The Wests Tigers' electric start to the season has hit its first real roadblock, with a sobering 52-10 loss on Sunday to the Sharks, halting what had been a promising opening quarter of the season.
Before the embarrassing scoreline, the Tigers had had a big week at Concord leading into their Round 9 clash.
The MRC handed down a multi-game suspension to Api Korosaiu.
The Tigers locked in the May brothers on long-term deals.
News that Jahream Bula is set to sign an extension at the club was reported, with an official announcement coming this week.
Oh and captain Jarome Luai was unveiled at the PNG Chiefs inaugural signing, marking the 2027 season as his last in Tigers colours and dominating the entire news cycle whilst dragging his loyalty to Concord into question.
Despite previously hinting that Tiger Town could be his ‘forever home', Luai's decision quickly became the talking point of the week, with the noise and scrutiny only adding to the spotlight heading into Sunday's clash.
That pressure only escalated early in the game when in-form halfback Adam Doueihi — arguably the Tigers' best player this season — was forced from the field in the 11th minute with a dislocated shoulder.
With distractions swirling and their key playmaker sidelined, the Tigers unravelled uncharacteristically.
However, when asked post-match whether the off-field noise surrounding his future had contributed to the defeat, Luai's response was simple.
“Nah,” he replied.
"I just told the bro there, no excuse for the week that was towards the game. I'm like all the boys, right now I'm feeling the same as them, just disappointed, but we move on," he said.
Coach Benji Marshall echoed his skipper's sentiments, refusing to lean on external factors despite a disrupted build-up.
"We've had things that have been distractions all year to be fair, so it's no excuse," Marshall said.
"If anything, I probably need to look at it from a coaching point of view, what I did during the week, that made us change our mindset and the way we want to play.
"The buck starts and stops with me, so I need to figure that out and go and really look deep into it.
"But I know with my team, we can turn it around pretty quickly, but we're just going to have to hurt and go through that and learn."
Marshall admitted the performance was a far cry from the Tigers' side that had pushed opponents to the brink in their earlier losses.
"It's way different, if you look at our two losses before, we lost by one, and we lost by four, and we never gave up in those games," he said.
"And we dominated field position and played the way we wanted to play. Today was, I don't know what team was out there, but that wasn't the team that we've played like and prepared like; it was actually the opposite.
"So I'm not going to make any excuses, it's credit to them, because they were relentless with the way they played.
"I thought their halves really kicked well for them, and I thought their middles ran a lot harder than what we did, so it's a good lesson for us."
With Doueihi expected to miss around four to six weeks, attention now turns to how Luai can steer the side alongside Jock Madden and replicate the cohesion he and Doueihi displayed that had underpinned their early-season success.
