Panthers coach Anthony Griffin has put his team's stunning fightback win over the Warriors on Saturday down to the strong belief within the camp.
Despite losing five straight heading into the clash, the Panthers rallied to repeat their late try-scoring heroics against the Brisbane Broncos a fortnight ago – only this time the result turned in their favour.
The message from Griffin at half-time was simple, and it worked as the Panthers ran in four tries in a 12-minute burst to steal the win.
"It was just about everyone settling down and realising what we had to do in the second half," Griffin said.
"We had to be real clean with the ball and strong defensively.
"It takes a tough team to come off the canvas like that. We knew we had that in us and we were talking about winning the game at half-time and not giving up."
Hear from Isaah Yeo after the game: http://bit.ly/PostYeo
It was the second consecutive week the Panthers stormed home in the backend of the contest after racking up three quick tries against the Broncos in Brisbane prior to the Representative Round.
"It felt like the Brisbane game, we've always got points in us but find crazy ways to get scored on against," Griffin said.
"Intercepts and fifth-play kicks gone wrong… things like that.
"There is no lack of belief in our guys, I thought we should've won the game against Brisbane but we are finding ways to get a long way behind on the scoreboard at the moment."
Hear from Tyrone Peachey after the game: http://bit.ly/PostPeach
Panthers five-eighth Bryce Cartwright helped start the comeback with two try assists, before skipper Matt Moylan stepped up at the latter stages of the game to help the side take the lead.
"I just thought it came down to our general mindset in the second half. We peeled off 23 from 24 sets and choked the Warriors in defence," Griffin said.
"Whenever you're chasing a lead like that the hardest one to get is the first [try] but we got that and went on a roll fairly early in the second half.
"It just gives us confidence and belief."
Watch the match highlights: http://bit.ly/NRLHlightsRd10
The win now sets the Panthers a challenge of building some momentum heading into next week's clash with Newcastle before their first bye.
Their third win of the season now has them placed in 14th position – two wins outside top eight – with Griffin's side needing to win at least nine of their 14 remaining games to have any chance of finals football.
"We train well and in patches we've played good footy in the last five weeks. We haven't been going out and getting flogged because we haven't been interested," Griffin said.
"For whatever reason we've lacked teamwork and confidence so today it was important as a group and team we put it together and feel that."
Moylan said the team's lack of panic at the break despite conceding five tries in the opening 40 minutes was crucial to their second-half comeback.
"We had a lot of ball [in the second half] which helped us not having to defend and got us back into the game," Moylan said.
"The way our forwards got on the front foot enabled us to play on the back of that and was what got us back into the game.
"We knew if we were going to get back into the game we had to stay positive and we just had to keep it simple and play tougher in the second half."
Griffin confirmed back-rower James Fisher-Harris had a hamstring strain after leaving the field in the first half and was in doubt for next Sunday's clash with Newcastle.
This article first appeared on NRL.com.
