SIX weeks ago, CSU coach Dom Huggett was losing confidence that his squad could be a premiership contender in this year's Ferguson Cup.
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But now Huggett's faith has well and truly been renewed.
On Saturday with their season on the line in the elimination final against Mudgee at Molong, CSU produced the sort of skilled, intense rugby that Huggett wanted to see.
It came after his playing group made the decision at training late that week to fully commit to a premiership tilt.
"As soon as they said they wanted to be competitive, as soon as that decision was made, it was like a wand just brushed over us and the energy was on another level at training," Huggett said.
"I don't know what happened, it worked, it really worked, it was amazing.
"It was the best I've seen them play - the first quarter we put on 31 points, yeah it was just on.
"I'll be honest, coming into the last six weeks the hopes of being a strong contender in the semis was slowly disappearing. But after that on Thursday - there was just a whole new energy and the confidence was back."
The return of Bridie Gordon and Laura Belfanti played a crucial role in the 12-try performance against the Wombats and that duo shape as potential match winners as CSU looks to advance even further into the finals' series.
"With Laura and Bridie back in the halves, that made a world of difference. They gave us a lot more direction and just their eagerness too, they can read the game like nothing on earth," Huggett said.
"They read the play and were just executing. Every play, every set piece, they were just picking the perfect position and just executing it.
"That game, what we needed was to prove to ourselves we were willing to do this."
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Huggett opted to put his strongest 10 players on the paddock for the first three quarters on Saturday against the Wombats.
He made a number of positional changes for the must-win match as well with Nicole Kennedy shifting to inside centre and Riley Smith shuffled to the second row.
Those changes worked a treat.
"The way we set up, there are three pods we mainly use in the forwards. Nicole attached onto Riley and that combination was just unstoppable," he said.
"They are both pretty handy with the footy and both just had that eagerness and competitive edge."
