Rod Petty believes Birmingham & Solihull Bees need to find an on-field identity after beginning their Championship campaign with six straight defeats.
The Damson Park outfit have won just three of their last 35 matches and are currently the only side in the second tier without a point.
But Petty maintains the rebuilt side is better than the one that dodged relegation at the end of last season.
However, he admits they have not yet defined their best way of attacking opponents and are caught between the expansive style that produced the National Two title in 2009 and a more structured game-plan.
“We have got to find some balance to our game,” the Australian said.
“We have a decent forward pack – probably the best front five since I first came to the club when we had guys like Mark Gabey, Akapusi Qera, Terry Sigley and Stuart Pearl.
“So we have to adapt our game. People think we throw the ball around too much, which I don’t think we do, against Rotherham at the weekend we ran off their turnover ball and got good yardage from doing it.
“We are definitely trying to play a bit more territory but I am not sure what Russell (Earnshaw) thinks about how he wants us to play.”
So far this season Bees certainly seem more suited to a more narrow strategy with powerful ball carriers like Semisi Taulava and Adrian Griffiths capable of making big inroads around the fringes.
By contrast in the backs they have had trouble releasing their strike runners like Simon Hunt and Anthony Elliott, largely because of a lack of consistency in selection enforced by a high number of injuries.
Nowhere is the situation more fluid than at fly-half where at Clifton Lane on Saturday Petty became the third player in six matches to wear No.10.
George Crook started the season before getting injured, Sam Robinson has been in and out while Petty has played mostly at scrum half.
Bees’ next chance to break their duck is at home to Esher on Sunday.
