TONIGHT is the battle of the new blood against the old.

While that description may have people thinking of 24-year-old Josh Morris up against 31-year-old Lote Tuqiri, it really applies to the tale of the two clubs.

Few teams are such polar opposites this season as western Sydney powerhouses Canterbury Bulldogs and Wests Tigers.

Round 3 of the Telstra NRL premiership saw the Wests Tigers return to Campbelltown Stadium for their first home match of the season there to take on the Canberra Raiders in a grudge match where both teams were hoping to build on a steady start to the season. The Tigers were looking to build on a scrappy, but important win against the New Zealand Warriors in round 2 while the Raiders were surprised by the Broncos at home and were looking to rebound hard and fast against the Tigers. The Tigers again entered the match minus a host of star players in Gareth Ellis, Bryce Gibbs and Liam Fulton while the Raiders were boosted by the return of dangerous fullback Josh Dugan and prop Brett White. The Tigers boasted one positional change with Alan Schirnack starting in the second row and Todd Payten dropping back to the bench.
Could the Tigers maintain their recent good form against the Raiders, or would the green machine take some revenge on the Tigers for being knocked out in last year’s finals series?

Round 2 of the Telstra NRL premiership saw the Wests Tigers return to Leichhardt Oval for their first home match of the season to take on the New Zealand Warriors in a match where both teams were looking to open their season with a win. The Tigers went down to the Bulldogs in Monday night football in round 1 and were facing a short turnaround while the Warriors were humbled at home by Parramatta. The Tigers were dealt a huge blow on the eve of the match losing tough forwards Bryce Gibbs and Gareth Ellis. This resulted in the Schirnack brothers – Al and Jason being promoted to fill the massive void and hopefully get the job done. The Warriors were missing James Maloney and Manu Vatuvai so the playing field between the two teams had evened out somewhat in what shaped as a tough match.

Who would prove victorious in round 2?

Round 4 of the Telstra NRL premiership saw the Wests Tigers travel to the SFS to take on arch rivals the Sydney Roosters. The Tigers entered this match with all sorts of injury problems as Gareth Ellis, Liam Fulton, Chris Lawrence, Lote Tuqiri, Rob Lui and Beau Ryan were all out with injury. To complicate matters further, captain Robbie Farah was playing with a persistent groin injury and it was revealed during the week that he would require surgery to correct the problem.

Needless to say it would be a massive ask of the Tigers to get a win in this match, however they did welcome back prop Bryce Gibbs from injury to help bolster the forward pack. The Roosters on the other hand were looking to bounce back to form after back to back losses however they fielded a nearly full strength team for this match.