CULTURE is one of the most over-used words in sport.
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People point to it as a driver of success and failure in equal measure, but few have a true understanding of what it really means or how it’s built.
What it ultimately comes down to is accountability. If you look at the benchmark franchises in Australia, your Melbourne Storm in the NRL, your Hawthorn in the AFL, it’s at the core of what they do.
It’s not just what they do on the field, it’s in what they do off it, the standards they set and abide by in everything they do. That’s what we’ve had a good hard look at this week.
We have a game plan, we all know it and believe in it. In the first half of our game against Perth we followed it to a t and showed how outstanding we can be.
But, over there, you always know there’s a tsunami coming after halftime. We knew that, we prepared for that and in the end we failed to meet that challenge again.
We showed glimpses of where we can go but we were just a lead balloon against Sydney. There were challenges in the travel and the preparation and all those things but it’s the reality of what we do.
As a group, players and staff, we weren’t collectively good enough in our recovery and preparation.
Our players know what they should be doing away from the court and all those little things. They don’t need to be told.
Did we do that well enough? The answer is no. We’re holding the senior group accountable.
They’ve looked in the mirror like I’ve asked them to, they’ve stood up in front of everybody and admitted where we’ve fallen down.
That’s what championship winning teams do, they hold each other accountable.
There’s no doubt we’re facing some obstacles again against Brisbane on Sunday.
We’ve obviously got some injury concerns with Kevin White. He’s our captain and our spiritual leader who really drives our standards, but it's up to the rest of the group to respond to that.
We’re back at home where we love playing and we’ve had a full week to reflect on our first three performances and prepare mentally and physically for what’s a pivotal game for us. There’s simply no excuses for us.