Quote:They surrendered a 12-point lead and in the end were hanging on to a bonus point as Dewsbury Rams romped to a 42-30 victory.
The Raiders were destroyed by Anthony Thackeray who ran in five tries against an out-of-sorts Barrow defence – a result that prompted the coach to call on his players to show some pride as he targeted three wins from the next three games. Anything less and the uphill climb towards safety will become more of a mountain for the club.
“To score 30 points at home and concede 42 that is down to personal pride,” said the Raiders coach, who did not rule himself out of a making a comeback in Sunday’s visit to Keighley Cougars.
“I think I am ready to play,” he said. And he is certain to be on the phone to Salford coach Iestyn Harris to recruit dual-registered players ahead of the trip to Cougar Park.
“We have got to stop making so many mistakes and our leaders have to stand up and be counted. It is no good slagging individuals, it is a collective thing within the team, but it is where we are.
“We as a club and myself personally, like to promote from within but we need some experience. We need a leader. I think it is time to bring some more players in and I will push the button and be talking to Iestyn about getting some players in.
“We struggle to keep the momentum up when we are in front. They do it in training and against each other but that last 60 minutes was disgraceful. In the first 20 minutes a Super League club would have had trouble holding us. In the last hour we would have been beaten by an amateur team.
“We set out our stall to win four out of five matches. That means we have to go out and win the next three. We have to galvanise the players, put pressure on the jerseys.”
After the trip to Keighley, the Raiders have home games against Rochdale and Doncaster to follow – must-win games if they are to start narrowing the seven-point gap and get to the safety of ninth spot.