Wests Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu agrees with criticism from club legend Benji Marshall that their round two loss to Newcastle "wasn't first-grade standard".
The Tigers suffered a humiliating 26-4 loss to the Knights on Sunday to start the season with two defeats and invite fresh scrutiny over the future of head coach Michael Maguire.
Unlike the week prior in their gutsy 26-16 defeat to Melbourne, the Tigers were accused of lacking effort against Newcastle.
In a stinging critique Marshall, who steered the joint venture to their sole premiership in 2005, described the Tigers as "terrible" and claimed Maguire's side played like reserve graders.
Utoikamanu agreed with those views on Tuesday and said the Tigers only had themselves to blame.
"I think there's a bit of truth in that," Utoikamanu told AAP.
"We as a group can definitely play better. If you want to play first grade you can't be making 20 errors in a game and completing at 60 per cent.
"We definitely have good standards and we didn't hit those on the weekend.
"It's frustrating because we put in a lot of work and it's s**t when we don't perform.
"It hurts that Benji says that but there's some truth in it to be fair."
There is a chance to put that right on Friday when the Tigers face the equally hapless Warriors at Campbelltown.
The club hopes to have five-eighth Jackson Hastings on deck as he contests his charge for a grade two dangerous throw at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.
The outcome of the Warriors game could have a big impact on Maguire's future given the Tigers' fixture list pits them against Gold Coast, Cronulla, Parramatta and South Sydney in the next four weeks.
Utoikamanu, however, said it wasn't Maguire who was dropping balls and making poor decisions in defence.
"It's a bit far fetched trying to blame the coach," he said.
"You've got to look at the players first. Madge is doing everything for us and puts in a lot of work for us and I really appreciate that. If we don't perform then it's on us.
"As a playing group you've got to be smart enough to know what's going wrong. Everyone knows the answer we've got to put it into work."
In some bright news for the Tigers, the younger brother of Manly hooker Manase Fainu was given a tour of the club's facilities on Tuesday.
Sione Fainu is a 20-year-old prop who played for the NSW under-18s side in 2019.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7668998/tigers-star-accepts-benjis-criticism/?cs=14326
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Isn't Benji an ambassador for the club or something?
I know he is in the media and the tigers were rubbish but honestly, he doesn't seem to really care about the club.
Isn't Benji an ambassador for the club or something?
I know he is in the media and the tigers were rubbish but honestly, he doesn't seem to really care about the club.
It's an interesting situation isn't it? He's paid for his opinion and sometimes that is going to mean being critical of the club.
That we also pay him seems a real conflict of interest.
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If it were me I'd request not to be on fox for the WT games.
Also - you'd think he'd have engagements for our home games as an ambassador - which would mena he couldn't do fox for home games?
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I believe the announcement that Benji was being given a role at the club was a PR exercise. Realistically I don’t think we’ll see much of him other than maybe appearing at grand final lunches etc.
His media career was always going to be his main priority and he was always going to have to bag the club in that role.
I believe the announcement that Benji was being given a role at the club was a PR exercise. Realistically I don’t think we’ll see much of him other than maybe appearing at grand final lunches etc.
His media career was always going to be his main priority and he was always going to have to bag the club in that role.
Yeah, no different to Sterling and Girdler doing it in their roles. The disappointing one is when club favourite son Braith Anasta has a crack at the club.
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I believe the announcement that Benji was being given a role at the club was a PR exercise. Realistically I don’t think we’ll see much of him other than maybe appearing at grand final lunches etc.
His media career was always going to be his main priority and he was always going to have to bag the club in that role.
NRL 360 opened with a 15 minute Tiger bash,predicated by a disgraceful one hour,lemonade fueled,non curfew breaking gambling orgy involving poker machines,James Roberts and Daine Laurie,but not necessarily in that order,and coming to a crazy climax involving nobody,and culminating in a stroll back to the team hotel at around 10pm on the eve of the match.
Benji walked the diplomatic tightrope and defended WTs,but the script is already written and it’s business as usual until we get a few wins.
Benji telling it like it is. The players need to hear it.
Hmmm, Wests Tigers vs Warriors, the hopeless vs the hapless.
