Tigers upset Rams in Country Championships opener: 'proud of the boys'

Trial matches had been held last month as more of an emphasis was put on representative footy, they were playing a Northern Tigers side they had thumped by 46 points just a year ago, and the fixture coincided with the 50-year reunion for Western's famed 1974 Amco Cup winning team.

Somebody forget to tell the Tigers all that.

The visitors shot out to a 16-0 lead early in the first half of the Country Championships match and they then produced some incredible defence in a Western-dominated second stanza.

The Tigers struggled to complete a set in the second 40 minutes but frustrated the Rams with their dogged defence and finished 16-14 winners.

As proud a moment as it was for captain Isaac Austin and his team, it was a sobering result for the Rams.

Last year the side had made the semi-finals and hopes were high the Amco Cup reunion could inspire another strong Country Championships campaign.

The heroes of the 1974 underdog triumph - where a bunch of blokes from the bush came together to defeat some of the biggest clubs in the country and one from New Zealand - presented the 2024 Western players with their jersey an hour before Saturday's match.

"It's a bit disappointing and we should have put on a better show for those blokes who are here," Rams captain Jake Betts said.

"It's hard to lose any rep game but especially this week.

"We had every opportunity. We didn't help ourselves in the first half. We dropped a lot of ball and had to a lot of defence but we probably did well to be only down two tries at half-time.

"I think it took a little our of our team in the second half. We had the opportunities but I think we were a bit too gassed."

While some contentious calls went against the Rams in the second - they had three tries disallowed - the hosts still had more than enough ball to get the win.

The first 20 minutes of the second half was almost played entirely in the Tigers' 20-metre zone but Western had no points to show for it.

They eventually broke through as Mudgee centre Dave West scored his second for the day and the hope was it could spark the Rams into action.

It wasn't to be though as the Tigers continued to repel green wave after green wave.

"I'm pretty proud of the boys," Tigers captain prop Austin said.

"If we held onto the ball we would have made it easier on ourselves. I don't know what the completion rate was but we did some tackling."

The Tigers only had two training sessions in the lead-up to Saturday's match but that proved enough for the team representing Group 21, Group 4 and Group 19.

It was especially pleasing for the Northern side given Western had dominated the rivalry's recent history.

Western had defeated the Tigers in each of the three previous years by an aggregate score of 144-50.

"They've given us a bit of curry," Austin said of recent years.

"Last year they put 60 on us so to come out here today and put in an effort like that, I'm pretty happy with it."

While Austin and his forwards set the platform for the success, the Tigers have also benefited from a wealth of experience in 2024.

Adam Clydesdale has more than 50 NRL games under his belt and the hooker was especially influential in the first half while fullback James Olds is a former Welsh international.

Those players were key to filling the Tigers with the belief they could hold out the Rams in the second half.

That sheer determination forced the Rams into too much side-to-side play and attempts at the miracle ball and ultimately secured the northerners with passage through to the second round.

While West scored a double, Dubbo CYMS star Jeremy Thurston was the other standout as he scored one and set-up two others for the Rams.