One win separates Wests Tigers from ending the NRL’s longest-running finals drought after they thrashed St George Illawarra 42-14 to stay in contention for post-season action.
Spurred on by the prospect their first return to the finals since 2011, Benji Marshall starred on Sunday at the SCG alongside Luke Brooks as centre Paul Momirovski scored a hat-trick of tries.
In what could also represent a massive boost for the Tigers, Robbie Farah will see a surgeon early this week in the hope of being cleared to come back from a fractured leg for his farewell match.
The retiring veteran has started running on a non-weight-bearing treadmill, less than a week after being paraded around Campbelltown Stadium on crutches.
“I just spoke to Robbie and the last thing he is going to do is put himself forward if he can’t play,” coach Michael Maguire warned.
“We’re going to make some big decisions around that, that’s the reality.
“I’ll talk to Robbie (on Monday) and put in a plan around that. But we definitely won’t be taking any risks.”
The Tigers were far from their best early on against the Dragons on Sunday but scored five tries to one in the second half to run away with the match.
Marshall put Momirovski over for two of his tries – including one from a bullet-like cut-out ball after Brooks had made a 70m break.
The centre finished with 26 points – the most by a Tiger in a single game since 2004 – after he also scored a length-of-the-field intercept try from a Gareth Widdop ball.
Marshall also scored a try himself, switching directions from close to the line with 11 minutes to go to put the game beyond doubt.
Brooks and Elijah Taylor then finished the game with long-range tries as the Dragons stumbled to their eighth loss in nine games.
Regularly in the hunt headed into the final round, the Tigers have finished ninth five times since their merger in 2000 and reached just three finals series.
They were also in a similar position ahead of a final-round clash at Leichhardt three years ago, but were flogged 52-10 by Canberra to miss the finals.
But Maguire said none of that would be on his players’ minds this week.
“Experience gives me the opportunity to share that with my players about it all being about this moment in time,” Maguire, who won a premiership with South Sydney in 2014, said.
“The past is the past. It’s long gone. At the end of the day we started way back in November to put ourselves in this position.
“We’ve got people like Benji, Josh Reynolds and Chris Lawrence around. Those older guys have been around for a long time and have to steer that.”
Meanwhile the Dragons’ night went from bad to worse, with Cameron McInnes suffering a suspected broken leg late in the loss.
“I’m pretty shattered,” coach Paul McGregor said.
“They wanted to pay the price a bit more at different times. Obviously the score blew out as we capitulated at the end.
“We gifted them 24 points from our execution on our kicking game and passing game which is not professional enough.
“We’ve got to coach a lot better for the players to be better.”
