We’ve come away with a point against Gold Coast United tonight, but I’m not dressing it up — that’s two points dropped at home.
I didn’t think we were good enough with the ball tonight.
Too often we made poor decisions, particularly in the first half, and we ended up causing our own problems.
The goal we conceded summed that up.
We let them play through us far too easily, and it came from their first real shot of the game.
That changes everything. Suddenly it becomes a type of match we don’t want.
Up until that point, I felt we had control, but we weren’t penetrating enough.
Once we go behind, we’re chasing it, and that forces changes.
That disrupts our structure and rhythm, and from there the game becomes more of a struggle than it should have been.
We did get something out of it in the end, and I’ll always back this group to find a goal — they’ve got enough quality.
But the second half wasn’t how we want to play.
It became chaotic, stretched, and a bit scrappy. That’s not us at our best.
We made changes to try and spark something, but that came at a cost.
We lost discipline and shape, and it opened the game up both ways.
Credit to Zac (Galea) for a big save late — that kept us in it — but equally, they had chances on the break because of the risks we took.
That said, we’re at home — we have to take those risks.
We want to win games, not settle.
But the reality is we didn’t do enough over 90 minutes to deserve more than what we got.
You also have to give Gold Coast United credit.
They were organised, disciplined, and hard to break down.
But I always look at us first, and I just don’t think our decision-making in the final third was where it needs to be.
Our movement wasn’t good enough either, particularly as the game wore on.
The fullbacks did what we asked early.
We wanted to stretch them, especially after they changed shape, and in the first half that worked reasonably well.
But again, consistency over the full game just wasn’t there.
What disappointed me as well was that we had to make early changes because a few players weren’t in condition to continue.
That’s something that needs to be addressed.
Whether it’s the Easter period or something else, it’s not good enough at this level.
The players don’t need me to tell them that.
They’re a good group, and they know when they’ve underperformed.
My job is to help them make better decisions and guide them through those key moments.
Looking ahead, the good thing is we don’t have long to wait.
It’s a three-day turnaround into a big game against Lions.
That’s another opportunity, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need — to get straight back out there.
What I want to see now is a response, not just in how we play, but in how we prepare.
That’s the challenge for this group.
I don’t question them when they come up against the bigger sides — their mentality is there.
But I do think we’re still learning how to approach every game with the same intensity and focus.
We’re a young group in many ways, and part of that is learning how to be relentless — how to impose yourself on every opponent, not just the ones you get up for.
In the last few minutes tonight, we had balls going into the box, but I’m not sure we showed enough desire to really go and win it.
That edge, that ruthlessness — that’s something we need to develop if we want to be a top side.
We’ll review it, we’ll be honest about it, and we’ll move on quickly.
Because Friday is coming fast — and we need to be ready.
