Canberra hooker Zac Woolford has lashed his side’s woeful display in a 53-12 humbling at the hands of Penrith, suggesting his Raiders hadn’t played at an NRL standard.

Woolford agreed with his captain Elliott Whitehead’s assessment that the performance was embarrassing and questioned the mental fortitude of the Raiders, who were in the game at halftime before leaking seven tries in a shocking second half.

It was the Raiders’ biggest loss since a 42-point flogging against New Zealand in 2014, with prop Josh Papali’i the only player from Friday’s loss who was in that lineup.

Things don’t get easier for the Raiders, who are 1-4 heading to Brisbane to face the surging Broncos next Saturday night and are already looking to save their season at such an early stage.

“The 17 that take the field next week, it’s going to be on us as individuals and as a team to sort that out and not be so mentally weak and iron those problems out,” Woolford said.

“When the result ends up like that it’s very deflating, and very embarrassing to be honest.

“We’re gonna have to obviously look ourselves in the mirror. It’s not a skill thing or a game-plan thing … it’s something that’s inside us.

“It’s gonna be on us as a playing group to sort that out because it just wasn’t up to NRL standard.”

The Raiders were without suspended five-eighth Jack Wighton, although Woolford said it had little to do with the outcome.

“Obviously, it helps when Jack’s playing. He’s one of the better players in the game, he’s won a Clive Churchill, Dally M and all that,” he said.

“But it’s next-man-up mentality, every team faces injury challenges. I feel we started the game pretty positively with our structure and the way we were getting around the field.

“So it’s definitely not an excuse. We definitely should be better than that.”

By Alex Mitchell in Canberra