Getting an even share of possession and field position is the key. For years now our poor discipline and errors see us defending and burning energy early. Then having nothing left in the tank later in games.
Yes getting back to back try’s helps but we need to be able to win the arm wrestle in tight games.
The Titans were also flogged by StGeorge who have been lapped themselves in their other two games.
We got the win and let’s be happy about that. I just hope we don’t think the Titans are a barometer for success. They are awful and we made them pay yesterday which is good. Let’s learn from Saints and not read to much into this win.
I don't think anyone is assuming this win books us a finals run. We're just hoping it's a starting point for a decent season. This is just a little pressure relief valve opened for the fans. Losing to two teams assumed to be headed towards the top 8 isn't pleasing. But losing to a team many assume will be a cellar dweller would have opened up big doubts in the most confident fans.
Until this round we'd only seen the team defend well for 60 minutes then crumble at the end under fatigue. This week we got to see the backline fire for the first time. And arguably we'll be stronger with Xerri and JAC back. Was also nice to see the 0 on the score sheet.
So I don't think we're over estimating the win. But last year we could easily have been on the zero end of this scoreline. We regularly played shit opponents into form last year and even games when we had the upper hand, refs often found every obscure reason to deny tries or award questionable ones to opponents.
Unless we explode into form and start stringing wins together against most media expectations, we'll value every win this year. This firmly established in our minds that at least for now we're far ahead of at least one team. It showed we can attack and that even when we're building a respectable score, we're still concentrating on defence. So it's ok to be a bit excited for a good first win of the season.
Hopefully we build on the win and make roast bunny next game too. Seems like they've imploded a bit over there. They're still a danger team for us. Good friday game with Shitton as the ref and them desperate for a win. It's definitely a worry that the refs and/or Souths could ambush us in this one. But it's definitely looking a less scary game than I'd have predicted in the off season. Successive wins would be nice.