- New celebration slammed as club finally turns the corner
Fox Sports presenter Darcie McDonald has taken aim at some Wests Tigers players for performing a post-try celebration she describes as ‘ick’.
On a recent podcast with former Fox star James Hooper and social media creator Brandon Savage, McDonald slammed the ‘Claw’ celebration, which was first made popular by winger Sunia Turuva at the beginning of last season.
The celebration sees Wests stars clench their hand into a claw and paw at the air.
‘I can’t stand ‘The Claw’. This is an unpopular opinion, but it’s an ick,’ McDonald said on The Fanatics podcast.
‘When grown men are going (tiger roar expression and sound), I just go nooooo. Something about this, I’m not digging.’
Many footy fans disagreed with McDonald’s take.
Footy commentator Darcie McDonald (pictured) has taken aim at the Wests Tigers for their popular ‘Claw’ celebration
Wests star Kai Pearce-Paul is pictured performing the ‘Claw’ in his team’s round two win over the North Queensland Cowboys
Sunia Turuva (pictured left) is a big fan of performing the celebration, which he started doing last season
‘I’ll take the claw over saying the word ‘ick’ any day of the week,’ one wrote.
‘Imagine hating on a team that’s finally getting around each other and getting the fans involved,’ another added.
‘Are we watching the same thing? Because I love it,’ a third commented.
‘Claws out baby, ick away,’ another said.
Turuva first made the celebration known early last season when he joined the club after enjoying success with the Penrith Panthers.
Wests have enjoyed a very successful start to 2026, with the club sitting in second spot on the NRL ladder after winning four of their first five games.
It’s a huge turnaround from their form over the last several seasons, when they were arguably the worst team in the competition.
The Tigers play Brisbane Broncos at Campbelltown Stadium this weekend as they look to complete their first four-game winning streak since 2012.
That run of form was so long ago that no member of last week’s Tigers team had yet made their NRL debut, but hooker Api Koroisau is not getting carried away in round seven.
‘I don’t know if it’s a revival (yet), we’re sort of just out there playing week-to-week and trying to play some good footy,’ he said.
Coach Benji Marshall and his men have been boosted by the return from injury of superstar five-eighth Jarome Luai.
