After NZ Warriors' gritty 22-14 win over North Queensland Cowboys, coach Andrew Webster is eager to highlight one particular aspect of his team's performance - and justifiably so.
"We started well… we scored first," Webster exclaimed, with a wide smile.
When Addin Fonua-Blake bulldozed his way under the crossbar in the third minute, it marked the first time in seven games this season the Warriors had taken the first lead of a match.
While the rest of the contest left a lot to be desired in the entertainment and high-quality rugby league stakes, the result itself spoke volumes about the Warriors' newfound ability to grind out wins in close contests.
Despite his team making 10 errors and giving away a slew of coachkilling penalties, Webster was delighted with their determined tryline defence, which had fallen by the wayside through their past two games.
"The first four rounds, everyone used the word 'resilience', and I felt like we had that on our tryline and in never giving up," Webster said. "In the two games prior to tonight, we still had that 'never give up', but we lost that tryline resilience and we certainly had it tonight.
"I asked the boys to bring that back. We're not going to be perfect and we certainly weren’t perfect tonight.
"We knew how to make it hard, but we got that resilience back on our tryline and that was exciting.
"Sometimes there are things that frustrate you and it was a hard watch for 80 minutes. You walk away really proud, but knowing we’re going to have to improve."
Despite moments of brilliance from the Warriors, they were never able to pull clear of the struggling Cowboys, as untimely mistakes - particularly in their own half - helped keep their opponents in the game.
When Valentine Holmes scored in the 56th minute to lock up the score at 14-14, Webster confesses to some nerves, but for somewhat different reasons than the vocal crowd of almost 24,000 at Mt Smart Stadium.
"I was nervous," Webster admitted. "Not nervous because I didn't have faith, but I was nervous about how much work we were making ourselves do.
"It was constantly yardage error or yardage penalty, letting them have another opportunity.
"The boys give me confidence. The way they prepare, they work together."
Five minutes later, outstanding Dylan Walker crossed for the definitive try, with Shaun Johnson's 76th minute penalty giving Warriors fans a chance to breathe, by putting the result close to beyond doubt.
Webster singled out Walker for special praise. Standing in for injured Te Maire Martin in the No.6 jersey, the veteran was prominent on both sides of the ball, making 22 tackles.
Webster believes Walker's play and his versatility makes him worthy of State of Origin consideration for New South Wales, after two appearances for them in 2016.
"He can do everything, Dylan," Webster said. "He could be an Origin player, because you could put him on the bench, play him at hooker, play six if you got an injury, play lock if everything was going well, and he can run and carry the ball like a mad man, and tackle.
"He could do whatever you want. He's a super utility player."
The result lifts the Warriors to third place on the NRL ladder, banking two more sacred competition points Webster knows - in a competition where winning ugly is a skill - they can never afford to take for granted.
There will be no shortage of work-ons for their extended week ahead, before their pedigree will be truly put to the test in their annual Anzac Day clash with Melbourne Storm.
"It's not easy to win in the NRL ever, so if you start taking it for granted and being negative, now's not the moment to do that," Webster noted. "Now is the moment to celebrate.
"We've got a long turnaround, so there are going to be plenty of reviews and we'll cover the parts we're not happy with, but my initial feeling is really proud.
"If something goes wrong, are we going to stand up? We did 100 times."
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