Maybe the coach and the captain were channelling the feelings of the Wests Tigers fans who started walking out of Campbelltown Sports Stadium 20 minutes before the final siren.
Aaron Woods and Ivan Cleary both told the media after the match that the second half was a disaster as the Wests Tigers capitulated to an enthusiastic Roosters outfit in going down 40-18 last night.
“Maybe we should have stayed in the sheds because we didn’t bring anything out with us in the second half,’’ said Woods, who tried to lead by example.
The Tigers were in the game at half time, with the score 16-12 in favour of the visitors.
But as Cleary and Woods admitted, too many mistakes after the interval cost the team dearly as it fell on its sword for the fifth consecutive loss.
But the Roosters didn’t just dominate on the field; out in the stands, especially on the eastern side, the fans wearing red, white and blue made a lot more noise than the black and orange contingent.
The official crowd was given as just a tad over 10,000, which was interesting, and close to half would have been Roosters supporters.
But considering there was no local media promotion leading up to the match it’s no surprise some fans stayed home.
Before Ivan Cleary took the reins from Jason Taylor, the team would have a couple of training sessions at least at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
This would be combined with media interviews, but it did not take place leading into the Roosters clash.
Hopefully things will be different for the next match at Campbelltown against the Gold Coast Titans in two weeks.
Realistically this year is gone and maybe the time has come for Cleary to start clearing the decks for next year.
Any chance he gets between now and the last game of the season, the coach should be giving someone from the youth team a go in the NRL.
There are far too many journeymen in the team right now who should be confined to reserve grade.
The 22 year old Tuimoala Lolohea has shown that youth is the way forward at the Tigers.
Lolohea has been the only positive bit of news so far in a mostly horrible season for the Wests Tigers.
He scored a brilliant try to open the scoring in the match last night and fans must have wondered how good he would be if he had a talented halfback like Luke Brooks alongside him.
Apparently there’s a good chance Brooks may be back from injury for the match against the premiers, Cronulla Sharks at Southern Cross Group Stadium this Saturday from 7.30pm.
But will it be enough to end this increasingly ugly losing streak?
It’s worth recalling that Jason Taylor was sacked after three consecutive defeats.
Plenty would argue the board which sacked him should be in the firing line next.
