Any fan asked to pinpoint a shining light from the abject disappointment that has been the Cronulla Sharks' season so far would be hard pressed to go past their speedy fullback Michael 'Flash' Gordon.
Playing in all of his side's six appearances in 2014, 30-year-old Gordon has produced one line break, three try assists, four line break assists before averaging a tick under a 100 metres in a side that has been on the wrong side of the ledger five times this season, including three 20-plus points shellackings.
However, despite the Sharks winning their first game of the season last weekend against the Warriors, don't try to suggest to Gordon that he is playing well – the former NSW Origin representative compares his performances to his side's poor form so far this season.
"When the team's playing good, individuals are playing well but as a team we are playing poorly so individuals are playing poorly," Gordon told NRL.com
"It's hard to say [you're playing well] when you're losing and you don't feel good about yourself afterwards. I'm just trying to do my job for the team and play as best as I can – that's what I try to do every week is play the best that I can and I will keep continuing to do that."
Speaking after his team's 24-4 loss to the Sea Eagles, Gordon spoke of his side's start to the season with obvious disappointment – bringing it back to the club's poor attitude when approaching games.
"It's been a disappointing season and it was a very disappointing result," Gordon explained.
"The way we came out, it was our attitude [that let us down]. We always knew it was going to be tough. We came out way off the pace. They blew us off the park early and we were struggling to get back from there."
While Gordon spoke of poor attitude being the catalyst to the Sharks' misfortune so far in 2014, the fullback didn't suspect such a poor performance in the warm-up.
"We knew the conditions weren't great – Brookvale's always a tough place to come play and the players out there on the field I was more than confident in. We just started well off the pace and were playing catch-up for the rest of the game," Gordon said.
"The only way to get out of it is working hard. Hopefully we can get a few more players back in the next few weeks. It might bring a bit of enthusiasm to the group. There's nothing we can do but hard work."
With Representative Round quickly approaching, Gordon isn't thinking about reclaiming the Country Origin jersey he was awarded last season, given the Sharks' poor start to the season.
"You always love playing rep games no matter what but it's hard when the team's not performing," Gordon said.
"At the moment all you're thinking about is playing games for Cronulla. If anything like that came along I would certainly jump at it with two hands but it's a bit hard to put my hand up when we're playing like this."
With the Sharks going up against the reigning premiers the Sydney Roosters on Saturday, Gordon and his teammates would be remiss if they didn't lift to go toe to toe with a Chooks side looking down the barrel of their fourth straight loss.
While it's only early in the season's proceedings, the Sharks will find it difficult to make any inroads towards the finals and September if they are to drop their sixth game of the season in Round 7.
