Jason Taylor said at half time he wanted toughness from his players in the second half of the match against the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium.
And his Wests Tigers charges delivered on the coach’s wish, but it could not stop the Eels from winning the round 4 NRL clash 8-0.
Just a converted second half try and two points from a penalty early in the first half were enough for Parramatta to take the spoils from a game of footy that never reached any great heights.
As for the Tigers, who welcomed back their Origin hooker Robbie Farah, they may have been as tough as the coach wished but not as smart as they needed to win the match.
The Tigers had more possession than the Eels, but they also committed more unforced errors than their opponents, 27 to 20.
And you cannot win footy games when you make so many more mistakes than the opposition.
Add to that the halves taking the wrong option in attack – too many kicks for starters – and that pretty much sums up why the Tigers have now lost two on the trot after starting the season with two wonderful victories against the Warriors and Manly.
Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks will eventually learn that sometimes the fancy stuff needs to be put away so you just grind away a win.
As for Robbie Farah, he was solid after missing so much footy, but he was especially guilty of not using James Tedesco more in attacking raids.
Not that lack of service from his hooker stopped “Teddy’’ from being the best player on the field for the Wests Tigers.
He sensationally saved a try and then almost scored one himself in the first half but it was obvious he was a marked man for the entire 80 minutes.
Other than that Jason Traylor would be pleased with the performance.
But surely he will be telling his young halves that sometimes winning ugly is the only way.
