It's a message that's been preached since the start of the season, but Wests Tigers Coach Michael Maguire was again direct and to the point in assessing his side's loss to the New Zealand Warriors.
Left sitting in 10th position after the six-point defeat on Friday night, Maguire said the on-field performance, attitude and discipline were not where they needed to be.
And that level would remain unacceptable moving forward.
“I know where we want to take this club, with everyone,” said Maguire.
“Tonight was not a Wests Tigers performance.
"That is not acceptable in and around the club. The boys understand what is acceptable and what we’re doing moving forward and this is the expectation that has been set.
“The attitude towards how we went about the game was most disappointing," he said. "We had a couple of early tries and we didn't find our shoulders after that.
Match: Wests Tigers v Warriors
Round 12 -
home Team
Wests Tigers
10th Position
away Team
Warriors
12th Position
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
“Defence is all about attitude. They rolled through the middle set after set and we weren’t prepared to put body in front and we paid for it.”
“It was really disappointing. If you don’t turn up prepared with the right mindset to any game in the NRL that’s the price you play.”
“We all need to take ownership that you can’t slip in attitude.
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"I go back to our defence in that... it was a poor performance tonight.”
Breaking those habits and building consistency remains the only focus.
“We’re determined to change the club to get to the teams that are obviously doing well at the moment,” Maguire enthused.
“We do it for periods of time and I keep mentioning it but we need to do that consistently for 80 minutes every game. We weren’t respecting the fact we needed to put our bodies on the line there."
Wests Tigers will look to bounce back next Saturday and stay in touch with the top eight when they take on the Newcastle Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Match: Knights v Wests Tigers
Round 13 -
home Team
Knights
6th Position
away Team
Wests Tigers
10th Position
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
