DONCASTER backrower Loui McConnell says he and his teammates need to revisit the squad’s core values as they reset ahead of a key run of matches on the road.
Annual pitch maintenance work at the Eco-Power Stadium, which is shared with football team Doncaster Rovers, means the South Yorkshire side will as ever have a mid-season run of away trips.
This year they are at Salford on Sunday, then Widnes (Sunday, June 14), Halifax (Sunday 28), London Broncos (Saturday, July 11 at the Kuflink Stadium in Gravesend) and Swinton (Sunday, July 19).
The sequence follows four successive defeats, by London (one in the league, one in the 1895 Cup quarter-finals), Oldham and most recently Barrow, 36-12 at home, leaving them sixth after in early April being up in second.
Last year, when they also had five away games on the bounce, Doncaster won four of them, and McConnell says Richard Horne’s side are under no illusions as to the importance of points and performances in the coming weeks as they aim to cement a play-off place.
“We’ve fallen off a little and we have to get back to where we were,” said the 26-year-old former Leeds and Featherstone player.
“This is a chance to have a bit of a break, rest the body and just reset and get back to our philosophies, doing the things we know work and getting those combinations going again.
“In that Barrow match, we went away from the plan and gave away possession too easily. We ended up doing too much defending and that takes up energy and leaves you with less to give in attack.”
Doncaster are monitoring star Papua New Guinean winger Edene Gebbie after he missed the Barrow match with a groin injury.