Bitter pill to swallow

For All Blacks coach Harry Moran, the loss was bitterly disappointing.

The All Blacks started well and led by seven points at quarter-time, but Moran said it was all downhill from there, with the All Blacks conceding five goals across the two middle quarters.

‘‘We had more possessions inside 50s but couldn’t find any scoring options,’’ he said.

‘‘But credit to Glenrowan, they were scoring whenever they went forward.’’

And it seems the All Blacks’ attacking challenges continue to be an area for concern for the coach.

‘‘We haven’t been able to score heavily, we need to rectify that,’’ he said.

‘‘In this back half of the season, we’ll look at how to improve on that, and translate forward pressure into our game.

‘‘It may mean swapping guys into different positions and getting blokes down forward who’ll give us that forward pressure.’’

Another area highlighted in the All Blacks’ recent losses is the fact the same few players continue to stand up for the team, with Sam Newton, Al Jacka and Zac Amarant again named in the best.

‘‘I highlighted that after the game,’’ Moran said.

‘‘There are a regular seven or eight players who are constantly in the best.

‘‘Credit to them, they are holding us up.

‘‘But we can’t be expecting guys to carry us through.’’

Moran said there were plenty of questions asked of his full squad after the loss.

‘‘I asked them where they want to go with their footy,’’ he said.

‘‘And to show more commitment and to put themselves in a position to be better footballers.

‘‘We’re not running out to participate, we need to fully commit.’’

The All Blacks will return to Friendlies Oval on Saturday for another tough game against top-three side Whorouly.

With the All Blacks sitting in ninth — with a record of 3-6 — the game looms as another must-win if they are to push for finals.

But Moran is still backing his team to make up for past mistakes, and with the fixture set to come full circle in the next fortnight, the All Blacks will have the chance to play a number of teams a second time.

‘‘We’ve got to win those to give ourselves a chance.

‘‘The only game that was a blowout was against Milawa in round one,’’ Moran said.

‘‘Bright, we could have won.

‘‘There is no-one we can’t match up against.

‘‘It’d be great if we could show a bit of fight this weekend.’’

●Benalla’s reserves team’s first quarter lapse, in which Glenrowan kicked seven goals, saw the All Blacks fall to a 7.4 (46) to 15.16 (106) defeat, and despite matching the Tigers for the remainder of the match, the damage was already done.

Ryan Nedeljkovic dominated at half-forward all day, while Lachlan Sinclair and Jeffrey Braddock also lifted.

Final score: Glenrowan 9.9 (63) def Benalla All Blacks 6.8 (44)

Goals: J. Ellis 4, S. Newton, A. Jacka.

Best: S. Newton, P. Creamer, A. Jacka, Z. Amarant, J. Doidge, N. Spencer.