Tigers prop Aaron Woods scores against Penrith yesterday. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph
AARON Woods had a point to prove yesterday.
The Wests Tigers prop was part of the team that was steamrolled by Newcastle in the opening round last week. As an integral part of the forward pack, it would be fair to say that Woods took the loss personally.
"Last week was embarrassing," Woods said yesterday after the Tigers beat Penrith 28-18.
"We didn't show up and we were pretty soft. It wasn't good enough, but we went to training and bashed each other on Thursday to try and rectify it."
The home remedy worked. Woods scored a double against Penrith at Campbelltown Stadium yesterday to erase the bitter memories of last Monday night's 42-10 capitulation. His performance saw him named man of the match -- an impressive effort after starting from the bench.
Both of Woods' tries came at crucial stages of yesterday's game. He scored his first shortly after half-time to give the Tigers a little bit of room at 18-6. His second was even more important and gave his side some breathing space again after the Panthers had scored to reduce the margin to 18-12. Both tries were scored running off captain Robbie Farah at close range.
"Farah claims that he set them up," Woods said, laughing. "It was a bit of hit and spin. We've been working on that."
Woods has been touted as a NSW representative but he admits he was lucky to even start the season after injuring his knee during the pre-season. He is certain to be promoted to the starting side for Friday night's game against the Eels after prop Keith Galloway left the field with a pectoral muscle problem. Galloway will have scans today to determine the extent of the damage but could be sidelined for six weeks.
He isn't the only injury problem for the Tigers. Rookie halfback Jacob Miller was forced to leave the field with an ankle injury. Miller proved a handy foil for Farah and five-eighth Benji Marshall yesterday and scored a strong try late in the first half when he managed to wrestle his way through the goal-line defence before stretching out to score.
Although Farah was happy with the Tigers' response yesterday, he wasn't getting carried away. He acknowledged that the performance was scrappy and the Tigers' cause had been aided when Penrith lost five-eighth Lachlan Coote in the opening 10 minutes with a pectoral muscle tear.
"It wasn't our most polished performance, but we did what we had to do," Farah said.
"Our defence was a lot better. We didn't concede 40 points. But we're not kidding ourselves. They weren't at their best today but they still came hard at us at the end so there's still a fair amount of work for us to do."
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said his game plan had suffered a setback when Coote left the field -- like Galloway, he will have scans today and could be sidelined for six weeks if he doesn't require surgery.
"We never came here wanting to allow the Tigers to score that many points," Cleary said. "I think whilst (Coote's loss) may have affected our attack, we'll look back at the tries conceded and they just weren't up to scratch."
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