3 minute read
After giving up just 59 points over the opening five rounds, the Wests Tigers almost conceded the same amount against Parramatta on Monday.
Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire has accused his NRL team of not turning up "between the ears" after producing their worst display of the season on Monday.
After giving up just 59 points over the opening five weeks - second only to Melbourne - the Tigers almost gave up the same amount against Parramatta.
The 51-6 rout is their heaviest defeat since being humiliated by 54 points against Canberra almost three years ago.
Asked what went wrong with his team's defence on Monday, Maguire said: "Turn up between the ears, really.
"That's what defence is all about. It's how you turn up together and how you connect. We didn't do that tonight, simple as that."
The Tigers completed better and only missed nine more tackles, however had their line broken so badly they conceded almost double the amount of metres.
The Eels' back five had a field day, with each player clearing over 100 metres in front of a sellout crowd for the first event at the rebuilt Bankwest Stadium.
Maguire said he expected his team to rise the occasion.
"I'm not going to take any excuses around what happened around the game because we just didn't turn up and put our shoulders in," he said of his side who lost hooker Robbie Farah to concussion early in the first half.
"That's as an individual and as a team, we're all accountable to that.
"But from being able to turn up in a full stadium, a brand new stadium, there's no reasons why you can't get up for this one."
The big win means the Eels make the jump from eighth to fifth spot, which was owned by a Tigers side that fall out of the top eight to ninth.
In other results in round six, a depleted Cronulla side stormed back from 14-0 down to beat a severely out-of-sorts Penrith outfit by four.
South Sydney began life without Greg Inglis with a 14-6 defeat of Canterbury in a game best remembered for the battle between Sam Burgess and Lachlan Lewis.
A dramatic 40-metre field goal from Sydney Roosters star Latrell Mitchell in golden point gave Melbourne their first defeat in a classic grand final rematch.
North Queensland snapped their four-game losing streak with a 17-10 win over the Warriors, while Canberra held off a fast-finishing Brisbane for a 26-22 victory.
The NRL was forced to admit Manly were denied a last-gasp penalty that could've forced golden point in their two-point defeat against St George Illawarra.
And pressure is building on Newcastle coach Nathan Brown after his team were pummelled 38-14 by Gold Coast.
