SJ's injury happened exactly when things started derailing. Hurrell was injured around then as well and never really came back with the same form. Those two players were absolutely vital to our mid season success, and we struggled the rest of the season either without them playing or without them performing.
Having said that, in top teams other players step up and fill the gap much better. Our guys just seemed to roll over, lose energy and enthusiasm. I reckon a later second bye might have been helpful. Hard to say really, but they all just seemed lethargic the last few weeks - right as other teams are firing up. I was at the Panthers game, and you could just FEEL their energy and motivation to get out there and win. They had the spark of a team that knows that this is the time to peak and start playing your best. We had a similar spark a couple of months ago, but just couldn't get it back when we needed to.
Just thinking on 2015 (already), and I think it will be very hard to make the 8 again. I can't see many of the current top 8 dropping off, and there are teams like the Knights and Dragons improving in the later part of the season that look to have a lot of potential for next season. Going to be a very tough year again, and we absolutely need to get off to a good start for once. Like, winning half of our first 10 games even. Just some kind of basic platform so we aren't playing catchup most of the season.
