Rick Stone insisted his players have got to take responsibility for their actions after their winless run extended to seven games on Wednesday night.
The Giants lost 29-22 to Catalans to remain third-bottom of Super League – with a plethora of unforced errors and defensive mistakes ultimately proving to be their downfall against Laurent Frayssinous’ side.
And Stone pulled no punches when asked about his side’s performance post-match.
“The players have got a bit of explaining to do about how they’re managing games,” he said.
“I can’t keep coming in here and defending them. They’ve got to start taking some responsibility for some of the things they’re doing out on the field.
“If they don’t start doing something about it, they’re not going to win too many games. We can’t keep serving teams games on a platter. We showed how to self-destruct in 20 minutes and it’s increasingly frustrating. It digs us into a deeper hole.”
The game seemingly turned on a pivotal moment, when Giants half-back Danny Brough was sin binned after contesting a decision from referee Chris Campbell. At that stage, Catalans led 16-10 before scoring two further tries quickly after Brough’s yellow card to secure the victory.
“I can see Danny’s frustration,” Stone said. “It was a pretty pivotal part of the game. Krisnan Inu clearly takes the ball in the field of play, not the in-goal, and Danny has challenged the referee.
“He takes pride in putting his kicks in the right spot and, as captain he has got the right to ask, but eventually he has got to accept referee’s decision and move on with it.”
