The win at Rex Jackson Oval came seven days after the Cougars sunk to a 50-8 loss to Thirroul. They also lost key backs George Tyson and Tom Garrido to injury on a disastrous afternoon at Ziems Park.

It saw plenty willing to write off their finals aspirations just three rounds into the season. The Cougars had other ideas, with a try to Tom Maloney 20 seconds from fulltime snatching a four-point win.

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It takes them to 3-1 for the season and hooker Ryan Power said the win rebooted confidence within the camp.

"Coming off that tough loss against Thirroul, to bounce back like we did with a hard-fought win can be a massive turning point in our season," Power said.

"It really showed we're a team to be messed with this season. Everyone was elated, the team song went off in the dressing room and that's what you love about footy.

"We knew that if we wanted turn our season around after that Thirroul game we had to turn up big on Saturday for Helensburgh which we did.

"To get the win with a bit of magic at the end after a long tough game up there at Helensburgh, it's one of the toughest places to win, gives us a massive boost of confidence."

The win certainly boosted morale, but Power insists it never fell that low despite the heavy injury toll sidelining some key men.

"Thirroul was a really tough day with Tommy and Tys going down but at training during the week we did come together as one," Power said.

"Those sorts of things happen in footy, it happened to us last year with Tommy Maloney going down in the first round. It does happen but we never put all our eggs in one basket.

"We've still got some good players that are performing and playing well for us. We're confident they can come in and fill those spots and do just as good a job."

The win over the Tigers saw Sean Maloney's men leapfrog Collegians into third spot on the ladder ahead of Saturday's clash with Wests.

They'll play against Collies a week later and Power said it's a chance to atone for a disappointing effort against the Butchers a fortnight ago.

"After the Thirroul game, while everyone has a bad day, we need to show against these top sides that we can stick with them, compete and come out on top," Power said.

"We had a long tough preseason under Sean and our big talk was that in these first four games we had to stick it to these sides, get four from four or three from four.

"We've done that and we're stoked with that but the real test comes now. We've started well but against these two big games in the coming weeks we need to keep competing and staying in those games."

Wests have received a boost ahead of the clash with the Cougars, with key forward Dylan Lauri cleared to play after initially being slapped with a five-game suspension at the judiciary on Wednesday.

Lauri was initially charged with high-grade kicking after an incident involving Collies back-rower Zac Hicks that saw him sent off in the dying minutes of his side's 11-10 win over the Dogs.

Wests elected to fight the charge that carries a base penalty of four weeks. The judiciary considered footage of the incident and found him not-guilty of kicking but ultimately found him guilty on the dangerous contact charge.

The Devils have sought leave to appeal the suspension and successfully made the case that change to the charge didn't allow sufficient time to respond to the dangerous contact charge.

After being granted a stay in proceedings, Lauri can play on Saturday before the charge is referred back to the judiciary to be considered by a new panel next week.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Dapto host Berkeley with both sides desperate to notch their first win of the season, while Helensburgh will travel to Thirroul for a northern derby at Gibson Park.