Manly back-rower Curtis Sironen says Saturday's huge 36-0 win over Canterbury wasn't just a good one for the team, it was his personal best effort in maroon and white and he is looking to continue to get more involved as his match fitness returns.
The 23-year-old has had a stop-start NRL career which is already into its sixth year; he has bounced between the halves and back row while also being shuffled between NRL and reserve grade levels and coped with a few serious injuries.
He had 15 touches against the Dogs (up from an average of 11 in three games prior), scoring one try, popping four offloads (after six across his three prior games) with 99 running metres (having averaged 55 in three previous games this year).
"Definitely, I think it was [my best game for Manly," Sironen said.
"Individually I started getting a bit of good footy and as a team we were just on on Saturday. It doesn't count for much if it falls apart on Friday (against the Roosters) so 'Baz' (coach Trent Barrett) and the coaching staff have been quick just to squash that high we're on and make sure we're ready to go."
Sironen expected his involvement to continue to go up as his match fitness returns to full strength.
"I'm going to be able to get more involved and get my work-rate up. I'm still adjusting to playing in the second row, it's been a couple of seasons now but I've been in and out with injury," he said.
"A big emphasis for myself now is to get back to back games and take care of my body and be professional and give myself that opportunity to improve every week. I'm really excited, playing with a bit of confidence now so hopefully I can keep it going."
The most pleasing part about the Canterbury game for Manly players across the board was the solid defence, not letting in a point in 80 minutes. One of the contributing factors was good communication on the edges, with the fringes having let in some easy tries in the opening rounds.
"Both edges, I think we've had the same edges for the first four rounds, like anything the longer we keep putting that together the better we're going to get and the more confidence we get from wins like Saturday are going to help as well," Sironen added.
The biggest difference between the poor home loss to the Rabbitohs in Round 2 compared to the past two wins has been attitude, Sironen said.
"We got a bit of a kick up the bum against Souths, a bit of a reality check and we weren't playing how we needed to play in this comp," he said.
"Our defence has been good, keeping Cowboys to eight points and the Bulldogs to nil is the most satisfying thing. We know we've got a team that can score points, it's just you've got to be in that grind and give ourselves every opportunity by defending like we had been."
