As Wests Tigers players await the impending arrival of the club's fifth coach in six years, veteran Chris Lawrence has admitted he can't recall a more tumultuous time at the NRL club.
Numerous reports on Wednesday have Ivan Cleary poised to be unveiled as the new man in charge after the swift axing of Jason Taylor last week.
On the back of Tim Simona's explosive betting and drugs scandal a fortnight ago, Lawrence - the team's longest-serving player - says there's been no tougher time in his career than right now.
Asked if he could remember a more turbulent period since his debut in 2006, Lawrence said: "No, not really. It's been a tough few weeks. Tough and disappointing.
"For us players, it is hard. And it doesn't help the fact we've had a couple of poor losses.
"We need to just put our heads down and get a win. That's the least we can do to try and give our fans a bit of joy after a tough few weeks and try and get our season back on track."
Lawrence is the Tigers' fourth-most capped player behind Robbie Farah, Chris Heighington and Benji Marshall, and is one of two players to watch Tim Sheens, Mick Potter and Taylor depart.
Skipper Aaron Woods, who is off-contract at the end of the year, is the other.
Lawrence said the club's decision to show Taylor the door was the most difficult to deal with because of the timing, coming just four weeks into the new season.
"In previous times it's been at the end of the year where you've had a chance to debrief, look forward to the new coach and work with them through the pre-season," he said.
"This is obviously a bit different, being the middle of the year and still having to focus on the week ahead.
"Knowing there's a new coach coming, that's the biggest difference."
Lawrence has yet to meet Cleary but knows he has a good reputation amongst players.
"He's had plenty of success at the clubs he's been at. I don't know him personally and never met him but you hear good things about him," Lawrence said.
The 28-year-old urged his teammates not to focus on the imminent announcement of a new head coach, saying their energy needs to be on improving their performance.
The Tigers are at the bottom of the ladder after losing three on the trot and face St George Illawarra on Sunday, without regular halfback Luke Brooks due to a hamstring strain.
"It doesn't matter who the coach is, if we don't fix up some of the errors and things we're doing wrong on the field, we're not going to get a win," Lawrence said.
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