We just didn't handle it: Captain Mbye lashes attitude

Wests Tigers' huge 51-6 Easter Monday loss to the Eels came about due to selfish attitudes and an inability to handle the occasion, according to skipper Moses Mbye.

Mbye has welcomed the short turnaround and trip to Tamworth as a chance to rebuild the team's bonds and make amends for the disappointing result.

The Tigers were the third best defensive team through the opening five rounds, conceding just 59 points at around 12 per game with three wins. They conceded almost that many in a horror 80 minutes at the new Bankwest Stadium.

"It was unpleasant. A poor performance from us," A disappointed Mbye said on Wednesday ahead of the team's only field session of the week.

"It's not what we're about. We need to turn it around quick. Some of the things we were doing were very selfish and uncharacteristic. We just didn't work together and went away from the process."

One of the Tigers' problems in round six was giving away a number of seven-tackle sets with poor kicks, including one that saw the Eels go from their own dead-ball line to the Tigers' try-line in one play for the opening try of the game.

Another, according to Mbye, was an unwillingness to cover for missed tackles with scrambling defence – a feature that was a hallmark of the club's disciplined wins early last year.

"We rolled down the field OK and put ourselves in positions but didn't build any pressure and once they got the ball they were going 100 metres per set. We were trying to solve it ourselves and once we got in a hole we dug ourselves deeper and deeper and couldn't get out of it," he said.

"It's something we've been really good on is that, scrambling for each other, and it just wasn't there. The score was big but the most disappointing thing was the little things we missed that we knew we could do and have done before.

"You're going to miss tackles but every tackle missed was a line break. There just wasn't that little effort to cover someone's arse which is what we missed. I wish I had the answer.

"We need to head up to Tamworth, show some real character and put together a good performance."

Mbye said it was an issue of attitude rather than technique or ability, which was even more disappointing.

"We know how to tackle, we've been there and done it. The 51-point question is why did that happen? We all know how to tackle. I've got to put it down to between the ears," he added.

"We were one of the best defensive sides before the weekend which is something I was really happy with. We were trying to piece together a few little things around the attack, working hard on that too. We didn't score points on the weekend either. We didn't get any of it right really.

"I don't know if it was the adversity we faced, or the occasion, the atmosphere, we just did not handle it at all."

However Mbye did not believe it was a concerning sign for the team moving forward, provided they learned from the occasion in front of a crowd that would have been the biggest and most vocal some of the players had ever played in front of.

"I think it's a really good lesson more than a concern, now it's been done [playing in front of a packed crowd], it's probably the biggest crowd a lot of these boys have played in front of," he said.

"It's a big week for us, we've got to get everyone together. The only people that turn a result like that around is us, the players that played in that game. It's important to get those players back together and say boys we are the ones that are going to turn it around. We're the ones that stuffed it up now we've got to fix it.

"We've got to go to Tamworth with a really good attitude, that's the main thing. Everyone's got the ability, that's why we're here."