When the St George Illawarra Dragons were floundering earlier this season and coach Paul McGregor's job was under intense scrutiny, the club's board moved to put an end to the speculation.
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A meeting was called, with many assuming it would be the death knell for the coach.
Instead, it was the opposite, the board backing their coach and eliminating the uncertainty that had surrounded the Dragons leading up to that point.
Six weeks later, and the benefits of the move are paying off, St George Illawarra are growing in confidence and playing like a completely different side to the one that lost to the Bulldogs in round four.
The two teams will renew hostilities in the Dragons return to WIN Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but this time it's Canterbury who enter the match under a cloud of controversy.
With the Bulldogs board refusing to back their coach after weeks of uncertainty, Dean Pay walked on Tuesday morning.
It's the opposite move to that taken by St George Illawarra and McGregor said that support provided by his club's board has been crucial to helping the side turn around their performances on the field.
"I have faith in my players, I have confidence in my staff," McGregor said. "But we had to confront the basic facts that we weren't winning games of footy. We did that.
"It's important to the whole organisation that your board stands strong behind you under difficult circumstances. The players expressed at the time what they thought and they wanted me as coach. The board supported that.
"We've just got to keep working hard to make sure we're fixated on improving and not be happy with what we've got, because we still need to work hard towards being in that eight, going up the ladder."
Despite sitting last after the loss to the Bulldogs, a win this weekend could see the side climb into the top eight.
The Dragons currently sit two points behind eighth-placed Wests, with Cronulla and Manly also level on points with the Tigers.
While some have been surprised by the team's turnaround, McGregor was confident it was only a matter of time before a talent-laden roster started producing results on the field.
"You're not surprised in what you know the players are capable of. The big thing I feel is our more experienced players and our higher profile players are playing better consistently and when they do that, the young guys grow and your team becomes a team.
"That's the thing that I've seen, last week the top players were our ones that are getting paid well."
McGregor also addressed speculation the club is chasing recently reinstated Bulldogs backrower Corey Harawira-Naera.
Talks are in their early stages, but under a proposed player swap, the Dragons will send Tim Lafai to Belmore and receive Harawira-Naera in return.
With Tyson Frizell departing the club at the end of the season, McGregor said the New Zealand international will be a quality replacement.
"It's been mentioned, but there's a long way to go there and Ian's (Millward) working through some stuff at the moment.
"Corey's a very good player, he's actually better than a very good player, he's elite. If he comes across to our club, we'd benefit from it."