THE Waratah Tigers made sure there was no repeat of their shock loss in round one last year by cruising to a comfortable 38-14 victory against the Hay Magpies at No. 1 Oval yesterday.
On that day the new boys to the competition shocked the then premiers, but there was no complacency from the Tigers as they jumped out to an early lead and held on to collect their first win since round three.
Waratahs coach Enoch Tia said while he was happy with collecting the two points, his men need to improve their discipline if they are to have any chance of beating the top sides.
The visitors finished the game with only 11 men as two players were sent from the field for dissent.
“It was pretty scrappy in the first 10 minutes by us, but we stuck to our game plan and got the win,” Tia said.
“We played really basically, got our go-forward got to the end of our sets and put in a good kick-chase and stayed patient for our chances to score.
“We just need to concentrate on playing simple footy we can scores tries, we just need to work on the little things.”
It was also the first game for Tia in five weeks, with the Tigers leader joking that he is lacking in match fitness but
just happy to be able to help his side get the win, even grabbing two tries yesterday.
“It was good to have a run around, I nearly died, though, but I feel fine now so I’ll be right for next week,” he said.
The Tigers enjoyed a fast start scoring the first three tries before their discipline problems with ball in hand allowed the Magpies to climb back into the game.
But on the back of a hat-trick from Viliami Ngu that helped put the game away for the Tigers, the attacking spark he provides is essential for the Waratahs moving forward.
“He’s right to play now (after being cleared from Yenda) which is a really big help for us. He hasn’t been able to train with us either because he hasn’t been cleared to play,” Tia said.
“So now he’s right to play he can just concentrate on playing good footy for us.
“He was good for us yesterday, we just had to give him the ball in good areas because he’s strong and quick enough to get across the line.”