There's an old adage that "when the going gets tough, the tough gets going", and while the embattled Cronulla Sharks fell to their ninth loss of the year after going down 18-nil to the South Sydney Rabbitohs their willingness not to quit is an admirably quality.
Speaking after his team's loss, tough-as-nails Sharks hooker Isaac De Gois said the passion is still there in the Shire as they look to bounce back from their wretched start to the season.
"At the moment we're struggling. The bounce of the ball isn't going our way. We just have to hang tight and things will turn," De Gois told NRL.com.
"I think we dropped the ball too much. We had opportunities to score so that would obviously influence the game but they took their opportunities and were better than us. We didn't play that bad but it's just the little things we need to tidy up.
"We're a passionate team and we will always play passionate no matter how we are going, whether if we're on top or bottom of the ladder it's just the way we are."
The off-contract De Gois is predominantly used off the bench nowadays to add much-needed impact, but there was very little he could do against the Rabbitohs considering Cronulla's depleted squad was missing the likes of captain Paul Gallen and playmaker Todd Carney.
"It's not an excuse though," De Gois maintained.
"Everyone that steps up usually does a good job. I think we did a good job today but there too many errors when we were trying to score points. It's unfortunate but that's the way footy goes."
While the Sharks will now have a week to reset and refresh before their local derby against the Dragons in Round 13, De Gois appeared unsure as to whether the bye would work in his team's favour.
"I think always when you lose a game I'm one of those blokes that just want to jump back into it and play as soon as I can to try and get some momentum going," De Gois said.
"In a way it is a good thing because we have a lot of busted players, even [against the Rabbitohs] we had Leutele and Feki injured so hopefully everyone can get their rehab going and hopefully everyone will be fit."
"It's not like we played terribly but we'll stick strong and train hard and get ready for the Dragons after the bye."
