Well, one moment in Friday night’s game against the Panthers showed me that we are back.

It happened in the 78th minute - and it was Mick Weyman’s cover tackle on Penrith centre Junior Vaivai.

If you missed it (or, like me, you just love watching it) here it is.

I reckon this moment proves that the Dragons’ hunger is back. Listen to the cheers of the crowd - they know it too.

Look at the scoreline - it’s 32-12. The Dragons are up by 20 points with a minute and change left on the clock. The game’s won - even if Vaivai scores, we still get the two points - and yet Weyman does the hard yards to chase after a much faster opponent.

Look at the defenders coming across - there’s Mark Gasnier. Coming across further upfield is Soward as well. Two players much faster than Weyman. But Weyman says ‘‘no, I’m not going to let this guy score.’’

Then there’s the fact that Weyman, a prop forward, isn’t expected to do stuff like this. If he gave up the chase and left it to faster players, no-one would think any less of him. And yet he keeps coming until he mows down a centre.

That, my friends, is hunger. The desire to keep pushing yourself even though the game’s in the bag. The desire not to leave things to team-mates but take up the responsibility yourself.

There were other moments that did bode well for the Dragons a week out from the finals. There was the return of some real starch in defence. Early in the game, the Panthers had a stack of possession on our line but couldn’t crack our defence. Indeed, it took them 52 minutes to score their first try - which was a lottery as it came from a kick that was batted down.

In previous weeks, the second half has been a worry for the Dragons. That was when the opposition would run us down. So right here was a test of character. And how did we respond? With a great try to Jason Nightingale just four minutes later.

Same thing happened when the Panthers - playing a ‘‘we’re not in the finals, so we can throw the ball around with abandon’’ style of play - scored their second and last try of the night. The Dragons hit back six minutes later.

So in both attack and defence, the Dragons sent a message that they’re virtually all geared up for the finals.