Rams let lead slip as Tigers run in 30 unanswered to snatch victory

The under 16s side opened their match against the Macarthur Wests Tigers with a bang, with tries to Harry Wald and Jayden Paul opening up a 10-0 lead early on.

The Tigers would eventually get on the board, but Wald then ran in his second of the day and fourth try in three games so far this season to make it 16-6 with less than ten minutes to play in the first half.

The Rams were then on the attack again with only a few minutes to play when momentum shifted for the home side.

An intercept deep in their own half saw the Tigers flip field position before Callum McMenemy dived over to bring the score to 16-10 heading into halftime.

Rams coach Tony Woolnough said that intercept was a big momentum shifter as the visitors failed to score again for the rest of the game, while the Tigers ran in 30 straight points - 26 of which came in the second half - to claim a 36-16 victory.

"We played the type of footy we were capable of and it was just frustrating in the second half to see them go away from our structures and go back to what doesn't work," Woolnough said.

"I think we just keep falling back into that mistake-ridden footy and not sticking to what we know and what we've trained for. It just snowballs."

With the Rams continually showing stretches of dominant footy, Woolnough was asked whether the side's issues may lie in their mentality.

"I think at this level of footy, things don't always go your way and when you're behind you've got to dig deep and find that little bit extra and don't panic," he said.

"But that's what we do, we panic and get away from everything we've trained for and keep on going back to footy that doesn't work for us."

There were some highlights from the day.

"I thought Tully Howell had a bit of a dig as well as Mason Rope," the coach added.

"Probably Sam Clark as well, he's not a very big build, but he's all heart."

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