Mooney conceded he was disappointed with the opening half of rugby played by his misfiring team.
Otago had the worst possible start to its crucial ITM Cup campaign, falling 29-13 to Counties-Manukau in Pukekohe.
It was a poor dress rehearsal for Saturday's Ranfurly Shield challenge against Southland, and left few with confidence for the trip to Invercargill.
But Mooney said one bad performance did not translate to Otago being out of the competition, or having no chance of lifting the shield.
"There is obviously a bit more at stake next week, with playing for the Ranfurly Shield, but the important thing is we need to get back into this competition, so we need to win the game," he said.
"We need to be resilient and it is about getting it right and fronting up in this competition.
"The guys are disappointed but the fact is this is week one in a 14-week comp.
"We just need to go and have a look at improving in areas we need to improve on and work hard through the week."
Otago did not do much right on Saturday in Pukekohe, with the first half particularly bad, as the side found itself down 22-6 at halftime.
Mooney did not beat about the bush on the opening 40 minutes.
"The first half was particularly disappointing. We just turned over far too much ball and to a side like they are, we gave them too much ball that they could run with.
"Our runners were a bit too high and then we tried to force it a bit."
Mooney felt his side was not accurate enough in the breakdown, and let the home side's players infringe too much at ruck and maul time.
"We probably played a bit too much rugby in between our 22m line and halfway and then let them into the game.
"But I thought we came back well in the second half and if we had scored when they got their intercept try, we could have been back in the game."
He was pleased with the efforts of the players who came off the bench.
Winger Ryan Shortland suffered heavy bruising to his left leg and appears to have damaged his ankle, though it is not broken.
He looks doubtful for this week.
Otago's opponent in the shield clash, Southland, made an impressive start to its campaign with a convincing 37-23 win over Manawatu in Palmerston North.
Southland led 19-9 at the break and showed urgency in both defence and attack.
Waikato beat Bay of Plenty 13-10 in a dull Chiefs derby in Hamilton on Saturday night, where errors dominated.
Canterbury and Hawkes Bay fought out a 23-23 draw in Christchurch on Friday night and Northland had got the competition under way with an upset 26-19 win over Taranaki in New Plymouth on Thursday night.
In yesterday's games, Auckland overcame a 14-0 deficit after 30 minutes to win the battle of the bridge 36-14 at Albany and Wellington beat Tasman 20-11 in the capital, with heavy rain reducing the fixture to a forward slogfest.
