Benji's classy gesture for milestone man Slater
Wests Tigers veteran Benji Marshall showed his champion qualities with a wonderful gesture for Melbourne's Billy Slater after his 300th game.
The match at the Storm's usually impenetrable fortress was supposed to be about Slater's NRL milestone but other numbers proved to be more important in their shock 10-8 loss.
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However, Marshall provided a wonderful moment after the game as he paused during a post-match interview with broadcasters, Fox Sports to join in the tributes for Slater.
The Tigers veteran took off his headphones and turned away from the camera, shouting towards his players to come over and pay their respects to the Storm fullback.
One by one, members of the visiting team jogged over to congratulate Slater for the incredible accomplishment of reaching 300 games.
The loss would have made it something of a hollow feeling for the Melbourne veteran, who was hoisted into the air by Storm captain Cameron Smith and Ryan Hoffman as fans paid their respects.
The Storm's match statistics didn't make for pleasant reading for coach Craig Bellamy, who only has five days to turn around his team before their NRL grand final rematch against North Queensland on Thursday night at AAMI Park.
According to NRL figures, the premiers uncharacteristically made 17 errors, were awarded a stunning 18 penalties and missed a whopping 32 tackles.
The Tigers rattled the home side with their audacious attack, producing 24 offloads to regularly make the Storm second-guess themselves.
"They beat us to the jump on everything tonight, they had a lot more intent, especially with their running," Bellamy said.
"They out-worked us and out-enthused us as well."
The coach said he saw signs of their sloppy play in their round one win over the Canterbury Bulldogs, despite the convincing scoreline.
"I think last week's score really flattered us and we need to get back to doing the basic things really well consistently," Bellamy said.
"I thought we did some good things but I thought we did a whole heap of poor things."
Bellamy said he expected the Storm attack to lack some cohesion, with Brodie Croft taking over from Cooper Cronk and Cameron Munster shuffling between five-eighth and fullback.
"That was always going to be a bit of an issue and you expect a few hiccups there but there's a few other things that need sorting out and we will work hard to sort them out this week," Bellamy said.
The coach said that Test backrower Felise Kaufusi, who missed the Tigers match with a hamstring injury, was unlikely to face the Cowboys while Sam Kasiano would be monitored after a head knock.
With AAP
