Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire has called out his players for a poor attitude after they were flogged 42-24 by Newcastle at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.
The Knights scored the majority of their eight tries down their left edge, targeting Tigers defenders David Nofoaluma, Joey Leilua, Benji Marshall and Luciano Leilua.
“Our right edge, yeah, we’ve got some work to do there,” Maguire said. “The boys just have to find their shoulders.
“That comes back to attitude and understanding what your role is, all those sorts of things.
“But you’ve got to be strong in the middle to control the middle, and that plays a part in what happens on the edges.
“That was a disappointing defensive display and not what we’re trying to grow here. Moving forward we just have to work harder there.”
After an encouraging win over St George Illawarra in round one, the Tigers’ loss to the Knights on home soil came as a disappointing blow.
However, it’s fitting with the rollercoaster form of the Tigers over the past few seasons.
Acknowledging the lack of consistency, Maguire said it is up to the playing group, and in particular the senior players, to deliver week in and week out if they want NRL success.
“It’s up to everyone involved and it’s up to us to change that,” he said.
“We had some strong performers last week, but if you want to be a top-end team in the NRL, you’ve got to turn up week in and week out.
“I’ll look to my squad and find out who wants to own that performance because that’s not acceptable if we’re going to be competitive moving forward.
“We’re grown men, we’ve got to own up.
“I’ve got a lot of seasoned players down there.
“People can find excuses for anything but if you own (your mistakes), then you can move forward.”