Big League Weekly Edition – August 01, 2019

GAME ONE: Wests Tigers v North Queensland

Round 20 BIG LEAGUE 2019 37

ATTACK

DEFENCE

MATCH AVERAGES

HEAD-TO-HEAD

AT LEICHHARDT OVAL

WINNING FORM

PAST8 CLASHES

2019 –

2018 –

2017 –

2016 –

2015 –

2014 –

BIGGEST HEAD-TO-HEAD WINS

NEXT CLASH

CASUALTY WARD

DATE:THURSDAY,AUGUST 1
VENUE:LEICHHARDTOVAL
KICK-OFF:7. 5 0 P M
REFEREE:GRANTATKINS
ASSISTANTREFEREE:JONSTONE
TOUCHJUDGES:BELINDASHARPE& RICKEY
McFARLANESENIORREVIEWOFFICIAL: STEVE CHIDDY
REVIEWOFFICIAL:BENLOWE
CHANNEL9 & FOXLEAGUE:7.30PM
LIVERADIO: ABC, TRIPLE M,NRLNATION

TIGERS COWBOYS

HEAD-TO-HEADLEADERS

AVERAGE METRES

David Nofoaluma 153

Kyle Feldt 135

AVERAGETACKLES

Alex Twal 39

Ryan Matterson 37

Gavin Cooper 36

LINE-BREAKS

Kyle Feldt 6

Justin O’Neill 6

STATS

LeichhardtOval

Thursday7.50pm

Form:WestsTigersbounced

backfromthreesuccessive

lossestorecordoneoftheir

grittiestwinswhenthey

outlastedtheKnightslastFriday.

TheTigersrecoveredfroman

early12-0deficittodefythe

Knightsinfrontofa vocalhome

crowdandkeepalivetheir

hopesofplayingfinalsfootball.

Althoughtheysitonlyonepoint

outsidetheeight,theirpoints

differential(minus66)adds

anotherlayerofdifficultyto

thechallenge.TheCowboys

areinevenworseshape,with

a differentialofminus 71 and

a three-pointgapbetween

themselves and eighth-placed

Brisbane.Injuriesdecimated

theirbacklineagainsttheSharks

lastweekendanda display

ofoutstandingdetermination

countedfornothingwhen

theywentdownbytwo.

History:WestsTigers’

remarkablegrandfinalvictory

of 2005 is invariablyforemost

whenthisfixtureis discussed

butapartfromthathistoric

event,theseteamshave

forgeda colourful,occasionally

unseemlyrivalry.TheHopoate

incidentof 2001 andtheLuke

O’Donnell‘wishbone’tackle

of 2007 wereregrettable,but

thismatch-upalsohasits

quirkyside.LikeJohnathan

Thurston’sfailuretowina single

career game at Leichhardt Oval

andBrettHodgson’seffortin

2005,whenhesmashedthe

premiershiprecordformost

pointsina finalsmatch,piling

on 30 intheTigers’50-6

qualifyingfinalvictory.

Dangersign:It hasbeen

a longtimebetweendrinksfor

theCowboysatLeichhardt(they

haven’twontheresince2000)

andwhena hoodooextends

towardsa 20thseasonit can

affectconfidence.Thereturnof

MichaelMorganwillbea boost.

BestBet?LookfortheTigers

tomaintaintheirlong-standing

recordwitha winby1-12points.

Money-spinner:FirstTr yscorer

optionsincludeDavidNofoaluma

andKyleFeldt,orforvalue,

consider Michael Chee Kam.

byDAVIDMIDDLETON

@Middleton_David

NRLPreview

Chances running short for Tigers and Cowboys

LUKE GARNER

1

tryassistin

Round 19