Deputy Da Silva proves the perfect foil for main man Api

While it was Api Koroisau who “iced” the win for Wests Tigers, coach Benji Marshall praised the game-changing impact of youngster Tallyn Da Silva in helping inspire the victory over the Dolphins.

Koroisau’s second-half involvements were instrumental but interchange hooker Da Silva showed how bright the future could be for the club, sewing the seeds for their comeback win with a momentum-turning try before half-time.

“It's always good to get a try, I didn't really expect it,” Da Silva told NRL.com.

“I think Birdie [Jack Bird] just popped up and I sort of had my cue, one marker down, go for a run and ducked under and I saw the line and I'm like ‘I'll give it a go’ and we got there.

“We were down by two tries at that point, I think it was 18-6.

“When we came on, me, big Roycey [Royce Hunt] and Birdie, we really felt like we had them on the back foot and just to capitalise like that I think it was really good coming to half-time.

“All the boys had a bit more confidence and it was awesome.”

A Campbelltown junior who has played through the grades with the club, Da Silva made his NRL debut in 2023 as a teen and hopes to keep developing with the squad and continue to learn from his coach Marshall and mentor Koroisau.

“I'm loving it so far this year, I think I've had some pretty good game time, (played some) pretty good games, although I'd like to still learn a bit more,” Da Silva said.

“I think from what I've learned in the pre-season, I'm really starting to show it out on the field during the season, I am trying to play a little bit more confidence this year and I think I've gone out there and started running the ball more, making my tackles and things like that.

“I'm pretty happy with the way I'm playing so far.

“(Koroisau’s) been so good to me this pre-season, he's taught me a lot of things and I think the way we play is totally different to each other; he's got that control, he's got that deception and things like that, whereas I'll come on and I’m just head down and run the ball and try and bring a bit more energy into the team.

“Honestly, the boys that come on the middle really helped me with that, we all bring that energy from the bench and I think we all work well together.

“I want to be a Tiger and I've got a job each week to do, play my best footy and my goal this year is just to play good consistent footy, so blocking out all the noise and just trying to hone in on that.”

This week, the team return home to Campbelltown Sports Stadium to face the Warriors and while their fans will be eager to see them claim three wins in a row, Da Silva was taking his cues from coach Marshall and keeping a cap on any excitement just yet.

“We still got a job to do… we've had two wins, we've had one loss, so it's not at the end of the season yet, not finals footy,” Da Silva said.

“We're focusing on next week… I think our best way to prepare is just to focus on ourselves.

“The way we've won the last two weeks is we've gotten away from focusing on the opposition and honed in on our strengths and our ability to play, so if we do that again next week, I think it'll be a good chance.

“(Benji backs us) 100 per cent, he said our best performances are when we're playing the way we all played… we all have a different style and the best thing is we all bounce off each other.”