Werner scores hat-trick for Tigers

AUSTRALIAN team bobsledder turned rugby league player Ashleigh Werner used the strength, speed and athleticism that she developed on the ice to brilliant effect for the Wests Tigers in their hard-fought 16-12 NSWRL Women’s Premiership round four victory over Mounties on Monday night. Werner, 30, scored a hat-trick of tries, and after full-time, she was named Player of the Match. Mounties led 12-0 after 26 minutes, before Werner scored the Tigers’ first try just before halftime. The Tigers kept their opponents scoreless in the second half, while Werner weaved her magic again, scoring another try in the 41st minute, and a converted try in the 56th minute, to seal the win. Her first two tries were long-distance beauties, in which she found space within her own half, and darted down the left touchline, beating several defenders along the way, including giving one of them a no-nonsense fend. Her third try involved leaping to catch a neat chip kick that landed about six metres from Mounties’ tryline, and diving over to score. The win lifted the Tigers one spot to fourth place, and the Tigers’ team celebration in the change rooms was epic. Afterwards, Werner posted this message on Instagram: “This team, this game, this opportunity! “Sometimes when you’re in a dark place, you think you’ve been buried, but actually you’ve been planted,” she continued, adding a sprouting seed emoji. The team’s head coach, Adel Hage, described Werner’s speed as “lightning”. “We’re proud of girls like Ashleigh [that] we’ve brought into our program to develop them,” Hage said. “And that was probably one of our best victories ever for the club, considering the number of people we had out.”

Credit AJN