Leeds Rhinos: We haven't been good enough but are working hard to improve '“ Ablett

Obviously two defeats over Easter wasn’t what we planned or hoped for, but the fact is so far this year, as a team/unit we haven’t been good enough.

It is a pretty bad situation to be in.

We could say we aren’t a million miles away, we aren’t getting hammered every week, but the reality is what we are doing hasn’t been good enough to win games.

We aren’t just sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves, we have been working hard and we are determined to turn things around.

I know we are probably all saying the same thing in interviews, but it’s true.

People want to see actions on the field and we are working on that.

We’ve had some tough meetings this week and Tuesday’s review session wasn’t pretty.

There’s no massive panic, but we know we have to be better, especially on offense.

We are the lowest scorers in Super League at the moment and obviously we aren’t firing.

We could point a finger at all the injuries we’ve had and the fact we don’t have a training base at the moment, but we can’t use that as an excuse.

We have got a strong squad and the players we are sending out every week are good enough to get the job done.

We have had dips in form before, though probably not as bad as the run we are in at the minute.

We are used to being written off and we know how to turn things around. It’s a case of sticking together, believing in what we are doing and working hard.

I think some of the things that have been said about us aren’t justified.

A year ago people were saying our team was too old; now the same people are saying we need our old players back and we are too young!

We have young players in the team who are learning a lot.

They will get stronger from going through this adversity and it will help make them better players and stronger people

I do understand it’s tough to watch when we are in this sort of fix. I’ve been injured recently and I’ve not enjoyed seeing us struggle the way we have been doing.

But it’s not a case of making radical changes or needing to bring new players in.

We are good enough to get back on track and we will do.

We are experienced enough as a group and Mac [Brian McDermott] is experienced enough as a coach to know things can change quickly and a couple of wins will get us back on track.

We have got a massive game tonight against Hull KR. They haven’t had many wins either, but they have a few ex-Leeds connections and they will be looking at us and fancying our chances.

But we could have some influential players back and hopefully the experience coming into the team will give the other boys a lift.

Anyone who watches us will see it’s not effort that’s lacking. We are trying our socks off, but it’s not been happening for us.

There is a saying about form being temporary and class permanent. We will turn things around.

I want to finish by mentioning Billy Watts, who died last week.

Billy was someone I saw almost every day since I joined the club. He had an office at Kirkstall and was the first person you saw when you walked through the door.

He was always smiling, always upbeat and a really important part of the club and the team.

We knew he wasn’t well, but it was still a shock when we heard he had passed away. It was a very sad day and it will take the lads a while to realise he is no longer with us.

He will be sadly missed.