“We have drawn the line in the sand and said this is unacceptable.”
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After a winless first half of the season, CSU coach Paul Spain is looking for a better response from his team.
He wants that to start against Griffith at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday, one of the teams who inflicted a big score on the struggling team.
“We have done a bit of soul searching this week and discussed what we need to do,” Spain said.
“We have looked at mixing things up, not so much with selection, but strategy.
“We’ve thought this isn’t working, how can we change that for our benefit?”
Reddies were put through their paces by premiership-winning coach Kel Woodhouse on Wednesday night.
Woodhouse went through a new defensive plan for the back line, which is one area CSU is looking to improve on.
While Reddies have rarely been disgraced through the first seven rounds of the season, the Blacks’ first round 57-8 win was not one of those occasions.
“When we played Griffith last time our defence wasn’t up to standard,” Spain said.
“We have to get that right as if you can get your defensive strategies right you are going to be in the game.
“They will give you opportunities to attack and score points.”
In the past, scoring points has never been a problem for CSU however this year not once have they scored more than three tries.
It’s another area Spain is looking to improve on.
“I don’t think we've scored four tries in a game, which is a concern,” Spain said.
“That is an area we have addressed as well.
“We need to make sure we are going forwards before we go wide. If you are not doing that the defence is standing there just waiting for you.
“We need to get them on the back foot before we strike otherwise the defenders line you up.
“That is what happened last week against Wagga City, their defence was excellent.”
With Mitch Fealy struggling with a shoulder injury, Reddies have made a couple of changes to the back line.
With Fealy out Brent Merritt is back to outside centre with Hamish McMahon moving back to fullback and Bill Boyes coming onto the wing.
Meanwhile, coming off its second win of the season Griffith will welcome back representative forward Chris Latu.
Latu has missed most of the season but the Blacks are slowly getting their best team back on the paddcok.
Blacks assistant coach Matt Vitucci expected nothing but a tough encounter.
“They’ll have a fairly good side and we need to be at our best,” he said.
