The Tigers were well in command of the contest before losing centres Charly Runciman - who had a double - and Jordan Tongahai to torn hamstrings in the space of minutes late in the clash.

It will keep them both out of next week, leaving coach Gavin Lennon looking for a new centre pairing for a difficult away clash with Belrose.

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Halfback Harrison Geraghty also failed to finish the match, with Will Russell sin-binned in the dying stages. It saw them concede three tries in the final six minutes but they had done enough earlier in the contest to hold on.

"We've talked about resilience all year and to come away with a win with 11 blokes on the field was really good," Lennon said.

"We've been starting games poorly but the 30 or so [minutes] after that have been really good. We followed the same pattern today, but it was nice to come out after halftime, put a couple of tries on and just change the narrative of the last three or four games of dropping that 20 minutes after halftime.

"To come out and put the game away then was pleasing. It obviously wasn't the way we wanted to finish but we got the two points."

The victory puts them a win clear of the Bulls and Moorebank, who will be underdogs heading into their clash with Cronulla-Caringbah on Sunday.

It was their fourth win in their last five games but they may still be left ruing a two-point loss to East Campbelltown last week where they conceded four tries in the final nine minutes.

They held on against the fast-finishing Bulls at home on Saturday, but Lennon said it will take a major step up from several players to knock off high-flyers Belrose and secure a finals berth on the road next week.

"It's going to interesting next week," he said.

"You look at today and the injuries we picked up it makes last week hurt that little bit more. If we'd got the points last week we'd have had the chance to rest some blokes.

"You can't replace a Charly Runciman or JT but we've got to find some blokes to step up. It'll be an uphill battle to get the points against Belrose but that's what the Burgh does, we turn up give it a red-hot crack and see what happens at the end of the day."

Russell was the spark early, laying on a nice try for fullback Zeik Foster and grabbing an intercept try of his own for a 12-0 lead.

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The Bulls scored their lone try of the first half through Chris McCoy but it was all the Tigers through the third quarter, with Runciman grabbing a pair and Tasmin Gilmour and Azan Turoa also getting across.

Russell was on song off the tee, nailing five from six and they all counted when the Bulls launched their late fight back with three tries as the Tigers injury toll bit hard.

The news wasn't so good for Wests at Parrish Park as Hills put a major dent in their Presidents Cup finals hopes in handing them a 44-16 defeat.

Their second heavy loss in as many weeks saw them surrender fourth spot on the ladder to the Bulls and also make the climb steeper for fellow Illawarra hope Thirroul who take on Dubbo Cyms on Sunday.

The Butchers suffered their first loss of the season in the Illawarra Open Age competition, with Avondale sending a clear message about their title hopes with a 34-18 win at Dandaloo Sports Ground.

Helensburgh bounced back from a crushing defeat at the hands of Corrimal last week with a 22-10 win over Wests, while Dapto sprung the upset of the season defeating the Cougars 34-32.