2010 Wests Tigers season

The 2010 Wests Tigers season was the eleventh in the joint-venture club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2010 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 3rd (out of 16). The Tigers then came within one game of the grand final but were knocked out by eventual premiers, St. George Illawarra.

Wests Tigers
2010 season
CEOStephen Humphreys
Head coachTim Sheens
CaptainRobbie Farah
NRL3rd (Preliminary Final)
Toyota Cup9th
Top try scorerClub: Lote Tuqiri (18)
Top points scorerClub: Benji Marshall (203)
Highest home attendance30,685
Lowest home attendance10,061
Average home attendance18,086

Season summary

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The Wests Tigers made headlines in the pre-season with the high-profile signing of former rugby league and rugby union international, Lote Tuqiri. Back-rower Liam Fulton returned from a season in the Super League and former Sydney Roosters prop forward Jason Cayless[1] also joined the club after a four-year stay at St Helens R.F.C. Mark Flanagan joined the club from Super League side Wigan.

Robbie Farah, the team's hooker, retained his role as captain of the side for the second year.

With his first touch of the ball, new recruit Tuqiri scored the club's first try of 2010 in their round one win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Tigers had an exciting start to the season, winning the first four of five games to lead the competition with St George Illawarra, Melbourne Storm and the Gold Coast Titans.

Wests eventually finished the regular season in 3rd position; the highest in the club's history. This was also their first finals appearance since winning the 2005 Telstra Premiership five years earlier. They lost to eventual premiers St George Illawarra Dragons on 25 September 2010 by a score of 13-12 to miss out on the grand final.

Head Coach, Tim Sheens, extended his contract with the Wests Tigers to the end of the 2011 season.[2]

Regular season

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
15 March Round 1   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Win 26–22 Ayshford, Ellis, Fulton, Lawrence, Tuqiri Marshall (3) 18,421 [1]
21 March Round 2   Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Loss 32–44 Marshall (2), Ayshford, Fifita, Schirnack, Tuqiri Marshall (4) 19,021 [2]
26 March Round 3   Parramatta Eels Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Win 23–12 Marshall (2), Tuqiri (2), Ayshford Marshall (1) & (FG) 21,318 [3]
4 April Round 4   Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium, Canberra Win 35–22 Fulton (2), Farah, Lawrence, Marshall, Ryan Marshall (5), Farah (FG) 17,112 [4]
10 April Round 5   North Queensland Cowboys Willows Sports Complex, Townsville Win 23–16 Lawrence (2), Heighington, Tuqiri Marshall (3), Farah (FG) 16,273 [5]
16 April Round 6   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Loss 4–24 Tuqiri - 19,491 [6]
24 April Round 7   Penrith Panthers Penrith Park, Sydney Loss 18–26 Flanagan, Heighington, Lawrence Marshall (3) 19,220 [7]
2 May Round 8   Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Loss 8–12 Heighington Marshall (2) 19,901 [8]
16 May Round 10   South Sydney Rabbitohs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Loss 10–50 Lawrence, Lui Marshall (1) 30,685 [9]
21 May Round 11   Newcastle Knights Newcastle International Sports Centre,
Newcastle
Win 23–6 Daniela, Ellis, Lawrence, Marshall Marshall (3), (FG) 14,458 [10]
28 May Round 12   New Zealand Warriors Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney Win 50–6 Daniela (3), Tuqiri (2), Farah, Flanagan, Lawrence, Ryan Marshall (7) 10,061 [11]
4 June Round 13   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Stadium Australia, Sydney Win 19–12 Dwyer, Farah, Marshall, Marshall (3), Lui (FG) 11,837 [12]
20 June Round 15   Canberra Raiders Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Win 18–8 Ryan (2), Fitzhenry Marshall (3) 19,428 [13]
25 June Round 16   St George Illawarra Dragons Kogarah Oval, Sydney Loss 10–34 Lawrence, Tuqiri Marshall (1) 16,574 [14]
2 July Round 17   Brisbane Broncos Lang Park, Brisbane Win 16–14 Brown, Lawrence, Marshall Marshall (2) 30,127 [15]
9 July Round 18   Gold Coast Titans Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney Win 15–14 Ayshford, Brown Marshall (3) & (FG) 14,050 [16]
19 July Round 19   North Queensland Cowboys Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Win 26–16 Tuqiri (2), Ayshford, Brown, Fulton, Marshall Marshall (1) 11,364 [17]
25 July Round 20   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Grahame Park, Gosford Loss 20–38 Ayshford, Heighington, Lui, Tuqiri Marshall (2) 20,059 [18]
31 July Round 21   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Win 24–22 Fulton (2), Brown, Lawrence, Tuqiri Lawrence (1),
Marshall (1)
14,942 [19]
7 August Round 22   South Sydney Rabbitohs Stadium Australia, Sydney Loss 30–34 Ayshford, Farah, Galloway, Lawrence, Tuqiri Marshall (5) 23,298 [20]
15 August Round 23   Penrith Panthers Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney Win 43–18 Ellis (2), Fifita (2), Farah, Lawrence, Lui Marshall (7), Farah (FG) 17,208 [21]
22 August Round 24   Parramatta Eels Parramatta Stadium, Sydney Win 20–18 Ryan (2), Fifita, Lawrence Marshall (2) 19,854 [22]
29 August Round 25   Melbourne Storm Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Win 26–14 Marshall (3), Farah, Fifita Marshall (3) 20,168 [23]
3 September Round 26   Gold Coast Titans Robina Stadium, Gold Coast Loss 18–21 Ellis, Heighington, Tuqiri Marshall (3) 26,103 [24]

Finals Series

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Score Tries Goals Attendance Report
11 September Qualifying Final   Sydney Roosters Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Loss 15–19 Ayshford, Ryan, Tuqiri Marshall (1), Farah (FG) 33,315 [25]
17 September Semi Final   Canberra Raiders Bruce Stadium, Canberra Win 26–24 Ellis, Heighington, Lawrence, Tuqiri Marshall (5) 26,476 [26]
25 September Preliminary Final   St George Illawarra Dragons Stadium Australia, Sydney Loss 12–13 Lui, Tuqiri Marshall (2) 71,212 [27]

Ladder

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Pos. Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   St. George Illawarra Dragons (P) 24 17 0 7 2 518 299 +219 38
2   Penrith Panthers 24 15 0 9 2 645 489 +156 34
3   Wests Tigers 24 15 0 9 2 537 503 +34 34
4   Gold Coast Titans 24 15 0 9 2 520 498 +22 34
5   New Zealand Warriors 24 14 0 10 2 539 486 +53 32
6   Sydney Roosters 24 14 0 10 2 559 510 +49 32
7   Canberra Raiders 24 13 0 11 2 499 493 +6 30
8   Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24 12 0 12 2 545 510 +35 28
9   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 11 0 13 2 584 567 +17 26
10   Brisbane Broncos 24 11 0 13 2 508 535 −27 26
11   Newcastle Knights 24 10 0 14 2 499 569 −70 24
12   Parramatta Eels 24 10 0 14 2 413 491 −78 24
13   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 9 0 15 2 494 539 −45 22
14   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 7 0 17 2 354 609 −255 18
15   North Queensland Cowboys 24 5 0 19 2 425 667 −242 14
16   Melbourne Storm 24 14 0 10 2 489 363 +126 01

1 Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.[3]

Gains and losses

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Squad

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Wests Tigers 2010 Squad
Coaches

Updated: 26 April 2010
Source: Wests Tigers Official Website

References

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  1. ^ Jason Cayless signs two-year deal with Wests Tigers
  2. ^ Glenn Jackson (27 March 2010). "Sheens up for a challenge - coach signs one-year extension". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. ^ Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian