Tigers lose Luai and Doueihi to injury as Souths escape with tight win

Wests Tigers are set to face a nervous wait on both their halves after Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi were injured in their 20-16 loss to South Sydney.

In a horror final 15 minutes for the Tigers in Gosford on Saturday night, Luai first limped off with a knee injury as Souths took a late four-point lead.

Then while chasing the game with two minutes to play, Doueihi was left stranded on the far sideline after clutching at his right hamstring.

Both are expected to require scans, following a match where the Tigers led 14-12 at half-time but didn’t cross the line for another try in the second half.

Instead, it was Alex Johnston who celebrated his first full week as the NRL’s greatest ever try-scorer by providing the clutch plays for the Rabbitohs.

After South Sydney crossed twice in the first seven minutes to lead 12-0, the Rabbitohs were forced to defend their own line for much of the first half.

At one stage they repelled 26 consecutive Tigers play-the-balls in their own half, before finally cracking late.

And after the Tigers led at the break, it was Johnston who owned the big moments in the first half.

The winger first gave Souths back the lead when he batted a Jamie Humphreys kick-back for Latrell Mitchell, allowing his centre to score and make it 16-14.

And while the Rabbitohs gifted the Tigers a penalty goal straight off the kick-off to level the scores, Johnston had the match-winner when he chased through on a Cody Walker grubber.

The winger also provided a key save late, cleaning up the scraps on a Doueihi grubber with two minutes to play, just before the Tigers halfback went down.

Ultimately, the difference in this game was that Souths were able to take their chances, with Jye Gray and Jack Wighton both capitalising on the right edge early.

In comparison, the Tigers dominated the territorial battle but were unable to play with the same strike-power they did in last week’s 44-16 win over North Queensland last week.

Their two tries came in the space of four minutes before halftime, going from 0-12 down to 14-12 up via an eight-point try on the break when Heamasi Makasini was hit high by Mitchell while scoring.

The Tigers’ teenager endured a roller-coaster night, making an error before Wighton’s early try and with both of the Bunnies first two four-pointers down his side.

But the bigger pain for Benji Marshall’s men will be the injuries to Luai and Doueihi, with both hurt chasing through on their own kicks.

AAP