St George Illawarra Dragons centre Peter Mata’utia admits the team has learnt from their recent defeats ahead of the match against the Melbourne Storm at McLean Park, Napier on Saturday.
The Toa Samoa international believes the team had their opportunities to break their losing-streak last round against the South Sydney Rabbitohs but were let down by too many errors across the field.
Mata’utia himself concedes he has identified the need to work on improving his own combination plays with teammates Benji Marshall and Jason Nightingale along the left-edge which is something he has done in training this week.
“This week I have made a real effort to work on my own combination plays with both Jason Nightingale and Benji Marshall down that left side as well as work my own defence,” said Mata’utia.
“It’s going to be a tough match-up against Melbourne who are playing some quality football at the moment but we are aware of what will be thrown our way.
“We didn’t finish off the little things against the Rabbitohs like our kick chases and our sets which let them off the hook a bit.
“I thought we matched them for a lot of the game but unfortunately we were unable to finish them off.
“Having said that though, the Rabbitohs are a quality team and we need to do those kinds of things to win against such teams.
“All the players are keen to spread the game of rugby league in Napier and are looking forward to meeting all the Red V Members and fans there.”
