The next mission is to ram it home with a win over Taieri in a top-of-the-table clash at Peter Johnstone Park tomorrow.
It is the Sharks’ final round-robin game. They have a bye next week, so they are treating the clash as a tester for the playoffs.
They have named the strongest side they have available.
They got off to a slow start, recording back-to-back losses.
Since then, they have been building nicely, winning nine straight.
Coach Giff Henry has been thrilled with Dunedin’s progress. But there are always improvements to make and they will need to be at their best against a well-organised Taieri team on their home turf.
"They are solid, they’re consistent. And you’d look across the group that they have, and they’re just very balanced," Henry said.
"It’s going to be a tough outing, but I think last time proved that we do have the capability of unlocking their puzzles, especially around the defence."
Dunedin posted 33 points in the opening 20 minutes against the Eels in late May.
Taieri rallied but could not bridge all of the gap and eventually lost 38-35.
"We’re very much treating this like it’s a finals match.
"It’s very much a rehearsal for us around what our preparation looks like for finals."
Loosehead prop and stand-in captain Hunter Fahey is influential up front for Dunedin.
"He’s been doing an excellent job around leading our team since Joe Cooke has been injured. We really rely on his experience around high performance and then also his performances on the field."
Veteran loose forward Hame Toma, who brought up 150 games for the team this season, and Max Ratcliffe are important cogs in the pack.
First five Cam Burgess, who is on 99 points for the season, and fullback Max Hennessy-Webb shape as influential figures as well.
Dunedin edged Green Island 33-22 last weekend, while Taieri dispatched Alhambra-Union 88-12.
While the Dunedin-Taieri fixture shapes as the game of the round, the other three fixtures are perhaps more critical.
Southern (fourth, 33 points) will host Green Island (fifth, 33) and Harbour (sixth, 33 points) is at home to Kaikorai (third, 35 points).
Those games are too hard to pick, while University, which is outside the six playoff spots on 27 points, should be too strong for Zingari-Richmond at the University Oval.
