After Saturday’s nail-biting loss to South Warrnambool, Robertson said some of his players looked like they were “labouring” as the game wore on, highlighting the need to invest more time in their fitness.

Despite promising patches of play over the first month, the Bombers are bottom of the ladder, the only team yet to record a win.

“We’re not making excuses, we just haven’t been good enough in these four games,” Robertson said.

“Getting close isn’t good enough for us.

“We can’t be satisfied by losing a game by two points against a side we probably felt we should’ve beat.”

Robertson said the only solution for the Bombers was to “roll up the sleeves and keep working harder”.

Both the Roosters and Bombers boast young lists, but their fortunes have been very different in the opening month of the season, with South Warrnambool recording a 3-1 win-loss record.

Robertson said the Bombers need to use the losses as motivation to better themselves as players.

“They’ve got to hurt from these losses, and they’ve got to want to make themselves better themself, not me giving them instructions what they need to do,” he said.

“They’ve got to grab it by the bit themselves.

“(Extra sessions,) it’s little things like that turns you from being an average player to a good player and a good player to a very good player.”