Tigers notch back-to-back wins, end Panthers’ NRL winning streak

Wests Tigers took great pleasure in ending Penrith’s remarkable NRL winning streak with a 26-6 victory at a packed out Leichhardt Oval.

Dane Laurie celebrates a try for the Tigers. Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images

Coming into Friday night’s game the Panthers had won 27-consecutive regular-season matches, with their only loss from their past 30 games the 2020 grand final.

It finally took the State of Origin series and subsequent loss of seven regular players to bring the Panthers back down to earth.

And still, the Tigers only kicked away in the final quarter of the match against a second-string Panthers side missing 631 games of experience.

The new NSW halves pairing Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai watched from the sidelines as their teammates fought hard to improve upon the 12-game winning streak.

However, it was the Tigers who secured back-to-back wins for the first time since early last season.

The win showed the guts the Tigers had been missing.

The last time the Wests Tigers played at Leichhardt Oval they were booed off at halftime, but on Friday night the crowd was rowdy in the usual way.

A 10-0 lead against the ladder leaders roused a standing ovation from the 9127-strong crowd, who were at their vocal best.

“It was nice to see the crowd,” said Tigers coach Michael Maguire.

“We had a bit of a tough time the last time we were here and it was nice to see the crowd really come into the game.

“That’s off the back of the boys and the way they defended for each other, and the crowd rides the wave with us.”

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A new rivalry has been brought to life by former coach Ivan Cleary, who re-joined the Panthers while ex-Penrith skipper captain James Tamou went the opposite way to skipper the Tigers.

Fans heckled coach Cleary, although he said later he “didn’t notice”, while his son Nathan copped it on the sidelines as well.

The Blues halfback stuck it out for the entire match while spectators hurled abuse at him, before heading up the tunnel for some peace.

The feeling around the grounds was palpable, and a melee was inevitable.

Adding fuel to the fire was rising Tigers star Daine Laurie causing havoc at the back against his former side, scoring a try and saving two others with smart defence.

With a 6-0 lead the Tigers kept turning Penrith away with repeat sets until Jacob Liddle raced away with a 90 metre try, outpacing Charlie Staines, Matt Burton and Tyrone May.

The Panthers scored first in the second half through Burton, but the Tigers ran in tries to Luciano Leilua and Stefano Utoikamanu to round off the win.

“We had two training sessions where you take eight of your best players out and pretty much the whole steering wheel and the gear box, it’s going to be difficult,” Ivan Cleary said of the loss.

“We thought we would do better and I expected them to do better.”

The charge sheet on Saturday morning could be costly for both sides with David Nofoaluma, Luke Garner, Mitch Jennings and Robert Lurie all put on report for high tackles.