Manly Sea Eagles second-rower Joel Thompson says the team will take a lot of confidence from their first win of the season heading into this Saturday’s clash against the undefeated South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Thompson scored a try and had a strong game overall in the 46-12 victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Christchurch Stadium in a home match for the Sea Eagles last Saturday.
He said the win has lifted the players after back-to-back losses to the Wests Tigers and the Sydney Roosters.
“After two losses, a win meant everything. A win over there just shows that we stuck to what we spoke about at training and we did it for 80 minutes to get the result,’’ Thompson said.
“We have got some good players here so we just need to make sure we stick to what we speak about at training.
“It was a tough couple of weeks there but we knew we were better than what we put out there in the first two games.
“We just had to get back to what we trained for and worked hard for in the pre-season. We did that and we got the result we were after.”
Thompson said he was excited about tackling the Rabbitohs in front of hopefully a large crowd at Lottoland.
“They are a quality side. The first three rounds they have played some really good footy,’’ Thompson said.
“It is a good challenge for us. We need to get some consistency with our game. We had a really good win over the Warriors but we need to continue it on.
“We need to do a job and make sure we control their big boys. It is a great challenge for our squad especially our forward pack to control their middle. You look forward to these big games.”
