Early days yet, but the New Zealand Warriors are quietly confident they have their National Rugby League (NRL) campaign heading in the right direction.
Two wins, including last weekend's unexpected 48-16 thumping of the Broncos in Brisbane, has the Auckland-based club up to the heady heights of fourth on the table ahead of the visit of Manly on Sunday.
Utility Lance Hohaia, who has been in superb form over the first three rounds, admitted today that the margin and manner of the victory at Suncorp Stadium had come as bit of a surprise.
But it had also given the players a lift knowing that they could overcome the loss of two key players in winger Manu Vatuvei and second rower Simon Mannering. who were both first-half casualties, and achieve what they did.
"We were facing a bit of adversity, and we confronted it head on and played tough," he said.
"Manu is definitely one of our key attacking guys and Simon is our captain, so to lose those two guys and put that many points on the Broncos was a pretty good result."
Brisbane also spent most of the match with just two on their bench, after star centre Israel Folau and winger Dean Kemp were forced off.
But it was the Warriors who stormed away in the second spell, when they put on 34 unanswered points, continually keeping the ball alive with their off-loading and passing.
Hohaia believed the Warriors' change in emphasis towards more endurance work during their pre-season was a reason for their ability to finish strongly despite the warm weather.
"It was definitely a key area for our pre-season - getting our fitness base better than last year - and I think it's paying off," he said.
"We did a lot of hard work over the summer months. It's still early days and we've got a long way to go , but it's looking promising at the moment."
Vatuvei and Mannering's hamstring problems mean they join an injury list that includes prop Steve Price, halfback Brett Seymour and second rower Sione Lousi, among others.
However, hooker Ian Henderson has recovered from a knee injury and will be in action this weekend for the Auckland Vulcans in the New South Wales Cup.
While the Warriors were tipped at the start of the year as one of the wooden spoon contenders, Hohaia said the players always believed they could turnaround a disappointing 2009.
"A lot of the stuff that has been written and talked about in the media are other people's opinions, and everyone is entitled to an opinion," he said.
"But behind these walls, we've always been quietly confident that we could do really well if we got our stuff together."
Hohaia, who turns 27 tomorrow and is into his ninth season with the Warriors, making him the longest serving player in the present squad, has operated both at fullback and five-eighth this season.
His ability to spark the attack when he has moved up into the line has been one of the features of the opening stretch of the campaign.
He had no issues with having to mix the different jobs, having been slotted into a range of positions during his career.
"I'm playing 80 minutes each week and I'm pretty happy about that," he said.
"It is a little bit different defending at fullback and defending in the front line, but it's something you just get used to. The coach is wanting me to play a role and I just want to do that."
