The St George Illawarra Dragons are in a dark place and some have attributed their poor attack to veteran playmaker Benji Marshall.

But the former Golden Boot winner has hit back saying personal attacks hurt more than his on-field play.

”Some of it is justified but some of it’s not,” Marshall told Fox Sports’ NRL360.

“There were some comments about playing too lateral.

“On the other hand, some of things like ‘I need to be humble’ — that really gets to me because I’m not an un-humble person.

“It’s hard to take some criticism. The worst part is, when you’re losing you have to cop it.

“The only way to get around it is to start winning.”