WHEN Hull FC opened up a 16-6 lead at Castleford in their last outing, most people thought the Black and Whites were about to flex their muscles and run out comfortable winners.
Quick-fire scores from Aaron Heremaia and Ben Crooks looked to have broken the Tigers' first-half resistance, and the second half, surely, would see FC run clear.
However, despite the words of warning from coach Peter Gentle over the break, within 10 minutes, Castleford had scored twice and were ahead, and Hull had lost a lead they were never to regain.
Preparing to face Wakefield tonight, prop Mark O'Meley still can't hide his disappointment.
And he hopes Hull keep a very valuable lesson in mind that, despite much praise following a recent run of nine wins in 10 games, they are still some way off finding the ruthless streak of champions.
"The problem is, we get ourselves ahead and then we drop back in our intensity," O'Meley told the Mail.
"We need to look at our attitude and keep a lid on it and stick with it for 80 minutes.
"You can't get yourself into a game, and in control, and then drop off, you have to lift it another level from that point.
"That's what the likes of Wigan and Warrington, and your good teams do.
"We can't drop off after 30 or 40 minutes. We need to lift up and step up another gear to blow teams away."
Walking off the field at Castleford smarting over a 30-28 loss, a second in a row following defeat at Catalan a week earlier, O'Meley was in no doubt Castleford had not beaten them, it was Hull who had given the game away.
Try as they might to wrestle the momentum back from the Tigers, Hull were never again in command, and facing an in-form Wakefield side at the KC Stadium tonight, the 32-year-old Aussie has warned his team-mates they cannot afford to repeat their mistakes.
"Wakefield are the same as Castleford as they are needing the wins to make the eight," he said.
"They need to win every game so they are not going to be a pushover.
"We need to be focused, get in the arm wrestle and then once we are in it, lift it.
"That's what we need to start doing. We can't just sit there and tinker around with teams, drop off for a while and then lift it again.
"It is all about our attitude, and every man in the side being aware if the intensity starts to fall.
"It may just be one bloke who looks around on 50 minutes and thinks the bloke next to him will make the tackle and then be left regretting not getting in there full-blooded.
"The problem is, if you are off 10 per cent, the next player will be the same, and before you know it you are on the back-foot as a team
"You lose the momentum, the ruck, so you are struggling to get back."
With coach Peter Gentle placing the blame for his side's poor performances at Catalan and Castleford on attitude, O'Meley is in full agreement.
And despite being put through a 'mini pre-season' given a 10-day turnaround for tonight's clash, O'Meley says all the training in the world is not enough unless every player takes a winning mentality onto the field.
And he has pledged that for his part, it will see him giving nothing less than 100 per cent every minute he is on the field.
"No matter what you say, how hard you train, if your team attitude on game day is poor, it's hard to get through it. It's all about attitude," he said.
"We need to get in the game, play their tempo, and then rise another level. All of us front-rowers, we get interchanged, so it is our job to have impact. That is our role.
"It's not for us to simply trundle the ball in, we are there to run hard and tackle hard, and we get 15 or 20 minutes to do that.
"It's not about making half-hearted tackles or letting the tacklers turn me back to be conservative and save energy. We have to set platforms, and that is what I will look to do."
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