Press Conference: NRL Round 4
Wests Tigers Head Coach Ivan Cleary was coy about jumping to too many superlatives about his side after just four rounds, but says there's genuine confidence building in the side after a strong start to the year.
Sitting inside the top four after an opening month that has seen them play all four teams in last year's top four, the Coach couldn't hide his joy about the way in which his new side has handled the year so far.
"To be honest, I wasn't really worrying too much about the wins and start to the year," Cleary said.
"I'm still not.
"It's just about how we play and getting some combinations going, especially when we looked at the draw.
"It was about getting combinations and playing as a team, and we've been lucky enough to get a few wins.
"It certainly looks like we're pretty confident, and I was pretty confident coming in to today's game."
"We're just confident in the way we'll keep turning up for each other," co-captain Chris Lawrence added.
"The first four to six weeks are often won on those little effort areas and not fancy attack, and just turning up. We knew if we did that, we'd be in games for the last 10 minutes and that's all you need.
"It gives you confidence when you know the guy inside and outside of you has got your back.
"Sometimes things come off and sometimes they don't, but it's a good feeling to know you're a team."
While the result was a positive one for Wests Tigers, the way the side finished the game — conceding three late tries to the Eels — was something that the squad were well aware needs addressing for next week.
"We offered them [Parramatta] the opportunity to get in to a rhythm and they found that," Cleary said.
"It's a rare thing to be able to get a lesson like that and win.
"The biggest thing is that we heed that lesson today."
See what Ivan Cleary and Chris Lawrence had to say about the game in full in the video above!
