It seems contradictory, but Wests have managed to do just that in the slick way they’ve gone about their business over the first half of the season.

Pete McLeod’s side claimed the preseason Challenge Cup and have looked largely untroubled through seven games –  an 18-all draw against Thirroul in round the only competition point that’s got away from them.

It sees them sit alone at the top of the ladder and already in the box seat for a top-two finish heading into the second round of matches, but centre Kurt Field is confident his side has another level to go to.

“We are sitting in a pretty good spot which is good,” Field said.

“Pete’s pretty happy with us and how we’re going but I still think there’s a lot of improvement in our game and what we can do.

“We’ve started the first half of the season pretty well but we definitely know everyone else is going to get stronger and we’re going to need to step up a bit again.

“If we can string some 80-minute performances together hopefully we can keep it going. We’ve just got to kick it into another gear now.”

It’s a stark contrast to last season in which the Devils couldn’t manage a win over top-four opposition until the final match of the regular season.

They also scored the least amount of points of any top-four side but have well and truly turned that tide this season, piling on a league-high 210 points in five wins from six starts.

“It does feel different, you can feel the confidence in the group that comes from scoring points,” Field said.

“Both sides are going really good. We’ve got a lot of depth there, a lot of speed with the Pellow boys and it’s been good to string some plays together and have that good organisation.

“We’ve still got a lot of younger players so having [back-rowers] Glenn Stewart on one side and Jimmy Grehan on the other makes it a lot easier.

“It’s good to have that calming presence during a game that can calm things down when they need to and make sure we don’t get too excited.

“We’ve finished most games off reasonably well and getting points off the back of our effort is something Pete’s pretty happy with.” 

Sharing the points with Thirroul in round one is the only half-blemish on their record this season and Field said the Devils are keen to pinch a point back off the Butchers at Parrish Park on Saturday.

“You never get an easy game against Thirroul,” Field said.

“We’ve got them at home this weekend but they’ll play a full 80 minutes no matter what. We know that.

“We’ve had two weeks off but we got a good touch up session last week and we’ve still been working a hard and doing all the right things.

“We’ve got to make sure we start well and that we’re on our game for that full 80 minutes. 

“We definitely want to get that extra point this time.”