As an old crank who's been used to seeing Salford losing a lot in the last 35 years I, like many, took a glance at the squad for this season and had reasons to feel positive. I maintain the belief that individually, we have a squad capable of competing with SL teams, albeit losing most games.

Despite all the recriminations and anger of the last few weeks, the one thing I keep coming back to is this - we are simply not fit enough for SL.

Where are the energy levels on the field? The heroic and strongarmed defence of the Harrison/McGuinness partnership? Carried out with a much less talented squad than the one we had today? People talk about the 'pace' of SL, but ultimately this is what it means - we are not fit enough.

RL is a simple game, played in the main by simple lads (I include myself in that!). You tackle better when you have more energy. We will get better results if for the next few weeks the lads suffer on the training ground.

As opposed to on the pitch

Dont worry Cas were crap last year , look at them now , you'll be fine in a couple of years