If the Wests Tigers thought this was a long week then they are in for a rude shock because the rest of this season is going to feel like an eternity after they were held scoreless on a night departing five-eighth Jarome Luai was booed by sections of the crowd and two players were sent to the sin bin.

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The tumultuous week appeared to take its toll on the Tigers who were soundly beaten 32-0 by the Bulldogs who remain in finals contention.

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Luai was always going to be the focus on Saturday night just days after it was confirmed that he was off to the Eels in 2027 after the Tigers told him he was free to leave with a year left on his deal.

The decision blindsided him at the time and led to all sorts of theories which were debunked by both Luai and coach Benji Marshall during the week.

The sad reality is that the Tigers’ season has spiralled out of control from the moment Luai signed with the PNG Chiefs, with the club now 2-9 since then with five losses on the trot.

Injuries haven’t helped them, and the question now is whether Marshall should blood some youngsters given Luai won’t be there next year.

The Samoan star hardly touched it on Saturday, with huge concerns over how his time with the club will finish.

MATCH CENTRE: Bulldogs vs Tigers, score, live blog

BIG HITS

TOOTHLESS TIGERS

It’s hard to know how disruptive the past week has been on the team, but the evidence wasn’t great as they produced their worst attacking performance of the year.

The team that lit up Leichhardt Oval a few months ago feels like a distant memory, with the Tigers failing to register a single line-break on Saturday night against a team that was picked apart just last week.

It’s hard to see how anything will improve in the near future with the Tigers off to Canberra next week where they could be without rising star Latu Fainu after he was sent to the sin bin for a tackle on Leo Thompson that went wrong.

He was joined six minutes later in the bin by Alex Twal who lost the plot and was marched for striking Jaeman Salmon which left his team with a two man disadvantage and fired up the home crowd.

Twal returned for one play and could have been sent to the bin again after he lashed out at Josh Curran again as the full-time siren sounded.

SOS CALL

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has a big decision to make in the halves next week after Sean O’Sullivan came into the starting side and made an immediate impact in attack.

Skipper Stephen Crichton has been playing in the halves in recent weeks but missed the Tigers clash due to injury, and he could well return to the centres given how well O’Sullivan performed.

The experienced playmaker nailed a 40/20 in the opening set which led to a try and then kicked another one in the second half as he took a lot of pressure off Lachlan Galvin who set up a try with a nice grubber.

Complicating Crichton’s potential return is what Ciraldo will do with Matt Burton who has shifted to left centre and scored a slashing solo try.

They host the Warriors next week and are very much in the hunt for a top eight berth given they’ll finish the round just two points outside the top eight.

Viliame Kikau made his long-awaited return from a pec injury but left the field late with fears he may have dome some damage to his groin.

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