SCOTT Wheeldon has challenged his London Broncos team-mates to find some fire in their bellies and right some wrongs in Sunday’s visit to fellow strugglers Wakefield.
The two-week SuperLeague break has left the 27-year-old prop stewing in the wake of their record 82-10 defeat at home to Warrington last time out.
A planned week away from the game was followed by a post-mortem of a team meeting on Monday where Wheeldon and the rest of the squad at The Stoop reflected on a performance which more than anything lacked heart.
The former Hull and Hull KR forward insists events around the club with the captaincy change and uncertainty over a home ground for next season cannot be held up as excuses and a massive improvement in attitude is needed against the Wildcats.
He said: “Usually you would want to play the next day after what happened against Warrington, but the break has given all of us a chance to reflect, be accountable for our actions so that perhaps we can go out there and put it right against Wakefield.
“It seemed we had no desire to play well on the day against Warrington. They were outstanding but we didn’t compete at all and there has to be a desire now to put a few wrongs right. There has been disruption with the change of captain and losing a few players to injury, but we are professional athletes paid to play rugby and we have to be mentally tough enough to deal with that.
“If we put the effort in and show heart we have the players to win games, but we are not doing that at the moment.”
Wheeldon knows Wakefield of old having had many spars against them in his native Hull.
However, he warned their host backed by a passionate fan base and the tight confines of the Rapid Solicitors’ Stadium would expose any mental weakness shown by the Londoners.
“My record against Wakefield while at both Hull clubs was good, but I would say when we played against them away it was always tough," he added.
“They can often ambush you on their patch. They come out hard backed by fans who are very close to the pitch and always on your back. “The first 20-30 minutes will be crucial for building momentum.”
