Comparing stats only takes you so far, but this is what we did yesterday:
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And this is what we did against the Sharks:
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Souffs did to us what we did to the Sharks. Just look at the huge difference on green highlighted cells.
Up until the 18-0 last night, I feel we were as good as them, possibly even better, but individual errors and flukes cost us dearly. After this we dropped our heads and souffs controlled the game easily enough for a comfortable win.
I feel that a lot of the current issues are due to mental weakness. We lack resilience in the face of adversity, and that is in my opinion due to the youth of the team, combined with a notorious lack of leadership.
I don't think we are failing that much as a team, but individuals are making crucial mistakes at the worst possible moment and being consistently punished for them against most of the teams we have played, which let's not forget, are all in the top 8 currently.
I'm not sure any coach, be it Bellamy, Robinson, Bennett, Walters or Seibold would survive our back 3 committing hara-kiri so often, so I am not about to blame Seibs for it.
I am seeing glimpses of the new structure being implemented (that Oates try last week was orgasmic stuff) and the necessary first step towards overhauling our spine has been taken.
I hope the next one (at this point I would swap Bird and Boyd) brings some more impact and support to the team from the back, but we need to complete sets and more importantly, we cannot keep dropping balls and being so passive in defense.
Anyway, as I've said since the beginning, what I want to see is progress and an improved team towards the business end of the season. I think we will have that.