Api days are here again as hooker rises from sick bed to inspire Benji’s Tigers to Sharks boilover

Sometimes, on a Saturday night in suburbia, the rugby league gods know what to do.

In front of 15,990 and a packed Leichhardt Oval hill, Benji Marshall’s Wests Tigers reign burst into life with a stunning 32-6 boilover win over the Cronulla Sharks that sent the punters home dreaming of a bright future under their iconic new coach.

This is a club built on false dawns and dashed hopes, and there have been moments like this before.

Less than a year ago, they put on their club record win at this venue over the North Queensland Cowboys, only to suffer a club record defeat to the same opponents just six weeks later.

This, however, felt different.

Every fairytale needs its adversity, and that came in the form of skipper Api Koroisau, who Marshall revealed had been ill before the game and only just made kick off.

“He was battling heavy gastro before the game,” said Benji.

“He could hardly walk and had no energy, and to punch out what he did in the game shows how much it meant to his teammates. That’s why he’s the skipper.

“He would have played no matter what. He won’t a big deal made of it but it was a big effort from him and we’re proud of him.”

Though inspired by the evergreen Koroisau in the middle, the next best were Jahream Bula, the irrepressible 22-year-old fullback, and five eighth Lachlan Galvin, a Campbelltown local junior, in just his second game in first grade.

The way the pair combined for a jubilant late try, with the 6 playing perilously close to the line to bring his 1 around the outside, only amplifies that hope.

For the Sharks, nothing went right. They lost Royce Hunt to a calf strain before he had come on as a sub, but couldn’t activate their 18^th man as the injury came after the match had started.

Dale Finucane failed a HIA and Toby Rudolf left in a moonboot. For a side that relies so much on energy, losing middles at that rate was never going to end well.

Nicho Hynes was battered and bruised in defence, with the net result that he barely functioned in attack.

“We got into good start with both teams trading, but we just searched,” said Craig Fitzgibbon.

“We weren’t comfortable in that space and searched too much, then the errors and penalties started, then compounded. We got out-enthused, they were great.”

Fitzgibbon’s men, who were 2-0 coming into this, never stood a chance. Leichhardt has seen plenty of upsets before, but this didn’t feel like one. It felt like the start of something.

Api days are here again

Api Koroisau has been carrying the Tigers since the moment he joined, largely without success.

That’s not a knock on him, rather the reality of being by far the best player on a not-very-good team.

At times in 2023, he’d do all the right things, but find himself isolated anywhere. He’s step out of the ruck, beat the markers and look to engage the line, only to find nobody where Isaah Yeo and Nathan Cleary used to be.

There’s still a bit of that now, but crucially, the rest of his teammates appear to hav caught on that their 9 is really, really good.

For two of the first half tries, Api did his usual thing but, where last year no-one saw the signs, this time, Alex Seyfarth and Justin Olam knew it was coming and hit the line at pace to score.

The trick with a deceptive dummy half like Koroisau is to make the run regardless, even if he doesn’t scoot, even if you don’t get the ball.

The deception requires push supports to work, because the defenders have to be accountable around the ruck, which in turn means they aren’t elsewhere and so on.

If you’re running the attack around the 9, getting up around the footy is key.

“He does as much coaching a he does playing,” said Marshall.

“He helps those guys understand, he’s got really good deception so it’s how to get on the ball with him. It’s not only the way he competes, but he’s smart.”

Once that works, everything flows.

Aiden Sezer looked a lot better this week than Bud Sullivan did last week because he could organise without needing to do everything.

Galvin backed up a strong debut with another good showing and, in a team that is functioning, Bula is able to do all the stuff we know he can do.

It all comes off the effort. That’s the major difference between Benji’s Tigers tonight and any Tigers in recent years.

Not that previous editions weren’t trying, but they were playing a little dumb. This was effort, well used, not just huffing and puffing. That’s on the coach.

Nicho’s nightmare night

Not much went right for the Sharkies, but even less worked for Nicho Hynes.

The superstar halfback sent two kicks out on the full in the first half – the first the result of great inside pressure from John Bateman, the second from no pressure at all – and was generally manhandled whenever he got the footy.

Without it, he was spotted up repeatedly by a Tigers pack that knew exactly where it was running.

Hynes was left on his backside several times by strong carries, not least from Olam, and his edge partner, Jack Williams, didn’t do much better.

Missed tackles are a very noisy stat and aren’t usually worth paying much attention to, but the edge of Hynes, Williams and Jesse Ramien were worth half of all of Cronulla’s on the night.

It’s harsh to criticise a halfback playing behind a beaten pack, but the way that he was targeted in defence will give everyone else plenty of food for thought come the video sessions ahead.

Ricky Stuart, whose Canberra side face the Sharks next Sunday, will be getting a big marker pen out and showing Matt Timoko where to run.