The Wests Tigers have eased pressure on besieged coach Mick Potter by scoring a 46-18 victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
After findings from an internal club review put his position in the firing line last week, Potter would be breathing a little easier after watching his side’s second-half performance against Canterbury.
The Tigers played arguably their best football of the season in those 40 minutes, veteran hooker Robbie Farrah and young guns Luke Brookes and Mitchell Moses pulling the strings.
The Bulldogs led 18-16 at the break, but the points dried up for the Belmore club when the match restarted. The Tigers, however, had no problem keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Already with two tries to his name in the first half, Wests winger Keith Lulia bagged his hat-trick in the 42nd minute after Canterbury knocked on from the kick-off.
Curtis Sironen was next to go over for the Tigers after chasing down a short kick before Lulia became just the third player in the merger club’s history to score four tries in a single game.
The Bulldogs had no answer to the Wests’ onslaught. Possession and territory were hard to come by, their attack misfiring on the few occasions they found themselves in good field position.
Defence was also a problem for the Bulldogs, the Tigers exploiting their indecisiveness on the edges. Halfback Brookes made the scoresheet in the 59th minute before converted tries to prop Aaron Woods and interchange James Gavet completed the rout.
The Tigers are now ninth on the NRL ladder, while the Bulldogs remain third.
