Marshall blames himself for Souths shocker
Benji Marshall has taken full responsibility for Wests Tigers' shock 29-18 loss to South Sydney on Saturday night, admitting his decision-making has let the NRL side down this season.
Marshall believes his occasionally erratic playmaking style has let his team down dearly on occasions and vowed to turn it around against Penrith at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday.
The Tigers were awful in the opening 40 minutes against the Rabbitohs and entered the break down 27-0 and effectively out of the contest - prompting a halftime spray from coach Tim Sheens.
"Obviously the first half on the weekend wasn't fun for any of us," Marshall said on Tuesday.
"A lot of the decisions I make in our side has an effect on how the team goes and I just felt like there's been times this season where the decisions weren't good enough.
"I'm willing to accept the blame for what happened on the weekend and I need to be one of the ones to step up and lead.
"I'm a senior player now and hopefully turn the fortunes of our games around."
Marshall's teammate Chris Heighington said the five-eighth has nothing to worry about and has in fact been the Tigers' most consistent performer all season - and put the blame for their inconsistency on the club's forward pack.
"To be honest, he's been firing nearly game for us ... early on at the start of the year he was our best by far," he said.
"Us forwards have probably got to do a better job for him. He's done his job, everyone else has to do theirs.
"One thing we've got to find here is consistency.
"We're talking about it and hopefully we can sort that out over the next couple of weeks."
Marshall said it was crucial to bounce back quickly and produce a promising result against the Panthers.
"None of us are very happy about (the South Sydney loss) and we want to make amends for that," he added.
"This week we need to really turn it around and make sure we prepare 100 per cent and are ready to go."
Marshall also said he expected skipper Robbie Farah and prop Keith Galloway to react to their omissions from the NSW State of Origin squad with big games against Penrith.
"Well if it doesn't (spur them on), they shouldn't be playing the game," Marshall said.
"Because I know how much it hurt Robbie and Keith not to be in that side.
"But it's up to them to turn it around (and) we need to support them."
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