How David Klemmer explained Clint Gutherson taunt to his sons

David Klemmer felt embarrassed when his two eldest boys started showing him YouTube footage of him making an ‘up-yours’ gesture at Clint Gutherson.

Gutherson failed to land a penalty goal to win the game for the Eels after full-time on Monday and the TV cameras captured the Wests Tigers players celebrating, then Klemmer performing the offensive gesture towards the Parramatta captain.

Klemmer’s raw emotion summed up how much the victory meant for the Tigers, who will attempt to record a third straight win on Saturday night against Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins.

The last time the Tigers won three games in a row was at the start of the 2018 season, when now coach Benji Marshall was skipper.

Klemmer told this masthead he only became aware of his bras d’honneur moment at CommBank Stadium when his sons Cooper and Jackson, 11 and 9, showed him the replay.

“I was pretty embarrassed about it once it all calmed down,” Klemmer said on Thursday. “My sons were asking me about it, all their mates at school [were asking]. It was all over their iPad and YouTube.

“I was like, ‘Boys, that’s another person, that’s not dad’, and [how] it was pure happiness, it can happen in footy games, and we were desperate.

“‘Gutho’ was sweet. We shook hands. He probably would have done the same [had we missed]. You go home happier after a win, and family life is a lot happier as well.”