“I feel we have a lot of young talent with a lot of potential," he said. "Stevie will be a huge loss, not only as a player and leader but also as a person around the place and everything he stands for.
“But that is up to us as team to step up and hopefully have a good season next time.
“It is the responsibility of the team, on and off the field, now. In terms of everything he stood for and he did for team – that’s up to us to find how we can improve now.
“We have plenty who want to improve and do well and have to make sure we start doing it next week. I still feel there is a lot of potential in the group but we need to start showing it next season.”