I won’t sugar-coat it — this is as tough as it gets.
We’ve just gone down 3-0 at home to Rochedale Rovers in Round 5 of the Kappa Queensland Cup, and when you’re in the run we’re in right now, every setback feels heavier than it should.
Confidence is low, and you can see it.
The worst part is how it starts. A simple slip from our goalkeeper, we gift them a goal, and suddenly you’re chasing the game again.
That’s football sometimes but it’s how you respond that defines you.
And right now, that’s where we’re falling short.
I don’t blame individuals. Mistakes happen.
But once we go behind, our reaction isn’t strong enough.
Heads drop. You can feel it. Instead of digging in, we let it become a bigger problem than it should be.
That’s the part that disappoints me most.
Before that first goal, I actually thought we were okay.
We were sticking to the plan, doing the basics right, not looking under too much pressure.
But football turns on moments, and at the moment, those moments are going against us and we’re not handling them well enough.
I’ve been in the game a long time, and I’ll be honest — I haven’t experienced a run quite like this.
That doesn’t mean I’m stepping away from it. Quite the opposite.
This is a challenge, and I’m determined to find a solution.
Because there is one.
We’ve got a young group, and with that comes inconsistency and learning curves.
But there’s also talent there — I’ve seen it.
That’s what makes this even more frustrating.
We know what we’re capable of, but we’re not showing it when it matters.
So where do we go from here?
We go back to basics.
We strip it right back.
Be safer. Be harder to beat. Minimise the risks that are hurting us.
Maybe it’s not pretty for a while but right now, it’s about rebuilding confidence, not chasing perfection.
We’ve been working on our attacking play, because the reality is we’re not scoring goals.
Even if you take away the chaos of red cards in recent games, we’re still not putting the ball in the net.
That has to change.
But it starts with resilience.
You’re not going to lead every game. You’re going to concede goals.
What matters is how you respond.
At the moment, when we concede, it feels like everything unravels and that’s something we need to fix quickly.
As a coach, you lean on people during times like this.
You talk to others in the game, people who’ve been through tough runs.
I’m lucky I’ve got that support.
But ultimately, it comes from within as well.
You don’t do this job if you’re not prepared to go through the hard moments.
And this is one of those moments.
The only way out is through it.
We’ve got Magic away next, and they’ll be tough especially at home.
They’ll be up for it, just like we need to be.
There’s no hiding from that.
We have to show up, compete, and prove we’re stronger than what we’ve shown in the last few weeks.
I still believe in this group.
But belief alone isn’t enough anymore.
Now it’s about the response.
