The Tigers finished the NRLW season with back-to-back wins, downing the Sharks 12-10 at Shark Park.
The win wasn’t enough for them to avoid a club wooden spoon double, but ended any hopes the Sharks had of clinching the minor premiership.
And they could still miss the finals altogether if the Knights beat the Cowboys on Saturday, and if the Eels flog the Roosters by 35 points or more.
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Should the Sharks make it, they may still be without several key players on report for ugly tackles.
Tigers players celebrating victory over the Sharks. Getty
The Tigers trailed 10-6 when Brooke Talataina crossed in the 51st minute to level the scores, before Pauline Piliae-Rasabale added the extras.
The Tigers then defended brilliantly in the final 20 minutes to clinch the win, prompting raucous celebration from the bench.
“The last dance for the Tigers is going to lead to the best win in the short history of this NRLW club,” Nine caller Brenton Speed quipped at full time.
What made the win even sweeter was the fact they did it with a squad riddled with injuries.
They also lost Sarah Togatuki in the 8th minute through a failed HIA, on the receiving end of a Holli Wheeler shoulder to the head.
Togatuki was one of four Tigers forced to come from the field for HIAs, while Wheeler was the first Shark sent to the bin.
“The shoulder has hit her in the head. She’ll be penalised without a doubt, but I don’t think there’s any malice in it,” Brad Fittler said for Nine. He thought a penalty was sufficient.
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Holli Wheeler was sent for 10 in the bin after her shoulder found Sarah Togatuki’s head Nine
Then early in the second half, Talei Holmes was binned for a hip-drop tackle on Losana Lutu. The decision left the Nine commentary box divided.
As the replays were shown, Fittler suggested Filomina Hanisi’s involvement in the tackle was what made Holmes lose her footing.
Speed was having none of it.
“I think it looks like a hip-drop to me. Does she land with her full body weight on the legs? I think she does,” he said as they were shown a replay.
Talei Holmes was sent for a 10 minute spell for a hip drop on Losana Lutu Nine
It was at this moment Holmes was given her marching orders by referee Karra-Lee Nolan and Bunker referee Matt Noyen.
“It’s almost a classic hip-drop – the way she grabs on to the opponent then almost jumps in the air.”
But Fittler disagreed.
“Hanisi was a big part of the tackle. (Holmes) goes nowhere near the back of the legs if Hanisi isn’t there.”
When Ruan Sims chimed in, Fittler predicted a fight was about to break out between the three of them.
“The reason it’s a sin bin is because she loses her legs and she throws them up in the air,” Sims said.
Then, Vanessa Foliaki was put on report for a nasty-looking tackle on centre Leianne Tufuga.
Leianne Tufuga of the Wests Tigers is tackled during the round nine NRLW match between Cronulla Sharks and Wests Tigers at PointsBet Stadium on September 19, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images) Getty
At full time as her teammates celebrated around her, winger Claudia Nielsen said the squad clicked at the back-end of the season.
“We always had the potential. We have amazing players, some of the best centres in the game and everyone else is so talented,” she told Nine’s Marlee Silva.
“Our halves are young and fit and hungry, and I feel like this is the season we were destined to have, we just didn’t ice the start of it.
“We have this bond. We go and work for each other. We are not stars individually, but we are working as a team and it shows.”