The Dubbo Kangaroos "turned a corner" last round and coach Paul Elliott knows another win on Saturday would send a message to the rest of the Blowes Clothing Cup.
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After a breakthrough win over the Orange Emus last weekend, the Roos face the daunting trip to Cowra to take on the unbeaten Eagles in round four.
It's only early days in 2022 but Elliott has been pleased with the way his side has started the campaign, with plenty of promising signs shown in wins over Orange City and the Emus.
"I'm definitely happy," Elliott said.
"The good thing is I know there's still a lot if improvement to go. I'm not happy with certain areas but hopefully we can improve those as the season goes.
"But the effort and commitment shown so far has been spot on."
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One of the most pleasing aspects so far has been the resolute defence.
Through three rounds, the Roos have only allowed 50 points again them. That is only bettered by the 48 conceded by the Eagles and far better than the likes of Emus (71) and Bathurst Bulldogs (89).
The determination was on show last weekend as the Roos overcame conceding two early tries to defeat Emus 21-12.
"They've maybe turned a bit of a corner in their attitude out on the field and their belief so that's really pleasing to see early in the season," Elliott said, before looking at Saturday's game.
"It's always hard to win on a road trip. There's no easy road trips from Dubbo so that would be a big milestone if we pulled it off but, in saying that, Cowra are the defending premiers and have won three from three.
"We won't take a backwards step and if we compete with them in certain areas of the game we'll be there or thereabouts at the end of the 80 minutes."
We've got to be able to sustain pressure at the right end of the field.
- Paul Elliott
As pleasing as the defensive commitment has been, Elliott is all too aware taking chances when they get into attacking areas is key to the Roos' hopes of returning to the Blowes Clothing Cup finals.
The 21 points scored in last week's win over the Emus was the most the Roos had scored in one match so far this season, but it could have easily been more.
"We seem to create a few opportunities in attack but we haven't been able to nail it as much as we'd like," Elliott said.
"There was a couple of instances against Emus when we were on the attack and then a couple of phases later we're defending on our line again so we've got to be able to sustain pressure at the right end of the field."
Injuries have stunted the Roos' momentum with experienced campaigners Tim Beach and Moa Kavaefiafi facing more time on the sidelines after failing to finish the round one win over City.
Central West representative forward Will Archer and winger Josh Lees are also likely to miss Saturday's match.
"I think there will be a few changes but the boys who come in have been training since pre-season so I'm sure they'll do the job," Elliott said.
Kick-off is 3.15pm.
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