NRL: Benji Marshall accepts blame for Dragons woes

St. George Illawarra Dragons Benji Marshall in action against the Newcastle Knights. Photo / Dean Purcell.

St George Illawarra halfback Benji Marshall says he has been too reckless with the football and should accept a lion's share of the blame for his side's seven-game NRL losing streak.

With their semi-final hopes hanging by a thread, the Dragons are scratching their heads for answers after falling off the premiership pace in the last two months.

Marshall said the problem wasn't with their defensive attitude, instead attributing their downturn to an inability to build pressure.

He said he should shoulder the blame for their stuttering attack, and needed to give them better direction around the park.

"I take a bit of that blame because my job is building pressure," Marshall said on NRL360 on Fox Sports.

"I watched our last four games last night to see how we can get out of this - and, in my opinion, when the game has been on the line and we're chasing points, I haven't put us in a good enough position to build pressure.

"I've probably tried to score too often.

"And that's hard to say, but that's what's going to make us better."

After leading the competition after round 12, the Dragons sit in 10th needing to win five of their last six to guarantee they will play on in September.

"It's been a tough seven weeks and there's not a lot of confidence in the camp at the moment," Marshall said.

"Looking at the draw and looking at what we've got left, we've got six weeks and we're still a possibility to make the semi-finals.

"And I think it's a real possibility to win five out of those six games, which would hopefully get us in there."

-AAP