Four-try comeback to no avail as Tigers pay for sin bins in Townsville

Sydney Morning Herald

a day ago

Playing without Lachlan Galvin is one thing. Playing without the football, and your full contingent, is quite another.
It is almost impossible to hold firm in the modern, six-again era when down a player. So when Wests Tigers were reduced to 12 men on two separate occasions due to sin-binnings, their fate was sealed.
North Queensland took full advantage of their undermanned opponents, but were almost on the wrong end of the biggest comeback in NRL history. The Tigers, down by as many as 26 points at one stage, stormed home late but fell just short, going down 32-28 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
The Tigers scored the last four tries – the first three came in a frenetic four-minute blitz – but left themselves too much to do. Ultimately, ill discipline proved costly for the visitors, their first outing after their messy divorce with Lachlan Galvin.
The first transgressor was Jarome Luai. The captain tested the referee's patience trying to slow down the ruck and earned himself a spell.
'That's three rucks, back to back to back,' said whistleblower Gerard Sutton. 'That's a mandatory sin bin.'
North Queensland scored two tries during his absence.
And then, just before half-time, Adam Doueihi obstructed former teammate John Bateman – another Tigers divorcee – as he attempted to score his second try. How Bateman would have relished this.