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Eels 16 Tigers 17
The Tigers' prodigy who grew up idolizing Parramatta helped inspire an Easter miracle as new era Benji Marshall claimed his biggest scalp on Monday.
Lachlan Galvin, a 19-year-old playmaker fresh out of high school, overcame serious drama over an ugly hip tackle to lead the Tigers to a breathless 17-16 win over the Eels at CommBank Stadium.
Having been a junior at Parramatta and dreaming of wearing the blue and gold, Galvin made a crucial second-half try in just his third NRL game before Eels co-captain and goalkeeper Clint Gutherson missed a difficult kick after the siren. A penalty goal from 36 meters out and six meters from touch would have won the match.
Veteran midfielder Aidan Caesar had put the Tigers ahead with a field goal in the final minute before the visitors were hit with an offside penalty from the start of the game.
Lachlan Galvin celebrates the Tigers' win.credit: GT
But it was Galvin who announced his arrival on the big stage, setting up the first of Justin Olam's two tries in the opening minutes before beating schoolmate Blaise Talagi to set up Jahrim Bola's try that put the Tigers ahead.
“As Benjy says, ‘Do what you see,’” Galvin said. “I saw that I could run and I was lucky that I could. I heard Paula coming back inside as he always does in matches and in training. I thought, ‘Throw it.’ He is always there.
“Five months ago, I used to go to school every day and put my lunch box in my bag. It’s very strange. It’s a dream come true, and I hope I can maintain my good form.”
The former Westfields Sports High School student will face a nervous wait on Tuesday with the match review panel analyzing a hip tackle on Kilma Tuilagi that led to him committing the foul.
Gutherson's penalty goal, which took over for the injured Mitchell Moses, put the Eels eight points ahead at the break.
David Clymer moves the ball to the Parramatta defence.credit: GT
But after having to absorb a mountain of pressure in the first half, the Tigers found a way back into the contest when Galvin headed back tries to Olam after a pass from Cesar and then to Bula.
“I had to think to myself: What's next and what can I do to bring the team back home here?” [Marshall’s] “He was very good to me,” Galvin said. He added: “He shows complete confidence in me and that makes me want to go out and play with him.”
“I talked about him a lot,” Marshall said, “but we like the way he plays, the way he plays, coming back after being a little down on himself, and producing what he did, just shows his ability. Personality.”
The win takes the Tigers into a six-way battle at the top of the NRL ladder, joining the Dolphins, Panthers, Cowboys, Sharks and Storm on six points of the competition after four rounds.
It was the second time they had beaten the Eels by a point on Easter Monday in three years, and it came with Marshall using just 15 men with Jayden Sullivan and Aso Kibawa remaining on the bench for 80 minutes.
The Tigers have dispensed with the covers used in their new team song in last week's thumping win over Cronulla, prompting Benji Marshall to lose his voice in a press conference.
“[The song] Things went well today, but we can still be better.
Eels coach Brad Arthur lamented his side's situation after beating Manly last week and playing without Moses for the first time this year. He is expected to miss at least two months due to a foot injury.
“I felt like we were probably just going for an easy win,” he said. “The last couple of weeks we've built our game around being tough and rolling up our sleeves. I don't know if we want to do it as much as they did.” [on Monday]”.
But they could still clinch the game after the buzzer with Gutherson's kick that hung badly to the left of the goal posts.
“You have to sit in the box with Robbie Farah and John Morris to understand,” Marshall said. “They both say: 'We can't lose like this.'
“I told them: 'Look boys, this is what it's supposed to be, and if we do it, we'll be proud boys.'
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