‘So dumb’: Benji apologises after ‘embarrassing’ thrashing
Benji Marshall was shocked by how long Wests Tigers fans stayed in the stands at CommBank Stadium, given the “embarrassing” display they had to witness.
Penrith wasted no time showcasing their premiership credentials on Sunday, recording a remarkable 68-0 win over Marshall’s Tigers.
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall reacts after loss to the Panthers. Fox Sports
The coach could not hide his embarrassment when speaking post-match, holding his playing group accountable for not turning up to battle the ladder leaders.
“It’s embarrassing,” Marshall said.
“I don’t usually apologise to our members and fans, but that was unacceptable in terms of what we expect and the way we want to perform.
“I am actually surprised that they stuck around as long as they did today because it was clear to me from the start that we weren’t there.
“We have to take accountability for that and figure out why that happened to make sure that doesn’t happen again next week.
“I get that we are playing the top team in the league, but there were some things there that you just can’t accept.”
Asked to explain where he felt the team went wrong throughout the match, Marshall could not help but list a range of discipline issues his team had.
It did not take the full 80 minutes for him to realise the length of that list, especially with nine errors, four penalties conceded and three players on report.
“Everything in our game that we could possibly get wrong, we got wrong,” Marshall said.
“It was just the fundamentals of the game. And it looks like, with the scoreline, that we weren’t playing.
“The point is we are so dumb with the ball, and we can’t defend our errors, we are tackling so much that we get brain-dead and can’t compete. It is disappointing and actually embarrassing.
“Last week we showed up with a real defensive result and that was non-existent (today). There was obviously something we missed from last week to this week in our preparations, that is up to me to figure out.”
A 36-0 scoreline at half-time was enough for any team to earn a spray from their coach. Marshall told reporters they “don’t want to know” the words he had to say when his team returned to the sheds for the break.
Jarome Luai’s Tigers crash to a huge defeat on Sunday. Getty Images
He then assured reporters the team would not flush this result “under the rug”.
“The important thing for us is that we have to accountability for the performance, then acknowledge what went wrong and learn from it,” he said.
“If you flush it, you are prepared to say that what happened today we are prepared to put under the rug and just take it.
“We will do our review properly and have honest conversations about why this happened today. But turning up is a non-negotiable, from my point of view.
“At the end of the day, you can’t make excuses or sugarcoat what happened today. It was unacceptable.”
Api Koroisau had few words to follow the stern words his coach had made.
“It felt like a washing machine out there,” the Tigers co-captain said.
“We weren’t playing good enough footy. It was off the back of our errors that we put ourselves in that position.”
Marshall will work to “face the music together” with his team over the next week to ensure their last game at Leichardt for some time will not be a nightmare.
The Tigers will host the Gold Coast Titans next Sunday.
