JAMES Croker has vowed to drag Oakmeadians out of their recent slump from his sick bed.

The Meyrick Park head coach suffered a heart attack following Oaks’ 19-18 defeat to Buckingham on October 17 and has been recovering at home for the past five weeks.

But after learning of Oaks’ run of four defeats in five league contests – a string of results that has left their promotion hopes severely dented – Croker demanded copies of the club’s match DVDs to get to the root of the problem.

The 31-year-old, who handed over the coaching reins to experienced brother Will and New Zealand full-back Brendon Daniel, said: “It’s been really frustrating. I’ve left the team in more than capable hands but the results have been disappointing.

“Coaching Oaks is the thing I get most passionate about, but I’ve been told to stay clear and as I’ve been signed off work as well, it’s best I stay away!

“I’ve watched the match DVDs so I could see what was going on and I’ve been in regular touch with Brendon and Will to give them my feedback.

“The speed of recycle is not good enough and we’ve lowered the tempo of our game. We seem to have changed things in the forwards.

“It’s like we’ve put on a large dress size, but instead of trying to lose weight, we’ve gone out and bought a whole new wardrobe.

“I think the work rate from some of the forwards has been low and we seem to have adopted a game plan to back up that laziness rather than working harder.

“The backs aren’t getting space to work in and then that runs through the entire team.”

Despite his frustration, Croker insists Oaks are not out of the South West One East title race – even though his confidence-hit side are sitting six points adrift of leaders Cheltenham in fourth place.

He added: “We’re not out of it and it only takes five wins or so to get right back in the hunt. But we have to stop the rot now if we want to remain in with a shout.

“The problem is I don’t know what the players’ minds are like at the moment.

“I was hoping what happened to me would result in a ‘let’s do it for James’ mentality, but I think playing Cheltenham and Marlow dented their confidence a little.

“Rather than sticking to what we do best, they tried to change things as a result of those games and I don’t think those changes have worked based on the DVDs I’ve seen.”

Croker will be hoping for an improved showing when Olney visit Meyrick Park tomorrow (2.30pm).

Lions, meanwhile, will be looking to build on their hard-earned 5-5 draw at Oxford Harlequins when they welcome Cleve to Chapel Gate in National Three South West (2.30pm).

David Dunn’s charges have turned the corner after three defeats in October to notch three wins and draw from their past four league clashes.

Elsewhere, North Dorset host Corsham and Wimborne travel to Sherborne in Southern Counties South, while Swanage & Wareham visit high-flying Cheltenham in South West One East (2.30pm).

All Blacks: (from) Tinsdale, Hunt, Unwin, Tucker, Hawkins, Champ, Coulling, Morgan, Llewellyn, van Wyk, Andrews, Brokenshire, King, Mikolajewski, Maltman, Busby, Ely.