‘It hasn't been spoken about for a reason': Finals footy still a slim chance for Wests Tigers
Lloyd Christmas is nowhere to be seen, but Wests Tigers fans are hoping for a miracle with the finals still a mathematical hope with three rounds remaining.
Dominant wins over the Bulldogs and Sea Eagles either side of a bye have given them six points in three weeks to leave them just two wins outside the eight.
They would need to beat the Cowboys, Raiders and Titans to finish on 30 points and then hope the teams above them fall over in the final few weeks, but it's been a crazy season, so anything is possible.
Players aren't buying into the chat, but it's an encouraging sign that a team that has claimed the past three wooden spoons is ahead of schedule and in contention for a finals spot after everything they've been through this year.
Things started well with fresh faces joining the club but they then lost talented young guns Lachlan Galvin and Tallyn Da Silva which led to more unwanted attention.
The way they've responded has been a credit to coach Benji Marshall and the players, with co-captain Api Koroisau adamant that no one at the club is talking about finals footy.
'To be fair, it hasn't really been spoken about,' he said.
'The most he's (Marshall) said is that he wants us to finish off the season strong. And that's the main message for us; it's about taking it a week at a time.
'We had a good win against the Dogs and we wanted to build on that against Manly, and then obviously we want to build on that again this week.
'It (playing finals) hasn't been spoken about for a reason. I don't know the percentages or the probability of it happening, but so much has happened for us this year and we've done better than last year, so we just want to finish off strong.'
The Tigers have already had nine wins this season – their best return since 2019 – and they're warm favourites to crack double digits when they host the Cowboys on Sunday.
It's taken plenty of tinkering, but their spine is finally starting to take shape with Adam Doueihi firing at halfback alongside Jarome Luai, who has settled into his role.
'A lot of the boys are just finding their stride at the moment,' Koroisau said.
'Adam Doueihi has been massive for us, Jarome is playing out of his skin and is playing really good footy, and I think us as a team know what direction we're heading in. We need to make sure we stay on target.
'We're just connected and we're having a lot of fun with it.'
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