They weren't defending for 20 minutes. In fact if anything they were on top and gave away penalties in Sheffield's 20. Whilst I don't really believe it but surely if the team has turned up not prepared to try that is an even more damning indictment of the preparation.

Kear's interview after the game talking about having smoke blown up their backsides and disrespecting the opposition is embarrassing. They won one competitive game and lost the last few of last season. Players like Gill, Wallace, Doyle, Miller, DFJ, in fact all 17 individually and collectively turned up to play with an attitude of 'we're better than this'? That's just not remotely credible.

Agreed. We field that kick-off, complete the set, put in a reasonable kick & chase, Sheffield start their set 80/70 metres from their try line, the forwards have to get back. Instead we messed up the kick-off and Sheffield start the set 40/30metres from out try line. That instantly gives them energy and drains ours.

We can be as fit as we want, but fitness can be in the head too. You feel more tired if you have to jog back to your own 20m line to start your set 80metres away with 10 mins left. If you start 40metres after the opposition made an error, you feel less tired.

That's why I think its an attitude issue rather than fitness. We don't bite down on the gum shield and complete those tough crucial sets. We consistently mess up and put pressure on ourselves and give the opposition a lift.

There is a reason he has had so many clubs. He is one player who even since he were a youngster at his community club, he has been signed simply because of his size and coaches thinking they can get something out of him.

Whatever the reasons, it is undoubtedly now John Kear's team albeit on a budget. There needs to be some significant signs of progress in the next couple of months. At the moment it feels like the players change but the same problems persist, so the blame lies with the coaching staff whether it's preparation, tactics or recruitment.

We'll find out in the coming weeks if last weekend's result was an aberration or exactly this.

Thinking about it in context Kear did ok with the 2019 side and if that hadn't been broken up we could've been more genuine contenders by now. As it was 2021 was almost another rebuild. That's not to downplay the way it ended. The key now is to see in the coming weeks whether that poor form at the end of last year was a trend that's continuing now or not.

Problem for me last season was the players leaving seemed to give up once guaranteed playoffs
Brown,Hallas,Oakes especially all poor in last 4 defeats.

Part of me thinks peoples frustration with John is down to other clubs progressing.

We had our highest placed finish in six years last year; and we’re 40 mins from 3rd place.

That would’ve been essentially ‘top’ of the best of the rest. Surely he deserves the year, if results improve?

That was the year he got rid of Dane Chisholm for being exciting.

Its bad... but not that bad!!!

Fitness a lazy argument? Yes and no I would suggest.

For most of the squad I don't think general fitness is an issue, but being able to maintain a high quality performance whilst fatigued is. When we get tired we drop balls, drop off tackles and give stupid penalties away which then compound the problems. Other teams are simply better conditioned to be able to deal with fatigue than we are, and that comes down to the training.

Kear can say its a lack of attitude and disrespectful of the opposition all he wants, but the buck lays firmly on him I'm afraid. Its his tactics and his training methods that put the players into that position.

Chisholm called it out and got the boot. Others have tried and failed too.

I don’t watch enough RL closely enough these days to know who would be a good replacement.

We’re in the difficult position of being stuck behind a different top 2 who each year have a bigger budget than us. Without this changing, it’s a big ask for any coach to come in and make real progress. Looking at last years table, there wasn’t much difference between 3rd and 5th.

I guess it depends on whether a new coach finishing 3rd is seen as progress (and will that still be the case if 3rd is maintained?)

I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by sacking Kear mid season (and to suggest it after 2 games is utterly ridiculous). If we are in the position of appointing a new coach, I’d rather plan for it and have a pre-season to properly prepare.

Indeed but it doesn’t bode well. I would have thought the preparation would have included some mention of the absolute tonking they gave us last year. Perhaps the conditions spared us a similar fate on home soil.