Written by Tallon Smith

The Griffith Waratah Tigers have won their fourth straight game to start the season after a narrow 18-16 win over the Leeton Greenies at the Exies Oval on Sunday.

Both sides scored three tries each in the nail biting affair, but in the end it was the goalkicking of Ulu Akolo which proved the difference, with the Waratahs winger nailing three from three conversions, while Leeton’s James Tafiti finished with two from three.

Griffith Waratah Tigers co-coach Brett Goldspink said that while it was the scrappiest of the Waratahs’ games so far this season, the team still performed well enough to get the win.

“We were just coughed up [the ball], on tackle two and three for probably four or five sets in a row,” he said.

“They [Leeton] just kept coming, they were a well drilled side, I was pleased to have some quality opposition, and probably a bit of that was caused by them, to be honest, it wasn't all our own fault, they got into our faces, so it was great.”

Goldspink said that it was resilience and clever use of their interchanges that saw the Tigers overcome a half time deficit to win the match against one of the surprise packets of the competition.

“We only used two replacements in the first half, I just wanted to make sure we came home strong,” he said.

“The boys, they put themselves in that situation, so they just [had] to get themselves out of it.

“And then pretty much, [we] came out in the second half, [and] probably for the first 15 minutes, we just played like how we knew we could. 

“They [the Waratahs team] put on 12 points in three sets of six.”

“[It was] 18-10 with about five minutes to go, then [they] scored, and it was like, ‘oh here we go’, but we held on.” 

Goldspink was also full of praise for his side’s opponents, even going as far to make a complimentary comparison.

“I think between the two sides today, it just reminded me of a Group 9 game,” he said.

“It was at that standard, not trying to be insulting Group 20, but it was Group 9 [level], even though there was a lot of dropped ball.”

The Waratah Tigers now sit a game clear atop the table after four rounds.