The Wyong Roos have piled on 26 unanswered second-half points to overcome a 14-0 halftime deficit against the Wests Tigers.
The remarkable comeback was inspired by Samisoni Langi and their captain Mitch Williams who ensured that the Roos never gave up despite trailing at halftime, in consequently piling on five unanswered second half tries.
This game also marked the return of former NRL star Tim Moltzen who has had a horrific run of injuries in recent years. Unfortunately, he was forced off the field yet again just 19 minutes into the game with a shoulder injury.
Josh Drinkwater showed his first half dominance early when he threw a beautiful cutout ball that created an overlap, resulting in John Sila scoring a try in the left corner.
Drinkwater threw an even better cutout pass to Kurtis Rowe just ten minutes later, this timeto the right. Rowe found his way to the line to give the Wests Tigers an 8-0 lead.
The Wests Tigers were forced to reshuffle their backline following Moltzen’s injury Moltzen with Rowe moving into fullback.
Andy Fiagatusa pounced on a Drinkwater grubber shortly after to record the Wests Tigers’ third try in just over 20 minutes, which extended their lead to 14-0.
Wests Tigers had further opportunities to score in the half with Fiagatusa going agonisingly close to the try line off a Drinkwater pass followed by Rowe dropping the ball in the act of scoring just a few minutes later.
The halftime score was 14-0 to the dominant Tigers, however the Roos dramatically improved in the second half.
Williams and Abraham Papalii combined in what was a beautiful set play to score just two minutes into the half. Papalii displayed mighty strength to get over the line to score the try.
The deficit was reduced to just four points in the 50th minute when Williams sold a huge dummy that fooled the defence and passed to Jack Siejka who ran through a hole to score a wonderful try.
Omar Slaimankhel locked the scores up at 14-all after pouncing on a Langi kick that could not be handled by the Tigers.
The Roos then took the lead for the first time in the 72nd minute when Langi skipped through the defence and scored the vital try that turned out to be the match winner at 20-14.
Papalii sealed the game for the Roos with five minutes remaining when he powered through five defenders to crash through and score his second try of the night.
It was a peculiar game with Wests Tigers in complete control in the first half. Then in a dramatic halftime twist, the Roos completely dominated the second half, and are now knocking on the door of the top four as they sit in fifth spot with six wins for the season.
The Tigers will face North Sydney Bears at Leichhardt Oval next week, whilst the Roos get to have a week off as they have to bye. The will travel to Albury in two weeks to face the Newtown Jets in country week.
Wyong Roos 26 (A Papalii 2, O Slaimankhel, S Langi, J Siejka tries; T Cornish 3 goals) def. Wests Tigers 14 (J Sila, K Rowe, A Fiagatusa tries; J Drinkwater goal)
