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With a top-four finish now only a “mathematical possibility”, the NSW coach said injuries were not to blame the team’s form, which has yielded just one win from four matches.
“Our form and our results aren’t because of injuries ... we’ve had a good enough team, every time we’ve gone on the field, to do better than we have, and we’ll have a strong enough team out there this week to compete and be in this game,” Coleman said. “I’m definitely not throwing in the towel or blaming something else.”
The unbeaten Chiefs welcome back All Blacks Damian McKenzie, Brodie Retallick, Sam Cane and Brad Weber this week.Credit:Anthony Au-Yeung
After a difficult return to five-eighth in Wellington, Ben Donaldson will start again in the No.10 jersey and have the task of digging his side out of an early-season hole.
Coleman said returning to Allianz Stadium and a home crowd would make a difference.
“When you’re feeling down and your confidence is low, I said to the boys, it takes a long time dig a big hole but it takes five seconds to jump out of it,” he said.
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“The difference is, when you have a bit of momentum swing your way in an away game, the crowd doesn’t reinforce that. If we string a couple of good plays together to get a piece of momentum and the crowd pick up on that and support you, everyone feels better about themselves.”
Coleman said there were signs of improvement in Wellington but the team’s challenges ran deeper than a worrying period after half-time in which the Chiefs piled on three tries in 20 minutes.
“Let’s be honest. Although they scored that run of points in that period, the rest of the game, you don’t need to be Einstein to know we weren’t at our best. It’s more than that,” Coleman said.
“That may have been the pressure valve that blew for that period of time, but they got a try of Marky’s loose pass, they got a try off lineout overthrows. But I can’t sugarcoat it, we got a try off an intercept and a dropped kick-off.
“What I was most impressed with was we played with genuine energy and spirit for a portion of the game. That was an improvement on the week before. We just weren’t able to hold it for the rest.”
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