Wests Tigers 56 Bulldogs 4
THE weekend's results have effectively turned this round into a benefit for Wests Tigers, but as coach Tim Sheens pointed out after yesterday's cakewalk against the Bulldogs, his team is now only back to square one in its bid to make the finals.
Sheens had just completed his post-match media conference and was on his way upstairs to a function when he heard the news that Brisbane had run away from eighth-placed Canberra in the second half of their game.
That result completed the rise of the Tigers from 12th to eighth, after the ninth-placed Gold Coast and 10th-placed Warriors lost on Friday and Saturday respectively.
The issue won't be settled until tonight, but as long as 11th-placed Newcastle don't beat 13th-placed Parramatta by at least 14 points at EnergyAustralia Stadium - or the Eels don't win by a miracle 55-point margin - then the Tigers will remain eighth going into Friday night's game against St George Illawarra at WIN Stadium.
Sheens, who has coached 563 games and won four premierships, displayed his vast experience when he calmly said: "I'd rather be in it [the top eight] than out, but the last five or six rounds have been like this for a few years now, since the competition became more even.
"You can have a big rise on the ladder if you get a good win and one or two other results go your way, but you can also have just as big a fall if you lose and results go against you.
"It's like being 14-0 down in a game and getting back to 14-all at half-time. The game then starts again and that's how it is with us. We're back to square one and we're already thinking about the St George Illawarra game. You've got to focus on your next game and nothing beyond that, and with the middle of the table so tight, the size of the wins and losses come into play as well."
Sheens said the Dragons' 13-12 loss to the Sharks on Saturday night could have been worse. "To lose by just a point means their points differential stays strong," he said. "You can't afford 30-point spreads at this stage of the season. It does too much damage to your chances."
The Tigers have not managed to get on a roll at any stage of this season. They have won two games in a row three times, but that is the best they have done. Sheens and his players admit their fluctuating form has been frustrating, but they now regard the competition as a shoot-out. Hit enough targets and dodge enough bullets over the last five rounds and they will be in the finals for the first time since 2005 - the year they won the premiership.
"We don't want to be under the pump and relying on other results," lock Liam Fulton said. "We missed out on a place in the finals on points for and against last year, so we know how hard that is to take. We want to make sure of it through our own performances and take everything else out of the equation.
"We've been a bit win-loss, win-loss this year, but we know that if we keep winning now, we'll be OK."
Second-rower Chris Heighington added: "We're going to have to win three or four of our last five games to get in, so it's just week to week now. We're going to turn up like it's a finals game against the Dragons on Friday night. Even though we only conceded one try today, we'll work on our defence this week, because the Dragons have got a lot more attacking weapons than the Bulldogs at the moment."
The Bulldogs are limping to the end of the season - mentally and physically. They still have a heap of players out injured and those who are able to take the field are still getting used to the fact superstar Sonny Bill Williams walked out on the club to play union in France. They dropped off a heap of tackles yesterday, which is a dead giveaway of a side that has lost heart.
Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes said the team was not playing up to first-grade standard and he had no solution.
Sheens said he didn't feel sorry for the Bulldogs. And why would he, after all? The Bulldogs have had much more success than failure over the years. But he did feel sorry for Folkes, saying: "I know how hard it is, in his position."
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