Wests Tigers playmaker Braith Anasta says the NRL rules change caused him some headaches in the club’s opening round loss to St George Illawarra.
Tigers coach Mick Potter roundly criticised the last tackle options of his side in the wake of their 44-24 walloping.
With teams now given a seven tackle set when the ball is kicked dead, kicking options on the last play have become even more vital in 2014 and Anasta said it was something he struggled with in round one, second guessing himself at times.
“We put too much pressure on ourselves against the Dragons, there is no doubt we gave too many penalties away and our fifth tackle options were poor,” Anasta said.
“Now, because of the new rules, you have to get your fifth tackle options right because you have to try and get that ball back and you can’t give possession away too easily that’s what we did too often.
“Myself, Robbie (Farah) and Brooksy (Luke Brooks) have worked on that a lot this week, it wasn’t acceptable and we will make sure it is better this weekend.
“(The extra tackle) does affect your kicking game to start the season more because you are thinking about not putting it dead because you get seven tackles.
“I think the secret there is to eliminate the thought process and stick to our usual game.
“You can’t worry so much about the new rules and kicking it dead because it can put you off your kicking game and I think it did that to us on the weekend.”
The Tigers face the Gold Coast away on Sunday and despite the joint venture’s heavy first up loss Anasta stressed it was not dire straits.
“It was disappointing to lose and to let the lead get away and the way we finished the game,” Anasta said.
“But we probably felt worse after the game.
“After looking at the video we are not panicking after that. There were some positives, we can take some confidence out of our set plays and the way we attacked the ball at times.”