Ben T'eo: I deserved a spray
By Josh Massoud | June 30, 2008 12:00am
Spray ... Ben T'eo (far right) is blasted by Chris Heighington. Photograph: Gregg Porteous / The Daily Telegraph
SHAMED Tiger Ben Te'o last night admitted career-worst form earned him a "spray" from team mate Chris Heighington on the weekend. Distracted by uncertainty over his future, Te'o has slipped from devastating at the start of the season to copping a gobful from Heighington and being hooked after 30 minutes of Sunday's loss to the Warriors.
Te'o has been negotiating his own future for the past six weeks following a dispute with his agent, and is expected to sign with Brisbane this week.
But the 21-year-old said the strain of going solo has tempered his game, culminating in a forgettable afternoon at Leichhardt.
A missed tackle on Nathan Fein saw the halfback stroll across for the Warriors' third try, provoking Heighington's outburst behind the goal-line. Tigers coach Tim Sheens also react ed by giving Te'o the earliest shower of his career.
"Personally, I don't know if I've played this bad ... ever,'' Te'o said.
"I made a mistake, I made the wrong decision and (Heighington) let me know about it. He gave me a spray.
"I suppose it didn't look good in the photo, but those kinds of things happen all the time.
"He came up to explain afterwards, but he didn't need to. Everyone cops a spray out there.''
Te'o fell out with agent Daryl Mather in May, just as he was beginning to prove a handful for opposition defenders.
Tigers officials expected him to re-sign for another three seasons at the time, but Te'o banked on his barnstorming form and personally contacted all 15 rival clubs.
He refused to comment on negotiations, but it is widely assumed Brisbane has won the race for his signature.
"I can't talk about that just now, but will come out by the end of this week,'' Te'o said.
"I've made a decision - there will be something announced soon.''
The strapping Kiwi said people under-estimated how difficult it is for a footballer to represent themselves.
"To be honest, it has been a distraction,'' he said.
"I'm only 21 - I'm only new to the game.
"I didn't want it to be like this, but I sort of didn't have a choice. For this deal anyway, I couldn't go with another manager so I've had to do it myself.
"At first it wasn't too bad, but now it's being reflected in some poor form and I'm trying to get my head straight.
"It's not just black and white. You have to think about you family, leaving and living elsewhere.
"Then there's your team mates. Different guys react different ways whether you are staying or going. There's that question of, `Why don't you want to be here?'.
Although they have the bye this weekend, the Tigers trained yesterday. Te'o, however, did not have a chance to speak with coach Tim Sheens about his time on the bench and is desperate to atone.
"For me, I would love to play mid-week. I would love to play tomorrow,'' he said.
"I only played 30 minutes so I'm pretty fresh.
"I got hooked after and didn't see the field again. I made some poor decisions in defence and that's what happens.
"It would be great to play again and get some confidence up, but now I've got to wait.''
