A humiliating 64-0 defeat at the hands of the Melbourne Storm has been labelled a wake-up call by Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall, who urged his players to “look in the mirror” after a performance lacking effort and intensity.
Marshall, now in his second year as head coach, was visibly frustrated following the Tigers’ disastrous showing in Melbourne on Sunday, where Ryan Papenhuyzen starred in an 11-try demolition.
Despite making fewer errors and conceding the same number of penalties as the Storm, the Tigers were completely outclassed on both sides of the ball, failing to generate any attacking momentum while their defensive line collapsed repeatedly.
However, what stood out most to Marshall was the team’s lack of resilience.
“There’s losing, and then there’s getting beaten—and today we were simply beaten,” Marshall said in his post-game comments. “This team normally fights for everything, but that wasn’t there today. We’ve set standards for ourselves, and we failed to meet any of them.”
Marshall acknowledged the team’s overall disappointment and embarrassment but stressed that such a performance was unacceptable and must serve as a catalyst for change.
When asked about the missing grit, he couldn’t pinpoint the cause but did mention the team now sits at five wins and five losses after ten rounds—dropping them to 10th on the ladder.
Still, Marshall credited the Storm’s excellence, refusing to use their dominance as an excuse. “They’ve been the benchmark for two decades. We knew they’d respond after last week, and once they built momentum, we couldn’t stop it.”
He emphasized that the Tigers must regroup quickly ahead of next week’s clash with South Sydney. “We need to learn from this, take the hurt and channel it into a better performance. This was a step back, and we need to correct that immediately.”
Fullback Sunia Turuva remained optimistic, downplaying any long-term psychological impact from the loss. “I don’t think it’ll rattle us. If anything, it should light a fire. Sometimes when things are going well, you start to believe you’re better than you are. This is a reality check—a chance to reassess how we prepare and show up.”
