A TEAMS' fortunes can change in the blink of an eye in professional sport.
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One week ago, St George Illawarra was reeling off their opening-round loss to Cronulla-Sutherland.
But just like any desperate side does, the Dragons flipped the script and proved all the doubters wrong the next time they stepped on the field - which was on Saturday, when they downed Tariq Sims' former side the Cowboys in Townsville.
"That was my first time going back to Townsville since they've had the new stadium and facilities up there, which are top-notch," the Gerringong product said.
"One thing I didn't miss was the heat - we even went up a day earlier to try and acclimatise a little better but it was still extremely difficult to play in.
"In terms of the game itself, those unforced errors saw us produce another slow start, which is something we had talked about improving during the week.
"It honestly felt we were just tackling for the first 15 minutes of the game - which lead to us conceding a try off a kick.
"Our starts and defusing cross-field kicks are areas we need to address as a team.
"One aspect that was pleasing though was we stuck to our defensive structures for close to the majority of the game.
"We've come a long way as a group since our disappointing showing in the Charity Shield.
"If we can nip those tries off kicks in the butt, I believe the club is looking really positive in the direction it's heading.
"While there are good signs at the moment, it's something we need to continue to work hard on each time we step on the track."
Now the Group Seven junior, who praised the play of his new skipper Ben Hunt, and his Red V outfit will get the chance to build on their season's maiden win when they host Manly-Warringah at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
"All the boys are looking forward to playing back in Wollongong this weekend against a Sea Eagles side who are under pressure but also wary of at the same time, as they have so many players that can hurt you," Sims, who will start in the back-row alongside Josh Kerr on Friday, said.
"But if we concentrate on our controllables and pick up where we left off against the Cowboys, I'm confident we can record our second win of the season on Friday."