Western Force flyhalf Ben Donaldson is confident the team is heading in the right direction despite three straight wins to start the season.
The Force are sitting at the bottom of the ladder after their three-point defeat to the ACT Brumbies last week.
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It comes after letting a significant lead slip against the Melbourne Rebels at Super Round.
However, Donaldson refused to panic as they focused on Friday's game against Moana Pasifika at HBF Park.
“It’s been a poor start to the season with zero wins from three games but I think we’re building quite nicely and shown a lot of positives from the games we’ve played, even from the turnaround between the Rebels and Brumbies games,” he said to reporters.
“…There’s a lot of footy to be played this year and I think (assistant coach) Jimmy (Duffy) said it after the game, he’s been part of teams that have gone 0-3, 0-4 and then won the premiership
“I think having that belief, we know we can win those games and should have closed out that game on the weekend, even the game against the Rebels, we probably did enough for 50-60 minutes, and then just a few lapses hurt us.”
The Force struggled with discipline in Canberra, conceding four times as many penalties as the ACT Brumbies, including a yellow card immediately after the half-time break.
“I’m pretty proud of the boys how we stuck in that second half and had a chance to win the game, but in saying that, we gave away 16 penalties in the game to their four,” he concedes. “It’s always gonna be tough to come back or win a game when you give away that many penalties.
“Pretty proud with how the guys stuck in that compared to the week before where we let in 40 points.
“…We were up 14-8 at half-time, felt like we were in control of the game and we come out and give away a yellow card, backed up with an extra seven penalties straight after that and they scored two tries, we were under the pump.”
Donaldson is backing his running game to prove the difference after a great showing against the Brumbies.
“The coaches have been trying to get me to run a bit more and I feel like I’m playing my best footy when I am running, challenging the line and then getting the boys off me outside me,” he added.
“I tried a bit in training last week, trying to carry a little bit more, being a bit more physical and I think the coaches set up some nice set piece plays that allowed me to run a bit more.”
