Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire has stopped short of disagreeing with Benji Marshall's comments suggesting his team wasn't first grade standard during Round 2.
The Tigers put on a horror display during Sunday afternoon's trip north to Newcastle, with the Knights taking out a 26 points to 4 victory.
Five different try-scorers hit the scoresheet during the game, with the Tigers only crossing the line in the 75th minute through Ken Maumalo to avoid being held to zero by the Knights, who have made a staggeringly strong start to the season.
Widely backed to miss the top eight, and be as low as the bottom four, Adam O'Brien's side have managed victories over the Roosters and now Tigers, both in commanding fashion, to start their 2022 campaign.
But it was the Tigers who drew most of the attention from the horror show in front of over 23,000 fans during what was the Knights' first home game since mid last year.
The Tigers only held 40 per cent of the ball during the game, but were their own worst enemy, only completing 24 of 39 sets, missing 36 tackles compared to Newcastle's 20 and making a staggering 18 errors.
Speaking on Fox League, Benji Marshall tore into his former team.
โReally terrible. The completion rate was below 60 per cent. You canโt win any game like that,โ Marshall said.
โFrom an effort point of view, it wasnโt there. It wasnโt first-grade standard.โ
Asked for a response in the post match press conference, Maguire refused to disagree.
โThereโs probably areas of that,โ Maguire said.
โEveryone has their opinion. Weโll have a look at how we played and what we need to do.
โWe didnโt put any pressure on the opposition whatsoever โ if youโre going to do that, you put it upon yourself. We didnโt get kicks to corners and didnโt have the same D-line. Weโve got to go to our style of how we want to play.
โI think there were areas in our effort that certainly could have been better, for sure.
โI think at one stage, we were at 40 per-cent completion. To build pressure on any opposition is always difficult, but youโve got to be able to win that back. Our game plan is very simple and the boys can execute that โ weโve shown that.
โThey are all trying out there, I see that every single day. The boys know what we need to do and thereโs a big belief around how we want to play the game.โ
The loss means the Tigers have started the year with back to back losses, seemingly confirming what a wide majority have already predicted for the side - a long winter ahead.
Despite some positive signs against the Melbourne Storm last week, the Tigers went backwards yesterday and while a home game against the New Zealand Warriors presents an opportunity to turn things around, matches against the Gold Coast Titans, Cronulla Sharks, Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs over the following month could have Maguire's side facing a zero and seven record if they fail to record a win.
That would undoubtedly lead to further calls for Maguire to lose his job in charge of the team - a job he barely survived the off-season with.
