The Wiradjuri Goannas have lost just one game in the past two years of Western Women's Rugby League competition.
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Against a rejuvenated Woodbridge at Spooner Oval on Saturday they showed why this is the case.
Off to a fast start, the Goannas showed plenty of grit over the concluding stages of the match to hold off the fast finishing Woodbridge side.
"We started a bit slow and were down 16-0 before you could blink," Woodbridge coach Andrew Pull said after the match.
Early discipline proved costly for the Woodbridge side which played 10 minutes of the game with 11 players after two were sin binned.
"We pulled our sleeves up and really dug in," Pull said of the effort after his side's poor start.
"And scored two good tries to get back to 16-8 and were attacking and attacking but we just couldn't get the last pass to stick.
"Goannas then scored right on the hooter to get the score out to 20-8."
Despite the loss Pull said his side's effort showed how far they have come.
"Two years ago at 16-0 down we would have got beaten by 50," he said.
Goannas captain Amy Townsend acknowledged the improvement in the Woodbridge side since the clubs' last meeting.
"They made us work hard," she said.
"The fact that we had things go against us and we dug in proves the quality of our team," a pleased Townsend said on Monday.
"It's good to get a clean win but the best wins are probably the character-building ones where we have got to dig in and fight for it."
Woodbridge now begin preparations for a long road trip to Dunedoo to take on the Cougars, a match where they will welcome back Grace Eppelstein, Molly Grant and Kristy Brown.
They also expect Molly Hoswell to be available.
Hoswell, who has been backing up from the Woodbridge Under 18s each week, was forced to sit out last Saturday's match after suffering a heavy knock late in the under 18s fixture.
Her place last weekend was taken by Nikita Kirby who received the Woodbridge best and fairest in the match against Goannas.
Goannas are scheduled to take on the undefeated Orange Vipers - and will welcome back Alahna Ryan and Bec Smyth who were at Country Rugby trials on the weekend, as well as Maggie Townsend who was also away with other commitments.
Although pleased to have the side at full strength, Townsend's expecting a tough contest from the grand final rematch.
The Goannas players from from such a broad region that their preparations look different to the other town-based squads.
"We only had one training run before the season and some of the other teams have been training for three months," Townsend said.
"But we have all got things to individually get right and that's what we'll be working on this week, getting all the one per centers."
In the only other match played last weekend Vipers 52, were too good for Midwest Brumbies 4.