Optimistic Queensland Reds captain Liam Wright has not given up on their season, or his coach, despite Brad Thorn's fears he's run out of answers.
The Reds fell to 2-5 ahead of a trip to Samoa to face Moana Pasifika next week, unravelling in a 52-24 loss to the ACT Brumbies on Friday.
It was their first defeat in Brisbane to the Australian powerhouse since 2015 and broke a run of 14-straight wins against domestic rivals at Suncorp Stadium.
But the cracks have been there for some time for the 2021 Super Rugby AU champions, with ill-discipline and poor execution a recurring theme for Thorn's side.
Former All Black and Australia rugby league representative Thorn overhauled the program when he took over in 2018, blooding a host of young talent that forms the core of the current side.
Off contract beyond this year, Thorn looked and sounded like a man without answers on Friday night, admitting he had "possibly" taken the side as far as he could.
"You take your hat off when a team is better and the Brumbies were great," he said.
"But we've been striving to see our potential reached and this is the frustrating point.
"I'm a fighter by nature, I like challenges, but it's a disappointing one.
"You care about your staff and players, hope to get the best out.
"When it's not going so well, it's tough."
It was left to skipper Wright to find some positives, the flanker repeating his call after last week's loss to the Crusaders that the players needed to take "the brunt" of the blame.
"We're hurting and we're all feeling it," Wright said.
"It thrusts a lot of pressure on our coaching team, which we're not happy with."
Eight of 12 sides will play finals, with the Reds finishing seventh last season with a 8-6 record and the Highlanders eighth (4-10).
"The beauty of this format is we have to find a way into that top eight and then anything can happen," Wright said.
"We're not writing off our season just yet or anything like that.
"We know there's places to improve, we've sat here every week and said that.
"But it's on us to try and find a way.
"We've got to fix the things that are going backwards for us and we've got the heart to keep showing up and fighting."
