Phil Gould slams NRL's bottom teams for 'terrible efforts' and warns blowouts could become the norm unless the clubs and the competition take drastic actions

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Phil Gould has slammed the NRL's bottom teams after a series of lopsided scores this weekend, lamenting a series of 'terrible' efforts and warning blowouts would become more frequent unless drastic action was taken.

Bottom-of-the-ladder Wests Tigers were on the receiving end of a 72-6 thrashing against the Sydney Roosters at the SCG on Saturday - their heaviest defeat since their 1999 merger - while Manly were thrashed 40-6 by Cronulla at Brookvale Oval.

Earlier on Saturday, the Bulldogs were humbled 42-6 by Parramatta, while on Friday the 14th-placed Warriors lost 48-4 in Townsville against second-placed North Queensland.  

Phil Gould has criticised the NRL's bottom clubs for a lack of effort in the closing weeks of the campaign after a series of lopsided scores 

'It was terrible. I mean it's terrible from the Tigers, it's terrible from half the competition,' Gould said on Nine in the aftermath of the Tigers' capitulation.

'It just shows where our competition is at the moment and where some of the bottom teams are, and they just can't compete when these top teams get it right  

'You get score lines like this late in the season where one team has something to play for and the other team has nothing to play for.'

Gould then openly questioned the professionalism of some of the players, suggesting some of them had downed tools with their teams having nothing to play for.  

The Wests Tigers were thrashed 72-6 by the Sydney Roosters at the SCG on Saturday

'I can't see why a professional footballer or a professional football team doesn't always have something to play for,' he continued.

'I mean the Wests Tigers are back there at the tail of the field, you want something for your fans to come out of this and show a little pride and resilience, and the same goes for the other teams.

'But you can't give up at this end of the season and allow teams to run roughshod over you like that.'

Manly coach Des Hasler sang from the same hymn sheet on Saturday, after his team lost at home to the Sharks for the first time in 14 years and only the seventh time in 43 attempts.

The Bulldogs were hammered 42-6 by Parramatta on Saturday at CommBank Stadium

While the Warriors were thrashed 48-4 by the Cowboys in Townsville on Friday 

The loss was the Sea Eagles' fifth straight and defeats in the final two matches of the season would mark the worst end to a season in their history, having conceded 120 points in their past three games. 

'You have a chance of playing first grade football, you have the opportunity to wear the Manly jersey. For me, that's enough motivation,' he said.

Gould also warned that the arrival of the Dolphins next season would dilute talent across the NRL even further, meaning lopsided scores could become even more frequent at the end of the season.     

'This is where our competition is at the moment, there's a real recovery period here and until we invest [...] until the game invests in development and until we invest and look at what's available to us in the Pacific Islands and New Zealand and try to increase our player pool and take ownership of that, which the NRL has failed to do for a long time,' he added.

Manly boss Des Hasler questioned his players' motivation after a dismal 40-6 loss to Cronulla 

'Then it's gonna be a long road out of this.

"The excuse is Covid-19. [Young players] haven't played for a couple of years because of Covid-19. Covid-19 has exposed this, Covid didn't cause this, it's exposed it. 

'The NRL needs to really get active on how it invests in development and the strength of our clubs.'