‘We don’t want that spoon’: Why 16th place will be a win for Tigers

Wests Tigers players have set themselves one simple goal over the last three weeks of the season – to finish 16th.

Victory over South Sydney on Saturday night took the last-placed Tigers to within two points of Parramatta, who currently occupy 16th spot.

Benji Marshall’s side host Manly on Thursday, followed by the bye, then the Eels at home at Campbelltown in what shapes as a final-round ‘Spoon Bowl’.

The Tigers are gunning to avoid a third consecutive wooden spoon, a dubious honour that would overshadow a year in which genuine progress has been made.

Lachie Galvin has been a standout in his first year in first grade, as has back-rower Samuela Fainu, while a clutch of talented youngsters have been given their taste of the big time by rookie head coach Benji Marshall, which will benefit them moving forward.

By contrast, Parramatta started the year as title contenders, only to sack coach Brad Arthur, lose a host of juniors including rookie-of-the-year contender Blaize Talagi, and slump to the bottom of the ladder despite a roster which includes Dylan Brown, Clint Gutherson, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Will Penisini.

Mitchell Moses and Junior Paulo are also senior representative players who also featured in the blue and gold before being struck down by injury.

Galvin said it was “weird” for a club to focus on finishing just one place off the bottom of the ladder, but last place was not a true guide of how far the Tigers had flourished.

“Benji spoke to us about this when we realised we had a chance not to get the spoon,” Galvin said.

“You would have noticed how we have scrambled in defence the past few weeks. We don’t want that spoon. We’re not taking things easy.

“Being Benji’s first year, and the first year for a lot of us boys, it’s a massive motivation to avoid it.

“We’ve built really well this year. The results haven’t gone our way, but we’ve learned a lot that will help us next year.”

Marshall conceded after the weekend win he had wanted to give Galvin a rest in his maiden season, but was also aware of the importance of avoiding a last place finish.

“If I’m being honest, I would have loved to have given him a rest ... we’ve needed him to play to get the wins. If I had another option, I probably would have rested him,” Marshall said.

Tigers centre Adam Doueihi said of trying to hand the wooden spoon to the Eels: “It’s not a good feeling having that next to your name. To give ourselves the chance not to win it, it’s definitely a motivation behind having a strong finish to the season.”

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