Senior players binding together to turn form around

Senior Wests Tigers players Alex Twal and David Nofoaluma say the club's on-field start to the season is disappointing but the squad are confident of turning their form around this weekend.

Although far from ideal with their recent run of results, Twal said he and his teammates can’t fault the club's coaching and placed the onus back on the players to perform.

“It’s been disappointing to hear what has been said this week because Madge has been really good,” Twal said.

“It’s on us as players to go out there and do our job when we pull on the jersey each week because it’s a privilege for us to pull on the Wests Tigers jersey.

“We’re the players who have been going out there and we’re the players who are in control of the result and we haven’t been playing well enough.”

Twal said the players haven’t played to their potential so far this season and is expecting rapid improvement this week.

“The boys are trying hard but we need to put in 80-minute performances every week. We haven’t been doing that for the first two months,” he said.

“We’ve been good in patches and we’ve shown plenty of potential, but we need to be consistent.”

Nofoaluma echoed his teammate’s remarks, claiming the entire playing group and coaching staff need to rise together.

“I don‘t think it’s fair [that Maguire has been blamed] because we’re all in this together and Madge is our coach,” Nofoaluma said.

“We’re the players who have been out there on the field and playing. It’s hard to blame one person.

“He’s been successful where he’s been in the past … I personally think he’s a good coach.

"Within this club, we’re not worried about any outside noise and we’ve just got to focus on ourselves.”

Wests Tigers will be looking to return to winning ways when they face St George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

“We need to find answers,” Nofoaluma said.

“The way we’re going to get through this is by sticking together.

“We were lost for words last week and we need to be better this week. There are some things that need to be worked on.”