Newcastle Knights head coach Adam O'Brien appears to run out of answers for his team's attacking struggles, and should be starting to run out of time to come up with new ones.
That's the grim reality staring the Hunter-based outfit in the face after their horrid performance last Friday evening in front of their home fans against the Parramatta Eels, who clawed further away from the bottom of the ladder with the 28 points to 6 result.
But it's not just a single week that has sent O'Brien into the pressured situation he now finds himself in.
As it stands, the Knights have scored just 128 points across their 10 games for the season - that's an average of just 12.8 points per game.
Historically, it's one of the worst attacking records ever recorded over a significant number of games in the NRL era, and almost five points per game less than any other team so far this season.
To put it in context, the South Sydney Rabbitohs have the second-worst points per game average with 181 in 11, spitting out 16.5 points per game, while the Parramatta Eels are next with 179 poins across their 10 games at 17.9 points per game.
Beyond that, every other team is averaging at least 20 points per game, which goes to show exactly how poorly the Knights are performing.
O'Brien, quizzed on it after the game against Parramatta, had this to say:
"Early on, I think our lack of forward power in the middle when we had five or six forwards out, I thought that really dented our confidence," O'Brien said during his post-match press conference.
"We relied on trying to go around teams. I still think that is the case without Leo [Thompson] and Jacob [Saifiti] came off as well with a calf complaint. We aren't firing as well as we'd like, but I can't put my finger on all of it yet."
Blaming injuries for a paltry return of just 12.8 points per game probably goes to show exactly where the mindset is at in the Hunter.
This isn't an injury problem. It's an attacking structure one. Every team has injuries, and yet, somehow, the Knights average almost five points per game less than anybody.
Even more concerning, really, is that 56 of their points have come in just two games, being their Round 2 win over the Dolphins, and their Round 9 win against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Magic Round where the opposition could barely name 17 fit players.
Without those games, the record actually reduces to just nine points per game. Simply put, no NRL team is going to win enough games averaging 12.8 points per game, let alone nine points per game.
The Knights salary cap and lack of talent in key positions is a key thorn in the side for O'Brien.
The Hunter-based outfit are currently doing their best to move on some big contracts to free up money for 2026 and beyond. They did just that with the departure of Daniel Saifiti in the pre-season, and Jackson Hastings, who is about the only player O'Brien hasn't tried this year, will do the same at the end of this season, taking his $800,000 per season deal off the books.
A big part of the issue for Newcastle though is that they should have been able to see issues like this coming.
Their attack has been a case of 'pass it to Kalyn Ponga and see what happens' for years now. Instead of a strong, steady halves combination, there is a revolving door where players can't play with confidence, and while they may try to go around teams instead of through them, the over-reliance on Ponga borders on the comical.
With Ponga on State of Origin duty this weekend, yet another new halves combination will be trialled as Fletcher Sharpe - the surprise bolter for the number six jersey in the pre-season - moves to fullback.
He is a better fullback than he is five-eighth most certainly, but has been part of Newcastle's problems throughout the course of this season while wearing the number six alongside a rotating panel of guests in the number seven.
That rotating panel hasn't helped Sharpe - of that there can be no doubt - but the jury on him as a number six is out at best, and about ready to turn a verdict.
Defensively, Newcastle haven't been awful, and their attitude on the goal line proves O'Brien hasn't lost the dressing room, but more often than not, their attack looks like it has been drawn up by someone who has never watched rugby league before.
If that doesn't change, then the Knights, whether there is a $2 million payout required or not, will need to move on from the head coach who has won less than 50 per cent of his games in charge since taking over the Hunter-based club.
