedesco (27th minute) and Tim Simona (38th minute) all crossing for the home side in the opening half, it appeared to be a forgone conclusion as the Warriors continually made errors to give themselves no chance of competing.

Saved solely by a try to Solomone Kata midway through the first half, the Warriors showed an improved resolve in the second half, but poor ball handling continued to plague them early on.

Managing to narrow the margin courtesy of a try to former captain Simon Mannering, the Tigers began to implode during the second half with poor competitions allowing the Warriors to work their way back into the contest.

Following an intercept by new recruit Roger Tuivasa-Scheck, the Warriors produced three tries in eight minutes through Bodene Thompson (58th minute), Shaun Johnson (63rd minute) and Solomone Kata (65th minute) to trail by just two points.

In a see-sawing final 15 minutes, the home side ultimately proved too strong as Tedesco crossed for his second to the delight of the home fans.

With pressure to perform in 2016, both sides displayed their best and worst traits throughout the game as moments of brilliance in attack were offset by poor defence and ball control.

In a major blow for the Warriors, returning utility Ben Henry looks set to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. After suffering an ACL tear in Round 4 last season, the former Kiwi international faces an uncertain future with his contract up at the end of the year.

Next round the Tigers face Manly at Leichhardt Oval on Monday night, while the Warriors will be on the road again as they face Brisbane on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.