Illawarra Harold Matthews' snap back to form in Steelers weekend sweep

It came on the back of a bye, leaving a fortnight to stew on a first-up 52-6 defeat to South Sydney in round one, a game that saw the Steelers concede 42 second-half points after trailing just 10-6 at the break.

Sluggishness on the other side of the bye could have put an irreparable dent in their campaign just three weeks in, but the Steelers instead produced a 20-0 shut-out of the Roosters at Collegians.

It was a sharp bounce back, but not one that surprised Szczerbanik.

"I watched the [first] game a couple of times over, and every time I watched it it got easier and easier because the things that we did wrong in the second half, they were easy fixes," he said.

"I walked away from that game in round one scratching my head a little bit because it was just literally a game or two halves.

"We were in control of the first half and if we played like that in the second half, we win that game. It was just the harder we tried that second half, the worse it got for us.

"It's probably the longest two weeks I've had to spend as a coach, but we spent the two weeks just focusing on ourselves and just getting things right.

"We just knew if we stuck to what we were about and how we play football we'd come away with the win."

The Steelers did so to the tune of four tries to zip, with Szczerbanik most pleased with the clean sheet after a glaringly patchy outing in the season opener.

"The most pleasing thing was we kept them scoreless," Szczerbanik said.

"It easily could have got to the last five minutes and ended up being 20-6 or 20-12 and it just becomes a scrappy game.

"We just spoke about being the best versions of ourselves, turning up every play, every set, every minute of the game and just competing on every play. That's what we did.

"I think we still left a few points out there making the wrong decisions and not capitalising on the opportunities when they presented themselves. You never play the perfect game, there's always something to improve on.

"The boys are buying into everything that we're about and they're starting to believe in themselves as much as the coaching staff believes in them. We'll just keep building week by week and focus on us, do our homework, and get out there and just keep trying to nail it."

It was an important win heading into a tough four-week stretch that will see them take on the Eels, Panthers, Warriors and Bulldogs, though Szczerbanik is banking on some big ins in the coming weeks.

"We've got a tough month coming up so we'll get a lot of confidence out of that win, and we're also getting a few guys back as well," he said.

"We're lucky enough we got Hayden Whatman back this week and he was sensational in the middle. We've still got Kapene Karaitiana and Zane Timmins to come back in to the side.

"Our side's getting stronger and stronger every week, so adding those type of players into the squad gives everybody around them some confidence as well."

It was part of a perfect day for the scarlet and white, with the SG Ball, Tarsha Gale Cup and Lisa Fiaola Cup sides all continuing unbeaten starts to the season.

Shaun Timmins SG Ball side produced its second scintillating second stanza in as many weeks to beat Melbourne 34-12 at Collegians after the scores were locked at 12 apiece at halftime.

The Tarsha Gale Cup and Lisa Fiaola Cup sides also pulled off a successful double against North Sydney, winning 50-0 and 42-8 respectively.

All four Steelers squads will be in action in a quadruple-header against Parramatta this coming Saturday at WIN Stadium.