Paul Gallen blasts Wests Tigers’ ’embarrassing’ lack of defensive effort in awful defeat by Sharks

Paul Gallen has lashed out at Wests Tigers following their defeat by Cronulla, with the Sharks legend unimpressed by the out-of-form side’s lack of effort over the weekend. 

Michael Maguire’s Tigers are stuck at the bottom of the ladder and are the only side to have failed to pick up points so far this season, and looked well off the pace in their 30-4 defeat by Cronulla on Sunday.

Speaking on Channel 9’s 100% Footy, Gallen pinpointed Ronaldo Mulitalo’s try as indicative of Wests’ woeful lack of defensive urgency.  

‘That effort by the Tigers’ team was horrible,’ Gallen said.

‘There was a try that Ronaldo Mulitalo got – he ran over near the sideline, he ran all the way to underneath the post celebrating to the fans and not one Tigers player tried to cut him off to make it a harder kick.

‘It was embarrassing. It was the worst thing I’ve seen in first grade.’

A disbelieving Gallen, rewatching the try, insisted that no strategic flaws can account for a lack of effort from the players. 

The Tigers extended their winless record for the season with a crushing 30-4 loss on Sunday

Sharks great Gallen blasted the lack of effort by the Tigers when Ronaldo Mulitalo scored a try

‘That’s just a lack of effort, a lack of commitment to your teammates, a lack of commitment to yourself. You’ve got a responsibility and a job to do when you get on a rugby league field,’ Gallen said.

‘Surely they’ve got individual pride where they want to show something more than that.’

Pressure is growing on Maguire amid the Tigers’ barren run. The club were tipped to contend for the wooden spoon this season, but were still expected to put up more of a fight than showcased thus far.

Maguire, however, remains defiant in the face of criticism and insists that he retains complete belief in his players’ ability to turn their campaign around. 

Tigers coach Michael Maguire is under pressure but insists he can turn things around

‘Against Melbourne [in Round 1] everyone was praising us about how we were going about things,’ he said after the Cronulla game. 

‘We just have to keep working hard with how we’re wanting to play, we’ve had a couple of changes with our spine but that’s part of going through these sorts of periods.

‘I wouldn’t say we’ve gone backwards [since Round 1], we’ve just been challenged.

‘We’re looking at how we want to play and I spoke to the players about how we want to attack and we’ve got to keep working hard on those little areas that allow you to score.’