AFTER the angry volley he launched at his players immediately post match, Keiron Cunningham had time to reflect on the performance and see the response on the training ground.

MC: How have the players reacted since Friday?

KC: It has been a really tough weekend with a lot of soul searching and looking in mirrors.

I challenged them to a response on Saturday and we have had a good first day at training today, led by a lot of senior players.

MC: Do those players come back and spell things out from their side and try and identify things themselves, where they think things are going wrong?

KC: Of course, we don’t go out there to play badly, some days it just doesn’t work out.

Unfortunately I misread the signs because I thought it was going to be a good day for us, the way we trained and the way it had gone during the week. Sometimes, and I am probably guilty of it too, you take things for granted in this game and expect things to be ok when they are not.

I think as a club we took things for granted, so because we made a Challenge Cup semi final, were ticking along nicely in the league, won a Grand Final last year, we think we have just got to turn up and everything is fine.

But you cant do that in this game. We learnt a harsh lesson on Friday and sometimes you do learn more from a loss than a victory.

MC: You have been through all of these highs and lows as a player, how much of this is a learning curve for you as a coach?

KC: I burden everything and try to absorb all the responsibility from the players.

I am the one who makes the call on who plays, but I can’t give the players will and want. I will shoulder the responsibility regards to victories and losses and that is part of my job.

I have to improve the players, the squad and get that balance right.

If things are not working out because the balance isn’t right then I have to make some changes.

MC: Do you speak with Sean Long and Jamahl Lolesi to try and work that out?

KC: Yes, we have a really good senior leadership group too.

My coaches are all good and all get a little bit emotional at times. I was a bit emotional myself after the game, but I am hopeful that the players are going to respond because of what they tossed up at the weekend.

It isn’t good enough. We are a really big club and people pay good money to watch us play and it is not nice to sit and watch that. Performance like that not pushing for anything – apart from a way out of the club.

MC: It was a strange game and a flat atmosphere from the start.

KC: It was a weird game and we stumbled our way into an 18-6 lead. We bombed two tries and if we scored there it is ‘game over’ and Hull say that’s is enough. They just came out and threw the ball about and one thing led to another. I knew as soon as they got a couple of scores we were not going to kick on. We almost looked a little bit shell-shocked but there’s no time for that in this game, especially this late in the season. It is not a time for poor form. At every point you are playing for your lives.

MC: It s not like the old system – there’s no easy way back on the horse in the Super 8s?

KC: I told the players if you want easy games you are playing in the wrong team. If you want easy games go somewhere else. At Saints we want to be top four, going for Grand Finals, if you don’t want to be doing that and can’t handle the pressure then you are at the wrong club.

MC: Your reaction after the game was like that of a fan.

KC: I love this club, I’d die for this club and have supported it since being a baby. I’ve been fortunate enough to captain this club. I know what it’s like being a fan – and it is same feelings as a coach.

I can take defeat if there is a real slog, full of conviction, fight and want.

I have said it to them all year the one team that generally beats this club is the one in our shirts.

When we are on our day there’s not many teams that will come close to us, but being on our game consistently for long periods of time is where we struggle.

I am like a fan. I love watching the game, I get involved, I wear my heart on my sleeve and sometimes say things that seem emotional and rash.

I know if I was playing I wouldn’t be doing that.

MC: As a young coach are you still learning what you can say and do to gee players up who are in a dip sand not ?

KC: It is difficult because you understand and learn your team. One of my strengths is the way I manage players.

When you are a player you can go out and change the bearing of the game by action, as a coach everything you do is by words and it is quite difficult at times.

We lost Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook at half time, neither of the edges were great when he went off.

At least if Louie had stayed out there it may have changed things a little bit. We lost a bit of leadership and that has been addressed this week too.