The Steamers have taken a major leap forward after last week’s hiding.
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The border outfit fell to second-placed Wagga Waratahs 43-29, but it was an enormous improvement after an understrength outfit fell 107-nil to undefeated Leeton.
“Everyone was really happy, the guys came out it really positive, we’re looking forward to the rest of the season,” coach Paul Musarra said.
Musarra said after the Leeton game it wouldn’t be fair to judge his team on that one performance, given close to half of the senior players were unavailable.
And that thinking was justified, although the club was still missing three top-liners in Ash Daniel, Blake Le Cornu and Tom Boyle.
“Probably their energy and their voice during the whole game were among the positives, you’ve got to bring constant noise and energy to the game,” Musarra said.
“Their voice in defence was great, so we put pressure on them.
“They’re a pretty well-drilled outfit, but we forced quick turnovers and created a lot of opportunities and scored some good tries.”
The home team crossed for four tries.
Openside flanker Nick Mae was outstanding, with strong support from Dave Coyle and James Devlin.
The Steamers now have a three-four win-loss record, but still hold down a spot in the top five.
The club will play a second successive home game against CSU on Saturday.
The students are coming off their first win since the now-defunct second-tier grand final in 2015.
CSU toppled the other winless team in Griffith.
The Steamers will look to split their ledger at four apiece heading into a two-week break for representative action.