Wests Tigers forward James Tamou is keeping faith in the benevolence of the NRL footy gods despite being forsaken against Gold Coast.
The luckless Tigers were seemingly on their way to a first win of 2022 on Thursday, holding a four-point lead going into the final minute of a largely forgettable and scrappy affair with the Titans at CBUS Super Stadium.
Unfortunately for Tamou and his teammates, destiny wasn't on their side as a chaotic play, involving a Toby Sexton kick rebounding off a post before being dropped in-goal by Tiger Jock Madden, allowed AJ Brimson to steal an 8-6 win for the hosts.
It's a situation Tamou has seen before and he knows first-hand how quickly situations can change at a club, having been part of a North Queensland team which lost their first three matches in 2015 before going on a run that eventually ended in the Cowboys' first premiership.
"There's 22 rounds to go," Tamou said.
"For us to keep going we've got to follow that path. We can't let it go.
"The footy gods, they praise effort. The boys put a lot of effort out there (on Thursday) and I'm proud of them."
The 33-year-old has also leapt to the defence of under-fire coach Michael Maguire amid speculation he has lost the dressing room.
Tamou pointed to the example of suspended Jackson Hastings paying for his own plane ticket to be in the coach's box at CBUS Super Stadium as a symbol of the togetherness within the group.
The experienced front-rower also knows Maguire is wholly committed to turning around the ailing Tigers' fortunes.
"If Madge could, mate, he'd strap up and he'd get out there with you," Tamou said.
"Around everything that he talks about, you can just feel the passion and you want to play for him because you can feel it.
"He gets you up, mate, he really does."
Next up is a trip to PointsBet Stadium next weekend to face highly-fancied Cronulla but it's not a challenge that shakes Tamou's belief.
"We've got to bring that effort," Tamou said.
"No doubt the Sharks have obviously been talked about as one of the pinnacle clubs in the comp so we've got to bring that effort and we'll look back and see where we could be better.
"We'll keep working and keep growing ... for us to keep going forward, we've got to stick around each other."
