Junior rep footy can be a snakes and ladders game but Illawarra SG Ball coach Russ Aitken isn't giving it more than a passing glance as his side mounts a late charge at finals action.
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The Steelers have been hit and miss through a 2-3 campaign with one draw, but returned to form emphatically last week 54-4 win over the Tigers at Collegians.
It was a solid bounce back from a second-half capitulation that saw them concede 20 unanswered points to go down to the Dragons a fortnight ago.
They'll return to Collies on Saturday looking to keep the ball rolling against 12th placed North Sydney.
"Last week was a great confidence booster for the boys, just to get a result," Aitken said.
"It was probably our most complete performance of the year as well so that was pleasing. We've obviously had one poor performance (against the Dragons) but I don't think performance, even in the first four rounds, was our issue.
"Results didn't go our way but the boys had been building and performing. If you look the first four rounds we had a lot of top-six teams and our performances weren't far off.
"We had a shocking start to the game against Parramatta (in round three) and after that we dominated large parts of that game for 50 minutes. Against Penrith in round one we lost by two points.
"That's part of coaching, keeping everyone on the same page and realising that we weren't far away.
"It wasn't a huge task because the boys understood there was a lot of proof there, but it was important to get a result and perform well, especially after we did drop our performance."
It leaves the Steelers 10th on the ladder, but just a win adrift of sixth spot with three games to play.
Needing to bank them all simplifies the task, but Aitken said his side is looking to do more than just scrape in.
"You want to go out and win every week but it's really about nailing our performance if we want to be a threat in the finals," Aitken said.
"We'll do everything we can in our control to get there, but you want to be playing solid footy because we can compete with anyone in this comp.
"We've really just stripped it back to us. We've themed up the last three games as the run home, but we're just looking to nail our footy and that starts this week."
The Steelers Harold Matthews side will return to the same venue a week after letting a win slip inside the final minute to go down 30-28 to the Tigers.
With teams two nine on the ladder separated by a single win, it could prove a costly lapse, though coach Aaron McDonald said it's one his side must move on from quickly.
"The weekend's result was disappointing to say the least," McDonald said.
"We were well in control of that game and it was our own errors that cost us. You can go back to the Parramatta game (in round three) as well.
"There were times we were well and truly in it, but our own errors are causing us losses. We can't complete at 51 per cent and expect to win a game of footy.
"We'v got a good side, but you need to play consistently and, to throw a cliche out there, you need to play for 60 minutes.
"That certainly didn't happen on the weekend and the boys are keen for a bit of redemption and to show our early season results weren't a fluke."
Going down at the death was a painful lesson but, having shown a tendency to drift in and out of games, McDonald said it is a timely one with three games left.
"You can cop a loss if a side's out and out better than you, but the losses we've suffered have been to teams where I wouldn't say that's the case," McDonald said.
"I think we have a team that can go deep into this competition, but we're not where we want to be at the moment.
"Defensively there's still a fair bit of work to do and our attack was best-described as clunky on the weekend.
"We need to fix it now so we can move forward and it starts this weekend for us."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
