MIKE ECCLES knows London need to improve their defence urgently after taking a hammering at the hands of world champions Wigan.
A 60-22 defeat on home soil extended the Broncos’ losing start to the season to four games, with another tough assignment to come this Sunday against Warrington.
London struggled defensively against a physical pack of Wigan forwards and have now conceded 162 points, a rate of over 40 per match.
Their tackling will have been of particular concern against the Warriors, as they missed 64 tackles – the most of any Super League team in a game so far this season.
Indeed, the second- and third-worst efforts by that metric are also owned by the capital club, who missed 57 against Catalans in round two and 52 in their opener at St Helens.
“Defensively, we just were not at the races,” admitted coach Eccles.
“In the first half, 100 percent that (goal-line defence) was a key message. By the end of the game, it was our yardage defence, our mid-ball defence, and our good-ball defence. It’s defence, underlined.
“You’re playing against some quality players, aren’t you? It’s a massive step up.
“Let’s be honest, they’ve rested some players, but at the same time I don’t think anyone would envisage us being seven, eight, nine players down and beating the world champions. It’s just where we’re at.
“Let’s have it right, we’ve probably got 200 games at Super League level. They’ve got more than that in one backrower.
“It’s not easy to adjust. We haven’t got two or three thousand Super League appearances between us like they have, plus some of the best young players in the country thrown in as well.
“It’s a hard school but we’ll be back. We’re in for a fight, all of us. I’m not going to lump it on the players. We’re really upset as a team, as staff and players, with the scoreline.”
Notwithstanding the fact they will almost certainly be relegated regardless of their on-field results thanks to the new grading system, the Broncos are up against it with a far inferior budget to every other club.
But Eccles believes they can compete better than they have shown so far: “They (other Super League clubs) spend more money than us so they’re probably going to have better players than us.
“They’ve got more internationals than us, more Super League appearances than us. We’re very open about that. We’re not hiding anything.
“We know that we’re trying to transition many Championship players into Super League players and that’s our process. But if we fall below our own expectations and our own standards, that’s when I’m upset.
“Because I know that some of the performances out there today, defensively, they’re much better (players) than what they showed.
“We’re not spending more money than anybody in this competition. We’re ranked twelfth. But can we be better? Can we compete and win games? I believe so, 100 percent.”
