Keven Mealamu believes Blues team-mate Piri Weepu's fitness is below par while he insists the team are behind coach Pat Lam.
Blues captain accepts team-mate is out of shape
Blues captain Keven Mealamu believes team-mate Piri Weepu's fitness is below par while he insists the team are behind coach Pat Lam.
Half-back Weepu arrived from the Hurricanes this season, but has struggled to establish himself in the Blues' starting line-up, or to gain much game time from the bench because of a lack of fitness.
Blues have a 1-5 record in the new Super Rugby campaign and Mealamu believes an in-shape Weepu would help aid their quest to turn around the worst start in their history.
Shape
"He's disappointed he turned up in that sort of shape," Mealamu told
Radio Sport.
"From the team's point of view, he's a player we could definitely do with out there.
"We're all professionals here, we shouldn't turn up in that sort of shape."
Support
Meanwhile, Mealamu believes the squad are fully behind under-pressure Lam, stating they will be looking to demonstrate that by performing on the field.
"We do back our coach," he continued. "We want to do that by showing everyone on the field.
"I'm hurting at the moment. We are working hard to try to get our team back on track. Just really gutted we haven't got the season we wanted at the moment."
