Roosters captain James Tedesco said his side needs to “have a good look at ourselves in the mirror” after a 20-6 loss to the Cowboys in Magic Round.
The Roosters produced a gritty win over the Warriors in horrid conditions in Round 9 but looked to struggle in the rain at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday with the only points they produced coming in the 78th minute.
Coach Trent Robinson said in his post-match press conference that the conditions weren’t to blame but agreed with a journalist that the Roosters are taking one step forward and two steps back.
Watch every game of NRL’s Magic Round LIVE in HD, with no ad-breaks during play on Fox League, available on Foxtel and Kayo >
Furious JWH ready to have a ‘crack’ | 00:48
“Definitely… We’ve had some good wins and some poor performances,” he said.
“We didn’t outwork them and we didn’t out-enthuse them. When you’re relying on motivation in this game you’re in trouble. You’re going to yoyo from week to week.
“If you’ve got a mindset of playing hard every single week then you’re going to get the right thing in this competition and we’re not there yet.”
Robinson received a follow up question asking how far away the Roosters are, to which he simply said “not sure.”
Tedesco conceded that there was “a lot of frustration” within the group around their “inconsistency,” admitting: “We had that tough win last week and then we probably just thought we’d come out and perform the same but we didn’t.”
The veteran fullback also addressed the side’s clunky attack — and put the blowtorch on the star-studded spine.
MORE NRL NEWS
‘SHOCKED ME’: Tigers rookie’s surprise just before making game-winning tackle
‘HAPPY TO CRACK HIM’: JWH’s fiery exchange with Cowboys prop over high shot
‘CHANGED MY LIFE’: Knight opens up on overcoming addiction battles after return
‘BETTER SHAPE THAN WHEN I ARRIVED’: Broncos confirm Ikin exit for QRL
“I just feel like our attack is not anywhere near where it should be with the players we have and the work we’re doing on it,” he said.
“We’re not executing our plays very well and it’s not threatening. It’s quite frustrating and we’re sort of relying on individuals.
“We’re not threatening, we had chances there to score some points and didn’t really look close to be honest.
“We’ve had some changes in our spine, when you look at our spine it’s really strong but I guess it’s on us to run our plays well and execute our plays.
“We just have to keep working at it but it’s Round 10 now and we still haven’t nailed it so we’ve got to have a good look at ourselves in the mirror and work hard at training.
“Have the conversation, we’ve just got to go out and do it, we can’t wait another three or four weeks — it’ll be too late. That’s on us.”
Determined Tigers deny game winner! | 00:39
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
Robinson made the controversial decision to drop young playmaker Sam Walker, shift Luke Keary to halfback and move Joey Manu into the halves three weeks ago.
But he believes the issues in attack don’t have much to do with the personnel changes because they all know the attacking structures.
“Our system doesn’t change… It’s still the one we’ve been running for a while so Joey knows it inside out,” he said.
Robinson was asked about how he thought Manu had been going in the No.6 jersey and he said “he’s been OK.”
“I feel like he’s defending well, he’s had some good running performances but we can get better there,” he added.
