Still on a high after their dramatic golden-point win over North Queensland Cowboys, NZ Warriors are relishing the step-up they face this week, with a visit to the Sydney Cricket Ground to face Sydney Roosters on the horizon.
The 25-24 win on Friday was pleasing in more ways than one for Nathan Brown's side, with their resilience and gritty determination on show, as they earned two more valuable points, despite being far from their best.
Their set completion rate of 82 percent was their best of the season so far, but still trailled North Queensland, as they did in possession and metres gained.
Forward Bayley Sironen concedes they must be considerably better against the Roosters on Sunday, but insists they’re a better side than they were last year and last week’s golden-point win was proof of that.
"Last year, we probably lost that game," Sironen said. "We lost a fair few by 1-2 points.
"We weren't stoked with how we had to win it… but the best sides find ways to win those games.
"Being able to overcome adversity at the start of games and be in a position to win, with Shaun [Johnson] slotting that field goal, that shows it. We're in a better stead than last year.
"We’ve got a couple of tough games coming up and it starts with the Roosters this week - [they've] been a top side for a long time now. We're going to have to be a lot better than we were last week, but use a bit of what we showed towards the end of the game as well."
The Sydney club thrashed their Auckland counterparts 32-12 last year, exposing the gap in class between the two.
They have the same record so far this season, with three wins and two losses each, but Sironen says their performance this week will be a good measure of how the team have really progressed.
"It will sort of show where we're at," Sironen says. "If we can go out there and stick it to them and match them, it will build confidence for us moving forward.
"I've got all the confidence in the world in the squad we have and the coaching staff that we can give this season a good crack.
"We get a good opportunity to show that by going down to Sydney and mixing it with a really good footy side," Sironen says.
Hooker Wayde Egan echoes his teammate's sentiments and admits there's plenty of areas in their game they need to fix in order to kick on this year, but winning three in a row is a good platform to build from.
"We're not happy or satisfied with those wins, we want to keep winning. On the weekend, we were still a bit scrappy, we probably dropped our level from the Brisbane game.
"Defence wins games. The performance against the Broncos, we kept them to six points.
"Our defence has been a big focus and we performed well in that area against Brisbane, we sort of dropped off a little bit against the [Cowboys].
"Hopefully, we can put it to the Roosters this weekend. It will be a really good challenge to see where we’re at as a club."
Join us at 4pm Sunday for live updates of the Warriors v Roosters NRL clash
