After a weekend of heavily lopsided results in the NRL, Channel 9’s Phil Gould has blasted the sides at the bottom end of the competition for a series of weak efforts lacking in intensity and commitment.
“It’s terrible from the Tigers, it’s terrible from half the competition,” Gould said in Channel 9's post game coverage following the Sydney Roosters 76-6 annihilation of the Wests Tigers at the SCG on Saturday afternoon.
“It just shows you where our competition is at the moment and where some of the bottom teams are. They just can’t compete when these top teams get it right.
“You get score lines like this late in the season where one team has something to play for. I can’t see why a professional footballer or football team doesn’t always have something to play for.
“The Wests Tigers are back there at the tail of the field, you want something for your fans, to come out and show a little pride and resilience, the same goes for other teams.
“You can’t give up at this end of the season and allow teams to run roughshod over you like that.”
Gould’s calls come after a number of blowout scores in games between teams who are struggling and teams who are already preparing for finals football.
While the South Sydney v Penrith contest had a close finish between two top teams, the other results for Round 23 have seen the Cowboys thump the Warriors 48-4, the Storm dominate the Broncos 60-12, Parramatta beat the Bulldogs 42-6 and the Cronulla Sharks pile the misery on Manly with a 40-6 away win.
When added to the Roosters-Tigers result, the five blowout scores contribute an average margin of 46.4 points per game.
While Gould said there were clear causes for the current situation, the road out back to an even competition may be a long one that requires a focus on development.
“We’ve had two years of Covid, two years with a lack of development. (Some of) those kids aren’t ready for NRL football," he said.
“This is where our competition is at the moment. Until every club invests in development, until the game invests in development and until we look at what’s available to us in the Pacific Islands and New Zealand and try to increase our player pool and take ownership of that, then it’s going to be a long road out of this.
“The excuse is Covid. (Young players) haven’t played for a couple of years because of Covid – but Covid has exposed this (problem), it didn’t create it.
“This game is a house of cards at the moment, and the NRL needs to really get active with how it invests in development and the strength of our clubs.”
