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Western Force coach Simon Cron claimed his team was suffering mindset issues in their crushing 59-13 Super Rugby loss to a rampant Reds at Suncorp Stadium.
The straight-talking Kiwi delivered a brutal one-liner when asked afterwards if the Force had been undone by travel east.
“The only thing I’d say about travel this week is that we had a number of guys stay on the plane,” Cron said.
His team was caught cold from the start and conceded the first of nine tries inside six minutes as Tim Ryan leapt to bring in a perfect Tate McDermott kick and score in the corner.
Ryan has been a revelation since coming into the Reds set up and added a hat-trick of tries. He has nine in eight matches with two hat-tricks.
Western Force players embrace during the round 14 Super Rugby Pacific match between Queensland Reds and Western Force at Suncorp Stadium, on May 25, 2024, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
There were two for Fraser McReight as well and the Force were beaten up everywhere – through the middle, in the lineout and out wide.
So what was the excuse?
“There’s not a lot of good out of that game. So, our biggest takeaway is probably mindset,”said Cron.
“The last two games there has been some good stuff from us as a team, and today was not.
“Large error count, handing the ball back far too much, transition speed, folds defensively, and [Reds’] contact zone dominance, both sides of the ball.
“Our first contact was poor, second contact was a ride down, I think they had over 60% gain line and not good enough by us.
“That’s the thing we’ve got to fix – consistency of performance.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
“We talked about mindset, skill set, structure, and we gave them a lot of position. Our mindset, that’s something we’re going to have to address as a team this week.”
The Force remain a remote chance of making the finals from ninth. They will need to beat the Brumbies – who will be chasing a potential first or second placing – while hoping teams above them falter.
Cron praised the Reds, who produced arguably their best performance of the season.
“I thought they carried well. They played basic rugby well. And in comparison, we gave them a lot of position, a lot of ball, just even things like ball placement, ball carries,” said Cron.
The Kiwi coach has been trying to revamp the side over the past season and with signings arriving in 2025 and understands how crucial getting the recruitment right is for his club.
“Our forward planning of the roster is a critical area for us as an organisation to get some consistency of performance,” said Cron.
“We had seven forwards that hadn’t been in our pre-season who were all in our 23. So, that’s not their fault. We’ve got to fix that around our recruitment, retention of players and forward planning.
“However, this group, they were on the field again tonight, thankfully, for three in a row and we were not good.”
Cron sidestepped a question on veteran fullback Kurtley Beale, who said last week he would be keen on a second season in Perth.
Behind a badly beaten pack he failed to make an impact on Saturday.
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“We’ve got to have good yarn with Kurtley and make sure it’s right for him and his family. They’ve just had a baby on Wednesday, so it’s a bit of a juggling act to get your time with KB right now, because obviously he’s got a lot on his plate and he’s had a big week,” said Cron.
“But we’ll sit down away from the lights and have a good yarn.”