Tamou: I've been playing selfish

Selfish? ... James Tamou hasn't been happy with his start this season. Source: Zak Simmonds / News Limited

James Tamou has made the candid admission he has let the Cowboys down with a selfish attitude and won't be surprised if he is axed by Australian selectors for the Anzac Test.

The front-row enforcer responded to a rev-up from Test selector Bob McCarthy with a barnstorming display against Penrith on Saturday night, running for 203 metres from 18 hit-ups in his side's 30-0 drubbing.

It was a timely return to form for Tamou, who believes he needs another rousing performance against the Broncos this Friday night to retain his Australian jumper for the April 19 showdown with the Kiwis.

The 24-year-old managed just 97 metres from 10 hit-ups against Newcastle a fortnight ago and blamed his inconsistent form on worrying more about himself than the Cowboys' requirements.

"If I'm honest with myself, this year I have been playing for myself and not for the team,'' Tamou said.

"I'm trying to overdo things. I've been trying to get all these carries and make all these tackles and offloads.

"I think I've put myself on such a pedestal that I feel as though I have to keep producing big metres and numbers, but that's not the case. I need to just get back to playing well for the Cowboys.

"This week I decided to settle down and play for the team again and look what happened ... the metres came again.

"It doesn't do the team any good when I take that personal attitude.

"(Saturday night) was proof for me that if I just go out there and play for the team, do what I'm asked to do instead of forcing things and playing for myself, I will be alright."

Some would consider Tamou a hard marker. His below-par Newcastle effort aside, the NSW hardman opened the 2013 campaign with 161 metres against the Bulldogs and amassed 150 metres last week against the Warriors, numbers few props can consistently produce.

But McCarthy's belief that Tamou needed to lift struck a nerve. The towering bookend still feels far from safe and hopes a dominant display in the Queensland derby at Suncorp Stadium will clinch an Anzac Test berth.

Asked if he felt he had done enough to keep his Test jumper, Tamou said: "To be honest, not really.

"I wouldn't be filthy or anything if I didn't get picked. I put that on myself, I know I haven't been performing to the standards I set for myself.

"Hopefully the game against the Broncos will set things up for me and I play well.

"I knew it (the rev-up from McCarthy) was coming. I don't know about Thumper (Cowboys and Test teammate Matt Scott) but the form we were in, we had to lift.

"We were still in first gear. Hopefully this week coming we can continue our combination and get a win."

Scott conceded he and Tamou could not take their Australian jumpers for granted after the Cowboys' patchy start to the season.

"Jimmy and I are definitely working on that part of our game, that's our job to provide momentum," he said.

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