SHEFFIELD made the worst possible start to their Premier League campaign with a 49-41 home defeat at the hands of Scunthorpe.
The Owlerton side handed a debut to Aussie ace Ty Proctor but he struggled - and he wasn't the only one.
Scunthorpe won at Owlerton for the second time this season after enjoying success in a League Cup visit last month.
Stead did his job well for Sheffield with 14 and Andre Compton notched 8 - but they were let down in other areas.
Now they look to bounce back in Saturday's tough trip to Rye House.
Said Stead: "There's no excuse for this and we know it's simply not good enough as a team.
"We've made a change and tried to strengthen things but it didn't happen, so we need to put it right quickly."
Proctor had a difficult debut with four third places but Tigers are confident he'll quickly click into gear.
Scorpions went ahead with a 5-1 from Ryan Douglas and Thomas Jorgensen in Heat 4 and never looked back.
The sides traded 4-2s but Sheffield were dealt a hammer blow when old boys Ashley Birks and Josh Auty slammed in another maximum in Heat 7.
That left the hosts 25-17 down but they were back in the hunt when Josh Bates and Taylor Poole carded a maximum next time out.
Tigers got to within two points after Heat 10 but when Sam Masters and David Howe banged in the visitors' third 5-1 and then Auty and Jorgensen repeated the feat it was game over at 41-31.
SHEFFIELD 41: Simon Stead 14, Andre Compton 8, Taylor Poole 5+2, Josh Bates 5, Leigh Lanham 4+1, Ty Proctor 4, Simon Nielsen 1+1.
SCUNTHORPE 49: Ryan Douglas 12, Josh Auty 10+2, Sam Masters 9, Thomas Jorgensen 8+3, Ashley Birks 6+1, David Howe 4+1, Matt Williamson 0.
