Match Details
Match Date	19th Aug, 2005
Opponent	Wests Tigers
Result	Loss 2-54
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Homebush (Telstra Stadium)
Crowd	29,542
Referee	Steve Clark

National Rugby League form team Wests Tigers continued their charge into the finals on Friday night with a 54-2 rout of last year's premiers the Bulldogs at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.

The Bulldogs suffered their fourth straight loss and now need a miracle to make the finals and defend their 2004 premiership.

In contrast Wests have now won eight games on the trot and jump to third place on the ladder with only two rounds left to play before the finals.

They now need only one win from their two remaining matches to be sure of a top four finish.

The Tigers were up 24-2 at half-time and then held the Canterbury outfit scoreless in the second half to complete a humiliating nine-try thumping of the reigning premiers.

But the Bulldogs had been the stronger team in the opening exchanges, with mohawked prop Mark O'Meley held up as he crossed the try line in the fourth minute.

The Bulldogs scored the first - and their only - points of the game via a penalty kick in the eighth minute, but from then on the Tigers seized control.

Paul Whatuira hit back with a try in the 11th minute, scored another in the 32nd minute, and was over again in the second half to finish with three tries for the night.

Ben Galea, Benji Marshall, Pat Richards, Brett Hodgson, Scott Prince and Pat Richards all crossed the line for Wests, while Hodgson made all nine of his conversion attempts.

The win saw Wests leapfrog the Dragons as they moved into the NRL ladder's top three.

The Bulldogs though are in dire trouble, stuck in ninth place on the ladder and having conceded 110 points in the last two games.

Source: www.abc.net.au

LINE UP