Fijian fullback Jahream Bula scored a brace of tries while Fiji Bati hooker Apisai Koroisau made a strong return in Wests Tigers 34-18 loss to Jacob Saifiti’s Newcastle Knights in Round 20 of NRL on Friday.
The Knights took advantage of an unsettled Tigers and Greg Marzhew crossed for their first try in the third minute before Bradman Best ran for their second and Dominic Young piled the third try.
The horror for the Tigers took its toll when Saifiti, after spilling two balls earlier, crossed from close range in front of the posts.
After missing three conversions, Kalyn Ponga converted once to give the Knights a beautiful 18-nil lead after 25 minutes of play.
The Tigers, who were visitors at the Newcastle Stadium needed a spark to avoid being in for a long night with Bula being the youngest player on the field as he grabbed a provider and planted the ball on the right edge with a show-and-go play.
Two minutes later, returning from an injured jaw surgery, Koroisau pounced on a grubber kick that couldn’t be cleaned up by Ponga and Gamble close to the line.
Fiji Bati flyhalf Brandon Wakeham booted both conversions yet the Knights led by 18-12 at the break.
Early in the second spell, the Knights were reduced to 12 players when Jack Hetherington struck out at Will Smith with a slap after a high shot from the Wests Tigers’ five-eighth.
Despite being a man down, it failed to deter the Knights as Ponga barged over the try line to push their scores further.
In the 51st minute, Isaiah Papali’i took advantage of poor ball possession by the Knights and ran over Gamble to send Bula over for his second of the evening as Wakeham converted.
But the Knights had other plans in their game finishing the evening off with two back-to-back tries through Young bagging his second and Tyson Gamble try ensured the home side a sweet victory while Ponga converted both.
