The Wests Tigers’ finals hopes remain alive after a late surge and a Luke Brooks field goal lifted them to a 29-28 win over the Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium on Sunday.

Trailing 28-22 with seven minutes remaining, a converted Joey Leilua try and Brooks’s field goal in the 79th minute ensured they avoided a defeat which would have all but ended their season.

The opening half-hour of the match looked a repeat of the round seven meeting between the team, a match Michael Maguire’s side won 34-6.

Luke Garner bagged a double and David Nofoaluma and Moses Mbye also scored. It was enough to suggest an easy afternoon was on the cards.

The Bulldogs had other ideas, scoring three tries either side of the break to level the scores heading into the final 24 minutes.

Marcelo Montoya and debutant Matt Doorey scored within three minutes of each other before Aiden Tolman was awarded a try in the 55th minute to set up a tight finish.

Dogs hooker Jeremy Marshall-King set up a try for Kerrod Holland inside the final 10 minutes to put Canterbury up 28-22 but Leilua’s try squared the ledger before Brooks sealed the narrow win.