A new dawn may finally be breaking at Wests Tigers, whose 44-16 rout of North Queensland marks their biggest ever win to start an NRL season.
Jarome Luai had three try assists and Kai Pearce-Paul scored twice on club debut, with the Tigers racing to a 28-2 half-time lead and never looking back.
The long-time strugglers’ hopes of breaking their notorious 14-year finals drought won’t be decided by a big win at sold-out Leichhardt Oval in March.
But Benji Marshall couldn’t have asked for much more following the Tigers’ round-one bye, as expectations lift for his third season at the helm.
Right centre Taylan May injured his right shoulder in the first half and was replaced by Jeral Skelton in the only sour note for the Tigers.
The win eclipsed a 16-point win over South Sydney in 2017 and became the Tigers’ most one-sided victory to begin a season in 27 years as a joint venture.
The Cowboys underwhelmed during their own first clash for 2026 in Las Vegas, and a heftier loss on Saturday keeps pressure on coach Todd Payten.
The visitors gave up five set restarts in the opening 10 minutes, then leaked two tries while Kai O’Donnell was in the sin bin for the repeated infringements.
They were on the back foot from there, though briefly threatened to make a game of things with two tries in five minutes midway through the second half.
Api Koroisau gave O’Donnell a cheeky wave as he left to the sin bin, and moments later Luai passed inside and put Samuela Fainu over on the left.
Right second-rower Pearce-Paul grabbed a beautiful short ball from Jahream Bula to score his first try since joining from Newcastle, before pouncing on a Luai grubber kick for his second.
Perth-bound Luke Laulilii put the cherry on top of a great half by crossing from a scrum play a minute before the hooter.
Superb in the first half, four-time premiership winner Luai had his own try in the second by regathering his grubber kick after it hit the upright.
Laulilii put paid to any hopes of a Cowboys comeback by picking off a Scott Drinkwater pass and sprinting 70 metres to confirm his double.
