Todd Payten's has made a brutal assessment of the NZ Warriors before his first game in charge on Friday.
Payten has lashed his team's inconsistency, drawing a line in the sand after the sacking of Stephen Kearney, with the focus now on the Melbourne Storm.
Payten has no interest in dwelling on the past. Kearney's gone and the players can't feel sorry for themselves.
"They know they're here to play footy," Payten says. "I think I've commented plenty about those two days. I'd like to talk about our team.'
The interim coach knows the threat they face against Melbourne.
"I asked the team to watch the first half... we were on top playing the better for that 40 minutes. So in some ways we were close. In some ways we were a million miles away."
The focus has been defensive intensity, with their four defeats this season coming by an average of 22 points.
It's a theme Payten believes is one of the main issues facing the club.
"We haven't been tough enough for long enough, or consistent. Those two things are the things we need to change.
"We've put a big focus on our goal line defence, attack hasn't been a problem so much it's more around our defensive resilience."
And the critics agree, with no shortage of opinions about what needs to happen next.
"There's no doubt their talent," says Fox Sports' Paul Kent. "But where they have always struggled is in the grind."
Payten's been able to make some minor changes since he took charge, but admits he's not had too much time to think long term.
"Some staffing roles, some game day roles. Moving forward there may be some more changes once I really nail down any of that. My thoughts this week have been around preparing for a footy game."
But for this week, Payton's just dealing with the here and now.
"When I spoke to Cam (George) he said there's no pressure from the club, he just wants me to dive in head first and have a crack."
Join us for live updates of Warriors v Storm from 8pm Friday
