WHY TIGERS ARE NOW GENUINE TITLE CONTENDERS
Wests Tigers are not just a feel-good story.
The Tigers are genuine title contenders.
Recent history shows that if a team is placed in the top four after six rounds most often they don’t just end up playing finals, but finishing in the top four.
On the back of their
42-22 smashing of the Newcastle Knights, the Tigers are now joint competition leaders.
That is four wins from five games with their only loss to the Rabbitohs in round two (they also had the bye).
So heading into the Tigers’ round seven clash against the Broncos this Saturday, even if they don’t win the Tigers would need a massive 50-plus points differential swing against them to lose their spot in the top four after seven rounds.
Last year the top four after six rounds was Canterbury, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. The Broncos of course played the Storm in the grand final, while the Raiders were minor premiers and the Bulldogs finished third.
Tied 1st - Tigers blast past Knights | 03:11
The season before it was Cronulla, Melbourne, Canberra and North Queensland. Eventual premiers Penrith were sixth at that point, beating the Storm in the grand final, while the Sharks finished fourth, the Cowboys fifth, but the Raiders missed the eight.
In 2023 the top four after six rounds was Brisbane, Penrith, Melbourne and Dolphins. That was the year the Panthers beat the Broncos in the grand final, the Storm made the prelim final, while the Dolphins missed the eight.
But you get the point?
The Tigers aren’t just the story of the moment.
They have now put themselves in a position where they command respect.
Not only is the brand of footy Benji has them playing full of fun, flair, energy and excitement, it is also winning football.
On what we saw from the Tigers against the Knights it just confirms that the players are starting to realise that anything is possible no matter where they are attacking on the field.
Sunday’s game wasn’t just a clash between a perennial basket case and last year’s wooden spooners.
It was a clash between two teams that went into the round placed in the top four, and the Tigers won comfortably.
No doubt the Knights were missing some handy players in Kalyn Ponga, Dylan Brown and Bradman Best.
But Jarome Luai is also the Tigers’ $1.2 million marquee man.
And the thing about the Tigers this year is that they no longer look for excuses, they find answers.
The answer in Luai’s absence has been Jock Madden.
If Luai is fit for the Broncos, I maintain I’d play him in the halves with Madden and move Adam Doueihi to the centres.
Whatever way Benji goes, it’s a great headache to have.
Api Koroisau, 31, is also still playing as good a football as we’ve seen from him in years, while Doueihi is an absolute marvel for a bloke who has come through three knee reconstructions.
While the Broncos were brave in the loss to the Cowboys without Reece Walsh, Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds, the Tigers have the talent and the tenacity to cause an upset here.
You don’t have to be a Tigers to be enjoying this.
It reminds me of watching the Raiders last year.
And the Raiders ended up winning the minor premiership before their luckless run in the finals.
The Tigers are every bit as capable to be the giant killers of 2026.
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Everyone loves a winner.
Blues alarm bells as Cleary’s kryptonite exposed; why Tigers’ title tilt is real — Crawls
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