2010 Wests Tigers season

The 2010 Wests Tigers season was the eleventh in the joint-venture club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2010 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 3rd (out of 16). The Tigers then came within one game of the grand final but were knocked out by eventual premiers, St. George Illawarra.

Season summary

The Wests Tigers made headlines in the pre-season with the high-profile signing of former rugby league and rugby union international, Lote Tuqiri. Back-rower Liam Fulton returned from a season in Super League and former Sydney Roosters prop forward Jason Cayless^[1] also joined the club after a four-year stay at St Helens RLFC. Mark Flanagan joined the club from Super League side Wigan.

Robbie Farah, the team's hooker, retained his role as captain of the side for the second year.

With his first touch of the ball, new recruit Tuqiri scored the club's first try of 2010 in their round one win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Tigers had an exciting start to the season, winning the first four of five games to lead the competition with St George Illawarra, Melbourne Storm and the Gold Coast Titans.

Wests eventually finished the regular season in 3rd position; the highest in the club's history. This was also their first finals appearance since winning the 2005 Telstra Premiership five years earlier. They lost to eventual premiers St George Illawarra Dragons on 25 September 2010 by a score of 13-12 to miss out on the grand final.

Head Coach, Tim Sheens, extended his contract with the Wests Tigers to the end of the 2011 season.^[2]

Regular Season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
15 March	Round 1	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Win	26 - 22	Ayshford, Ellis, Fulton, Lawrence, Tuqiri	Marshall (3)	18,421
21 March	Round 2	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Loss	32 - 44	Marshall (2), Ayshford, Fifita, Schirnack, Tuqiri	Marshall (4)	19,021
26 March	Round 3	Parramatta Eels	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Win	23 - 12	Marshall (2), Tuqiri (2), Ayshford	Marshall (1) & (FG)	21,318
4 April	Round 4	Canberra Raiders	Bruce Stadium, Canberra	Win	35 - 22	Fulton (2), Farah, Lawrence, Marshall, Ryan	Marshall (5), Farah (FG)	17,112
10 April	Round 5	North Queensland Cowboys	Willows Sports Complex, Townsville	Win	23 - 16	Lawrence (2), Heighington, Tuqiri	Marshall (3), Farah (FG)	16,273
16 April	Round 6	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Loss	4 - 24	Tuqiri	-	19,491
24 April	Round 7	Penrith Panthers	Penrith Park, Sydney	Loss	18 - 26	Flanagan, Heighington, Lawrence	Marshall (3)	19,220
2 May	Round 8	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Loss	8 - 12	Heighington	Marshall (2)	19,901
16 May	Round 10	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Loss	10 - 50	Lawrence, Lui	Marshall (1)	30,685
21 May	Round 11	Newcastle Knights	Newcastle International Sports Centre, Newcastle	Win	23 - 6	Daniela, Ellis, Lawrence, Marshall	Marshall (3), (FG)	14,458
28 May	Round 12	New Zealand Warriors	Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney	Win	50 - 6	Daniela (3), Tuqiri (2), Farah, Flanagan, Lawrence, Ryan	Marshall (7)	10,061
4 June	Round 13	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Win	19 - 12	Dwyer, Farah, Marshall,	Marshall (3), Lui (FG)	11,837
20 June	Round 15	Canberra Raiders	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	Win	18 - 8	Ryan (2), Fitzhenry	Marshall (3)	19,428
25 June	Round 16	St George Illawarra Dragons	Kogarah Oval, Sydney	Loss	10 - 34	Lawrence, Tuqiri	Marshall (1)	16,574
2 July	Round 17	Brisbane Broncos	Lang Park, Brisbane	Win	16 - 14	Brown, Lawrence, Marshall	Marshall (2)	30,127
9 July	Round 18	Gold Coast Titans	Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney	Win	15 - 14	Ayshford, Brown	Marshall (3) & (FG)	14,050
19 July	Round 19	North Queensland Cowboys	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	Win	26 - 16	Tuqiri (2), Ayshford, Brown, Fulton, Marshall	Marshall (1)	11,364
25 July	Round 20	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Grahame Park, Gosford	Loss	20 - 38	Ayshford, Heighington, Lui, Tuqiri	Marshall (2)	20,059
31 July	Round 21	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	Win	24 - 22	Fulton (2), Brown, Lawrence, Tuqiri	Lawrence (1), Marshall (1)	14,942
7 August	Round 22	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Loss	30 - 34	Ayshford, Farah, Galloway, Lawrence, Tuqiri	Marshall (5)	23,298
15 August	Round 23	Penrith Panthers	Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney	Win	43 - 18	Ellis (2), Fifita (2), Farah, Lawrence, Lui	Marshall (7), Farah (FG)	17,208
22 August	Round 24	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney	Win	20 - 18	Ryan (2), Fifita, Lawrence	Marshall (2)	19,854
29 August	Round 25	Melbourne Storm	Leichhardt Oval, Sydney	Win	26 - 14	Marshall (3), Farah, Fifita	Marshall (3)	20,168
3 September	Round 26	Gold Coast Titans	Robina Stadium, Gold Coast	Loss	18 - 21	Ellis, Heighington, Tuqiri	Marshall (3)	26,103

Finals Series

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
11 September	Qualifying Final	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Loss	15 - 19	Ayshford, Ryan, Tuqiri	Marshall (1), Farah (FG)	33,315
17 September	Semi Final	Canberra Raiders	Bruce Stadium, Canberra	Win	26 - 24	Ellis, Heighington, Lawrence, Tuqiri	Marshall (5)	26,476
25 September	Preliminary Final	St George Illawarra Dragons	Stadium Australia, Sydney	Loss	12 - 13	Lui, Tuqiri	Marshall (2)	71,212

Ladder

2010 NRL season
	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Illawarra Dragons (P)	24	17	0	7	2	518	299	+219	38
2	Penrith Panthers	24	15	0	9	2	645	489	+156	34
3	Wests Tigers	24	15	0	9	2	537	503	+34	34
4	Gold Coast Titans	24	15	0	9	2	520	498	+22	34
5	New Zealand Warriors	24	14	0	10	2	539	486	+53	32
6	Sydney Roosters	24	14	0	10	2	559	510	+49	32
7	Canberra Raiders	24	13	0	11	2	499	493	+6	30
8	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	12	0	12	2	545	510	+35	28
9	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	11	0	13	2	584	567	+17	26
10	Brisbane Broncos	24	11	0	13	2	508	535	−27	26
11	Newcastle Knights	24	10	0	14	2	499	569	−70	24
12	Parramatta Eels	24	10	0	14	2	413	491	−78	24
13	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	9	0	15	2	494	539	−45	22
14	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	7	0	17	2	354	609	−255	18
15	North Queensland Cowboys	24	5	0	19	2	425	667	−242	14
16	Melbourne Storm	24	14	0	10	2	489	363	+126	01

¹ Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.^[3]

Gains and losses

Squad

References