Wests Tigers star Josh Reynolds finally has a chance to show why the club signed him on a long-term NRL deal after veteran Benji Marshall was ruled out for up to six weeks with a calf problem.

Reynolds had his first start at five-eighth in Sunday’s 24-16 loss to Cronulla after Marshall succumbed to the injury during the captain’s run.

Tigers coach Ivan Cleary described Marshall’s latest setback as a “decent injury”.

“We’ve got a couple of byes coming up so probably decent timing in that regard. He’s been carrying a few niggles for a while now. It’s going to be a decent stint, six weeks possibly,” he said.

Having come off the bench in his first three games for the Tigers, Reynolds displayed plenty of his trademark energy in the first half on Sunday but faded with his team in a disappointing second-half effort.

He said it would take time to find his groove as a starting playmaker.

“No excuse but my role definitely changed and I’ve just got to get back into nailing what a half has to do now. I don’t think I did that too well in the second half,” Reynolds said.

“It’ll come. I’ve just got to pick my moments, back myself in being confident. Just in general, kick the ball, chase and just a couple of little things that I usually like to nail in the games.

“But a couple more games under my belt and I’ll be sweet.”

Cleary was unhappy with his team’s decision-making, having led 10-2 with half an hour to go before crumbling following a 10-minute blitz where they conceded three tries.

One came off the back of a Luke Brooks kick that resulted in Valentine Holmes racing 90 metres to score.

“The moments when we did look OK, we let the pressure off. If we were digging holes, in amongst getting the shovel in the dirt, we’d take a few toes off every now and then,” Cleary said.

“We took too many toes off today.

“Our end of sets could definitely improve and these guys … I’m looking forward to seeing how they go together.”