Four games into their debut premier league season, Bidgeegators coach Ryan Menz is pleased with how his side is coming together.
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Despite training constraints meaning the team didn't have a session together between last round and Saturday's games, Menz said there was a big improvement in their performance.
Going down to competition front runners Nordek 18-7 and 16-9 in the double header, Menz said he wasn't disappointed with the 'Gators efforts.
"All in all I believe we played a lot better as a team as opposed to our last round against ANU," Menz said.
"I know the scoreboard might not necessarily show that but in the pool we all felt a lot better.
"Nordek has been one of the top teams in Canberra for the last two years in both the women's and men's competitions, they did have a few players out playing with the Krakens, which is the ACT state league team against New South Wales in Sydney, so they did have a fair few of their younger boys in there.
"They were still really strong competition for us, which was good in a sense because it still gave us a very tough game but wasn't quite a white wash."
Impressed with efforts across the board, Menz said there wasn't a single standout like last round.
Rather, all his players knew their roles and were able to fulfil them as required.
Learning from their last games that fitness was one of their weaknesses, and reminded of the importance of clever substitution, Menz was happy with how the side managed themselves in the pool.
"I feel like the whole team was a lot better at making our substitutions, switching like for like," he said.
"At one point we were switching between me, Shaun Bennett, and Rhys Hofer, all switching between our centre forward, centre back, with at least one of us on the field at a time, and going to two of us at different points.
"So it was a lot easier for us bigger boys who are maybe not quite as fit, to get in, go for two minutes, come off for a spell, and that worked really well.
"I think we managed our substitutions and player fatigue a lot better in this lot of games, and it makes a big difference really."
With a big gap between now and their next games, with February being the next scheduled, Menz said fitness and improving cohesion will be the focus over the coming months.
Hoping to get some more swimming sessions in across the board, he said there's no such thing as too much fitness.
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While individual players will still be in the pool plenty for their regular Wagga club season, Menz is hoping to lock in some sessions together as a team.
Bringing players in from clubs across Wagga, he admitted he'd like the players to be able to read each other better by their next game.
"I'd like to get some training sessions to better gel as a team, a little bit more, really practise our setups because our extra man setup , they work really well with got a few goals in our extra men but our plays kind of fell apart a little bit and were a bit scrappy," he said.
"I'd like to practice getting used to how each person wants to play, when they'd be looking for the ball to come their way.
"For example in centre forward, a few of the boys we play for Octopuses, but then when Shaun is the centre forward, because he plays Dolphins, we're not sure when he wants the ball or when he's really looking for it with his body position, o just getting into a bit of training and practising and understanding when each other wants the ball and how they want it will be good."
Though they haven't got a win on the board yet, a key person in getting the team registered for the premier league competition, Menz has absolutely no regrets.
Excited for the challenges being thrown their way and proud of how the team is responding, Menz said there are good things ahead for water polo in the region.
"I know all the fellas are really impressed, I know the governing body of Wagga Water Polo as a whole is really impressed with our performance so far and already looking forward to the future to hopefully committing next season to doing a full season instead of only playing a half season," he said.
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