Wests Tigers Head Coach Jason Taylor and captain Aaron Woods say the team were left to rue a number of missed opportunities against Penrith on Sunday.
Despite the lopsided 36-2 scoreline in the end, both Taylor and Woods said the team did enough early on to be in a strong position, but a lack of composure in attack and quality finishing ultimately undid the side as the Penrith ran away the game in the second half.
“It’s a day that we’re struggling to put our finger on a little, to be honest,” Taylor said.
We’ve spoken as a playing group about it — the first 25-30 minutes was good and we were fighting hard and in the game — but then we gave Penrith a few opportunities and chances, and they made us pay. We simply didn’t take what was available to us.
“We had a few tries disallowed, but what was disappointing was those turning into a seven tackle set and simply giving far too much Penrith opportunity and field position.
“We didn’t handle it well enough when we had to.”
One of the team’s best in a disappointing loss, Woods said while it was pleasing to create many attacking opportunities, not turning that into points was discouraging in the end.
“I thought we did well for that first 25-30, but we couldn’t get over the line,” he said.
“And where did give the ball away — kicking it dead and dropping it over the line — it just allowed Penrith to get on the front foot and we couldn’t handle it.
“We had opportunities but just couldn’t convert and then match it with them.”
See what JT and Woods had to say about the game in full in the press conference above.
Don’t miss our first game of the year at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday, March 26!
