Wests Tigers surge into NRL’s top four with big upset over Warriors in Auckland
Wests Tigers have climbed into the NRL top four after posting their first win over the Warriors in Auckland in a decade.
Proud Benji Marshall’s Wests Tigers are enjoying rare time in the NRL’s top four after bursting the Warriors’ bubble with an upset 32-14 victory in Auckland.
Not only did the Tigers end the Warriors’ unbeaten start to the NRL season, they did it convincingly before a crowd of over 24,000 at Go Media Stadium, where they hadn’t won since 2016 when the likes of Mitch Moses, Luke Brooks, Josh Addo-Carr and Aaron Woods ran the side.
The Tigers found themselves down 10-0 midway through the first half but rallied strongly to open up the Warriors’ defence, finishing with six tries to three and a huge tackle-break advantage of 50-18.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“It was probably the most resilient performance I’ve seen from the team for a long time,” said Tigers coach Marshall.
“I’m very proud of the team to fight back. We made some adjustments of the run.
“I was just happy we played the type of football we wanted to play,” added Marshall, with the Tigers now holding a record of two wins and one loss to start 2026, having also had a bye.
Friday night’s loss denied the Warriors a chance at their equal-best start to an NRL season ? five in 2018 - following three thumping wins.
“Were very frustrated,” said Warriors coach Andrew Webster. “We missed the mark tonight ... we know what we’ve got to work on.”
The Warriors’ opened the scoring through fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad after nine minutes.
Huge pressure from the home side saw Jacob Laban burst through two flimsy tackles to score with Tanah Boyd converting to make it 10-0.
But Adam Pompey was sinbinned binned after tackling Faaletino Tavana to the ground unnecessarily, slowing the Warriors’ momentum.
The Tigers finally got on the scoreboard with a try to Tavana in the 32nd minute after a pass from Adam Doueihi.
They were in again three minutes later after a high kick from Jock Madden bounced off the head of a leaping Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Tavana passed to Kai Pearce-Paul to score.
The nightmare finish to the first half continued for the Warriors as the Tigers stormed into the lead when Royce Hunt barged over. Madden’s conversion gave them a 16-10 lead at the break.
The Warriors started the second half the better and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak got airborne over the goal line only to spill the ball.
It was Doueihi who set up the Tigers’ fourth try, cutting through and passing to Jahream Bula to finish off for a 22-10 lead with 20 minutes remaining.
Nicoll-Klokstad did his best to get the hosts back into the game with a slicing run to score with just over 10 minutes left.
But more open play saw the Tigers cross again as Doueihi found space and passed to Luke Laulilii who flicked the ball on to Madden to score in the 73rd minute.
And to add more salt to the Warriors’ woes, Sunia Turuva crossed in the last minute.
