WE’VE had a tough stretch, and there’s no point dressing it up any other way.
A draw that felt like a loss against Gold Coast United followed by a 5-0 defeat at home to the Lions.
Against Gold Coast, we came away with a point, but I still see that as two dropped.
I didn’t think we were good enough with the ball, particularly in the first half.
Our decision-making wasn’t where it needed to be, and too often we created our own problems.
The goal we conceded summed that up.
We let them play through us far too easily, and from their first real chance, we were behind.
That changes the whole dynamic of the game.
Suddenly we’re chasing it, and it becomes the type of match we don’t want.
Up until then, I felt we had control, but we weren’t hurting them enough.
Once we go behind and start forcing things, it disrupts our structure.
The second half became stretched, chaotic and scrappy – not how we want to play.
We made changes to try and spark something, and while I’ll always back this group to find a goal, it came at a cost.
We lost discipline, we opened ourselves up, and while Zac Galea made a big save late to keep us in it, they also had chances on the break because of the risks we took.
That’s the balance.
At home, we want to win games, not settle.
But over 90 minutes, we didn’t do enough to deserve more.
Then came the Lions, and a completely different kind of challenge.
The early red card made a difficult task even harder.
Going down to 10 men against a side that wants to dominate possession is never ideal, but I’m not going to sit here and blame the referee.
Decisions are made, and you get on with it.
What mattered more to me was what came after.
Even with 10 men, I thought there were moments in the first half where we were still in the game.
We got into their penalty area, created half chances, and at 2-0 down at the break, I genuinely believed we could stay in it if we remained disciplined.
But we didn’t.
As the second half wore on, we lost our shape, we got stretched, and we stopped doing the basics well.
At this level, if you don’t follow instructions and stay disciplined – especially in tough moments – you get punished.
And we were.
I won’t single anyone out. Football doesn’t work like that.
There will always be moments people look at – a clearance, a decision, a missed chance – but this is collective.
We win together and we lose together, and that result is on all of us.
They know when they’ve underperformed, and there were some frank conversations after the Lions.
What matters now is what we do next.
Because football isn’t linear. You don’t just keep improving every week without setbacks. Nights like that happen.
The real test is the response. I expect a reaction against the Gold Coast Knights next Friday night – and I think this group will deliver one.
