Fans streamed out of AMI Stadium before the final whistle in their heavy defeat at the hands of the Chiefs last weekend.
Assistant coach Aaron Mauger says that, coupled with some angry posts on social media, really affected the team.
"We love the people that we represent and we know that they love our team. That's probably why they walked out - they were disappointed and it hurt them to see that."
The champions of old are languishing in fourth in the New Zealand conference and are 10th overall, six points off a playoffs spot.
Their attack has been well below par but Aaron Mauger says they know their systems work.
"We're not in a great position at the moment but we truly believe we can get ourselves out of it. If we take that game by game approach and just nail each performance we'll give ourselves a chance to do that."
Aaron Mauger says Ryan Crotty will be available to play the Blues on Saturday but Israel Dagg is still a week away.
- Newstalk ZB
