Author and Warrington Wolves fan Rob Watson has his say on Saturday’s loss to Wakefield Trinity…

THE downward spiral continues.

Whilst it could be noted that Wakefield looked impressive, that is more a reflection of how Wire are currently looking far too easy to play against.

In attack, they are moving their opponents sideways more so than backwards while in defence they are retreating, giving up more ground than any team would want and that almost inevitably is leading to the line becoming disjointed at times.

I understand that learning new systems both with and without the ball can take time. What I would say though is that there are some aspects of the game that players can always be doing, no matter how comfortable they are with the system they are being asked to learn.

Any system would benefit from players running harder and hitting harder, and every Wire player could find a way to increase the intensity in both those aspects – some will have more capacity for improvement than others.

It is difficult for me to think of a defensive system that would not be improved by increased line speed.

Chasing kicks has for a long time been an accurate barometer for the enthusiasm of a team, as is putting opposing kickers under pressure.

It does not matter how small the pack is or how bad the recruitment has been over the last few years; all those aspects of the game can be done better by Wire right now.

Whatever form you are in, you can still run and hit your hardest, get off the defensive line quickly, chase kicks as hard as you can and get to the kicker as quick as you can.

They are the sort of aspects of the game that can be infectious – once one player starts doing it, others often follow – but this Wire team cannot keep waiting for a heroic leader to drag them out of the darkness and into the light.

Every player needs to take responsibility for improving those aspects of the performance.

The complaints about the recruitment in recent years will understandably rumble on. Right now, though, the players at the club’s disposal can play so much better, which is something I am sure they would all acknowledge.

One of the great things about being a professional sportsman must be that you get so many chances to improve, so many opportunities to prove people wrong and show the world how good you are.

Rarely though will they get such a clear-cut chance to demonstrate quick improvement, as they take on the same opponents at the same venue this weekend.

This time, the season’s Challenge Cup dreams will be on the line as well – an early exit from that competition would be the most damaging loss so far in this disappointing start to the season.

There as been a lot of talk about Wire’s pack so far this season. Now is the time for this entire pack of wounded Wolves to come out fighting and show the world that this team has plenty of bark, bite and mongrel in them.

It will need every single one of them on board as we all know the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.