The Canterbury Bulldogs, a supposed premiership contender during the pre-season, slumped to their fifth loss in six starts on Friday evening against the North Queensland Cowboys.
The word that came to mind throughout the 80 minutes was diabolical.
In a game that started with almost ten minutes of continuous attack without points for the blue and white, they would score just two tries in its entirety.
That, despite having more than half of the ball (until it evened out in the final stages of the contest), and more than half of the territory against a side who, coming into Friday's clash, were leaking 26.8 points per game.
Make it more than 30 points per game if you take out the game against the horrid St George Illawarra Dragons, who they held to zero a month ago at Kogarah.
The Cowboys, who obviously did work on their defence during the week after letting in 36 against the Cronulla Sharks at home last Friday, were much improved, but the Bulldogs were absolutely awful.
Calling their attack pedestrian would probably be offensive to pedestrians.
Despite having 43 tackles in the red zone, they scored just two tries - one off a show and go to the much-maligned Lachlan Galvin and the other off a kick that was conveniently dropped straight in to Josh Curran's hands.
Other than that, they barely looked like scoring.
Again, the Bulldogs finished in the top four last year and should have been building towards a genuine premiership shot this year, but instead, they look more like a ruderless side who will struggle to make the top eight.
When the boos rang out from the Bulldogs' faithful at fulltime, it wasn't exactly a surprise. It felt as if it was frustration at the playing group, at the coaching, at the recruitment and retention staff, and at director of football Phil Gould.
It's hard to blame the fan base - they have lost five of their last six, but if you look back further than that to the second half of last year, they have now actually lost 11 of their last 16.
In the post-match press conference though, head coach Cameron Ciraldo decided to weild his axe at referee Peter Gough and the current rule set, suggesting the six-agains Canterbury were afforded didn't actually help them all that much.
"Obviously we are a bit down on confidence with our attack at the moment and that happens at times," Ciraldo said during his post-match press conference.
"There is a lot of commentary about that so we need to make sure we are listening to the voices within our four walls and not everyone else.
"But clearly the Cowboys tonight were really going to test the ref on the tryline area, really test the ruck control there and the line speed as well, they were up in our faces and we got a number of six-agains, but that doesn't really help you at times.
"It suffocates you.
"I thought we were patient down there, not trying to throw stuff that wasn't there, but we needed to be better with our chances."
That, despite the Cowboys at one point defending more than 20 straight tackles while the Bulldogs floundered around with the football in hand.
By the time it was all said and done, the Bulldogs won the penalty count 6-3 and the six-again count 6-2, but somehow ran for less metres than their opposition and made five less line breaks.
What is maybe equally concering for the blue and white is their defence.
While there were times in 2025 that they could away with an attack not firing, the same can't be said in 2026.
Their up and in style certainly worked against a rattled Penrith Panthers a few weeks ago, but the Bulldogs have otherwise given up almost 24 points per game this year.
The rule changes have certainly worked against them on that front, but the fact they have given up 108 points in their last 3 games is horrific for a side who have prided themselves on leading through their defence.
We could wax lyrical about their personnel changes, and certainly, the idea of having Lachlan Galvin at halfback has played a major hand in what has gone wrong for the Bulldogs.
Not that he has been awful in 2026 - you could argue he has been among the best for Canterbury when it comes to effort. But there is a difference between effort and execution, and execute he has not.
The departure of Reed Mahoney was also a major turning points. Bailey Hayward certainly hasn't hit the mark yet and was comphrensively outplayed by Mahoney on Friday.
In fact, if you want to talk about defence, then you only need to watch a highlight montage of Jason Taumalolo's runs. He picked out Hayward half a dozen times and made him look second-rate.
Hayward's attack isn't up to scratch either. The service is slow, lethargic, and leaves the Bulldogs struggling in a big way with the ball in hand.
There are other plots of confusion around Belmore too.
What can be made of Matt Burton is a major question. His performances have fallen off a cliff. With the exception of his famous Burton bomb, and getting involved when the Bulldogs were playing downhill, there wasn't a whole lot added by the Blues hopeful.
Why did Jacob Preston play on the other side of the field on Friday?
The one bright spot in attack this year for the blue and white has been Galvin feeding Preston. That was nowhere to be seen on Friday.
Stephen Crichton's performances must surely leave a question mark over his fitness, while Connor Tracey also had his worst game of the year against the Cowboys.
Cameron Ciraldo dropped Marcelo Montoya for the game against the the Cowboys and rightly so, but the outside backs are still inconsistent, struggle at both ends of the park and certainly didn't help out.
Leo Thompson, Canterbury's marquee recruit who most would argue is overpaid, had a solid enough game until he came up with costly errors in the final 20 minutes, while the forward pack otherwise lacks bite, lacks strength and lacks pace - a critical component of the modern game.
The bottom line is the Bulldogs have built a roster not fit for purpose under Phil Gould's management, and questions must surely be asked of him, while the decision to sign Adam O'Brien as attacking coach has paid less than dividends.
Canterbury, if they are going to turn it around, must find a way to get a controlling half like Sean O'Sullivan into the side.
That allows Galvin to do what he does best - run - at five-eighth.
O'Sullivan isn't going to be your elite halfback, but he will do a job controlling a footy side with a stack of talent and unlock players around him.
The club also badly need to work out what they are doing at hooker. Jake Turpin, particularly with a new injury, probably isn't the answer, but 80 minutes of Bailey Hayward isn't either.
Fix those two issues and get the forwards ripping in like they did last year and there is a chance to turn things around, but with five losses in six, and their only two wins outside of the Penrith game coming against the hapless Dragons and Raiders in the pouring rain by a combined five points, it's tough to see where the positives are for the blue and white right now.
The Penrith game was of course an enormous bright spot, but it'll be a hard sell to keep thinking of the positives if the form line doesn't turn.
Given they have just signed Gould and Ciraldo for the long haul, fans had better strap in.
It could be a bumpy ride, and it will get bumpier if they can't make a statement against the Dolphins next weekend.
The bottom line is, blaming referees and rules sure won't fix anything.
Cameron Ciraldo is going to have to wear his and the club's mistakes and start fixing them.
