Wests Tigers forward Michael Chee Kam says he's enjoying his side's success in recent weeks and own form in contributing to a late run towards the 2018 finals.
Promoted to the run-on side on the left edge with Chris Lawrence (hamstring/hand) injured last month, the versatile 26-year-old has been one of his side's best in the final third of the 2018 regular season — helping Ivan Cleary's side to four wins in their last five games to put them on the edge of the top eight.
Always one to see the positive side, Chee Kam said he was simply enjoying the opportunities afforded to him, and paid credit to a conversation with Coach Cleary in helping him take the most of the chance.
"Everyone was really on a high after a win like that," Chee Kam said.
"We knew it was going to be tough down there and we knew what the past results were. But the message throughout the week was that 'enough was enough' and we did what we had to.
I" was just super happy and really proud of the boys.
"We just kept turning up for each other even though we knew what was on the line. We did what we needed to get the result and I think we have a good chance to show everyone now that we can keep going."
Averaging over 120 metres and 34 tackles in the past three weeks since being promoted to the run-on side, Chee Kam said he was enjoying finding his feet in the back row after moving around positions this year.
"I'm really enjoying it at the moment and the confidence is pretty high right now," he enthused.
"I've just got to keep it going and stay consistent now.
"Ivan spoke to me a couple of weeks ago when I was going to start and he said the opportunity was there for me and I had to take it with both hands. I've just done my best to try and hold on to that."
As they prepare for another must-win game against the Dragons this Saturday at Leichhardt Oval, Chee Kam said the message throughout the week was around ensuring they didn't let their dominance in games slip — something which has been an issue in recent wins over both the Knights and Raiders.
"Today, Ivan was just talking about putting teams away when we have the chance," he said.
"I think we've been the better team in the past two weeks but we've just let teams come back in the last 20 or so minutes. So we can't get comfortable in the last 20 minutes or so when we have the lead, but it's about putting the full throttle down and finishing teams off when we can.
"I think we've been guilty of going away from the game plan sometimes when we have the lead.
"It kind of goes out the window, so if we can keep the plan going we know we'll be okay.
