For the longest time I was optimistic, using all the excuses in the book, like the above. Whilst it is a factor is poor performance, the reality is that our recruitment and retentions has been shockingly poor, and we have put ourselves in a position where any injury to a starter completely derails the whole season.
Big clubs have deep squads, with decent players waiting in the wings for the key positions. Parramatta had who as our backup fullback this year, Cini? What about halves, only Asi, and he's not even that good of a backup (all though he's been decent in attack). On paper we have a lot of foward depth, but how many of those players are reliable? Absolutely zero.
We need to do better.