SPEAKING after his side picked up their second ever win on the weekend, Sydney coach Scott Gowans said that the gap between his side’s first and second wins was about right in terms of their development.

He said that he was able to judge that based off a few key factors.

“We’ve got some internal stats that we go to and we got six of them today, but it’s also a case of I mean everyone wants to win, you want to have points on the board, and it’s getting those correlations right to what the stats mean” Gowans said.

“So if you just look at clearances you’re going to get a number but it’s actually what you do with the ball when you win the clearance. Our stats are all related to that and to get that today was really pleasing, but if it was flipped and if West Coast had won and we’d won that stat, it still would have been a proud moment.

“The focus is on winning absolutely but it’s also on us becoming a good group for the future and today was a step in the right direction. Third quarter they got us in a few areas on the ground so we’ve got some things to work on but I feel like it’s a step but it’s still a way to go.”

Gowans also spoke of how different the teams’ first win was to their second, crediting West Coast for giving them a challenge.  

“West Coast to their credit made it a contest inside the contest, and really impressed inside, and we struggled to get the ball to the outside and when they did, they had numbers there,” he said.

“That made the game a little bit more scrappy then what we were looking for, but rather than change things around we just thought through it and we got some scoreboard ascendancy which allowed us to do that but I thought it was a really good practice for when we play better teams like Brisbane last week for instance that we can still transition when we get pressed inside.”

He also had plenty of praise for young ruck Ally Morphett, who continues to have a breakout season.

“He had a huge impact, she’s having a great season,” he said. “Credit to her, she’s worked so hard and she can also go forward which she did at moments and then we tried to use her in the attacking mid area of the ground, just to be a target, but we couldn’t quite hit her.

“We kept going sideways which is actually what we were trying to do today. But she’s such a weapon and next week when we go to Ikon Park and that’s a different scenario again, much bigger ground, but her season is unfolding really well.”