I can honestly say that I would rather see a side including Addy, Halley, Southernwood, Wardle, Crossley, Finigan, Kopczak, Whitehead, Donaldson play there heart out and feel the pride of putting on the famous red, amber and black then some of the current players.

I could not agree more. The big names seem to have given up! Let the youngsters have a go they will all play with pride and they want to impress, a bit of competition places will make everyone work harder. Lets face it what is the worsdt that can happen?

Was there some energy in the performance though? Were they racing to form the scrum? Chasing after every kick to try and force an error? Did they put in some shuddering hits? Did we force some goal line drop outs? Did we force the Quins into touch with some tough tackling?

It didn't sound like it on the radio and it wasn't the impression I got from people I know who went. I don't really see whinging at the referee as a sign of effort to be honest.

Well, I said I was clutching at straws!! Though, I also said that (misguided as it was) it was sign they cared rather than of the effort.

The overall demeanour is of a side that is mentally at a low ebb, much as it is being denied yet again in the T&A. Not that I'm in any way a sports psychologist, so maybe convincing the players that they're NOT down is part of the cure? Anyway, did they chase kicks? Yes, did they tackle hard? well, they went in hard but often either missed or dropped off far too easily, to be honest. I do remember Menzies, Lynch, Addy and believe it or not Worrincy putting in some pretty hefty shoulders though.

I seem to remember the odd drop out, though putting someone into touch is something I don't remember, nor would I say there was any particularly ostentatious rush to form scrums, but neither were they holding back and they certainly caused the clock to be stopped quite a few times.

I do remember incidents like Dave Halley racing downfield across to the other wing to tackle Dorn after he picked up Sykes' kick, though he was unable to prevent his off-load. There was Rikki Sheriffe taking the ball up as hard as you like, Langers who put himself about until he went off, Elliott Whitehead certainly did his share of work, as did Godwin, Addy, Lynch and L'Estrange. I think Craig Kopczak had his best game for ages.

At the end of the day it is about perception, and whilst others are free to disagree, for me they played poorly but did put the grunt in, ineffective as it was. Worth applauding off? Well again, as always, it's a personal decision and I took the view that a bit of empathy might have a better effect than 'dissing' them when they were clearly 'down', others took the same view as me and then others didn't. C'est la vie.

Our problem seems to me to be that we aren't really playing as a team. Individuals are giving 100% but there seems to be a lack of cohesion and that leads to errors in attack and defence. Then the confidence in yourself and teammates dries up. Add a few dodgy calls and players get away from what they should be concentrating on and start blaming the ref for their shortcomings.

In my limited playing experience when you're trying your hardest and things aren't coming off the odd harsh ref's call can really get everyone on a negative vibe. I've often stood at halftime with teammates who just want to go on about this wrong decision or that but it won't change anything. The team needs to concentrate on what they can control not what they can't.

The responsibility for sorting out the current malaise lies primarily with the coach and the senior players. They set the lead.

For the first time EVER in my adult life I left five minutes earlier, just after the Crossley try.

Seems a fair summing up Bullseye. Maybe having Lee St Hilaire in charge will allow the team to draw a line under the past and start afresh. Obviously the injury situation remains the same but mentally, it just might be the catalyst to spark a revival. I think we can all join together in rallying around that.