'You are f**king incompetent': James Tamou left 'shattered' as sending off could spell end of career

Wests Tigers captain James Tamou has admitted he is ‘shattered’ at the prospect of his final NRL act being a wild spray at a rugby league official. 

Tamou was sent straight off by referee Ben Cummins following an incident late into the Tigers’ mammoth 72-6 loss to the Sydney Roosters.

Roosters player Angus Crichton had lost the ball, however, Cummins had ruled it went backwards.

Tamou was seen barking at Cummins with the umpire blowing his whistle to send him to the sin bin.

The New Zealander then took it one step too far, retaliating: “You are f***ing incompetent you are.”

And unsurprisingly his 10-minute ban was upgraded to a full send-off.

Unfortunately for Tamou that action may very much signal his last in the NRL.

He is off contract with the Tigers at the end of the season having just played his 304th game in the league.

Meanwhile, the NRL has charged him with a grade 3 contrary conduct charge, meaning he will miss his last two matches of the season even if he takes the early plea.

Tamou will be hoping he can get a reduced sentence with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting the Tigers are considering having him front the judiciary so he can play a farewell game at Leichhardt Oval. 

Tamou showed immediate remorse for his actions after the game and insisted on fronting the media to issue an apology.

He told the media: “First of all I apologise for my actions towards Ben Cummins, they (the referees) do a terrific job.”

“It wasn’t directed at him but the frustrations got the better of me, the emotions got the better of me. I’ll wear any criticism and be accountable for my actions.

Adding: “Instead of looking myself in the mirror and being accountable, I took it out on the wrong people and again that’s taking the easy way out. I’m obviously shattered.”

When asked about it potentially being his last act for the Tigers he admitted it was a crushing prospect.

He continued: “Yeah I didn’t think of that until someone just mentioned it and my heart dropped.

“But I’ve got to be accountable for my actions. It would be a tough way to go, for a game that has given me a lot and I’ve dedicated my body to, so yeah it’s just something I’ll have to deal with.

“It’s a great game, I love this game and give everything to this game and however many games you play, it’s one of those games where you can’t walk around and think you’ve done it all because you’ll get left behind.”