Wests Tigers Coach Ivan Cleary and vice-captain Chris Lawrence spoke to the media following the side's close loss to the Cronulla Sharks at Leichhardt Oval tonight.
Coach Cleary said that despite the loss, the boys put in a valiant effort.
“Obviously we lot a few to injury so we were under the pump," he said.
“We struggled with that. There were some really positive signs there, but in the end the tries we conceded were disappointing, we had every right to stop them in the second half.”
Cleary said that Nofoluma’s leg injury had a detrimental effect on the game
“Nof makes such a difference, penetrating on the back field and giving us a good start to our sets and we just lot that with him tonight," he said.
“We were really struggling to start to get momentum in the second half.”
“If you’re not finishing sets well that starts to pile up against you.”
Vice-captain Chris Lawrence stated that the team did well considering the injuries procured throughout the match, but that extra push was needed to get a better result.
“It was obviously tough, the some of the boys were running on empty but we had plenty of opportunity in those last 15 minutes to put some points on the board," he said.
“We just didn’t execute well enough and then our defence in the back end of the game wasn’t good enough.”
Despite the loss, and marked performance from the team over the last month, Cleary said that he wasn’t surprised by the resilience that exists within his team.
“I’m not surprised; they show it every day in the training field," he said.
“As long as I’ve been here, I’ve been impressed.
“I think there’s so much in this team and there’s so much improvement to make.
“I’m looking forward to being part of that.”
See what the pair had to say in full about tonight's game in the video above!
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