“It has been building, we’ve taken a step forward every week and that’s been a very positive element so far,” Pearson said. 

The Dirty Reds are fresh from a thumping victory over the Wests Rugby Club last weekend, are full of confidence.

However, Pearson is remaining cautious as he knows that Cooma are a mercurial side.

“It is, it’s very confidence boosting,” he said. 

“The guys should be really proud of the way they played.

“We just need to temper that somewhat, understand the quality of opposition we were playing against, and understand to take further steps forward that we need to be able to do the things that we did well on the weekend, we need to be able to do them against better opposition.”

There will be added challenges, as the Dirty Reds often struggle for numbers, and travelling to Cooma will not ease the burden. 

“We’ve got to travel to Cooma, that’s always difficult,” Pearson said. 

“People have got to work, people have got other engagements on and all that sort of stuff, it makes it difficult to travel to Cooma, let alone playing in Cooma itself.”

What will make the match more difficult is that Cooma are a relatively unknown quantity, Pearson said. 

“What exactly to expect from home team, who knows,” he said.

“They could be similar to us at home, they could get a bunch of players back to help them out, might change the makeup of their teams.

“We always know that when we go to Cooma, they don’t give up, ever.

“They’re very proud country people, and it is always a very tough game when we go to Cooma.”

To give themselves the best chance in this weekend’s clash, the Dirty Reds will be focusing on their own game and ensuring that they play at their best. 

“We talk about a lot of technical things, but the real main focus is to just keep our consistency,” Pearson said. 

“What’s the next job? The next job might be to receive the kick-off or it might be to throw an accurate line-out.”

In terms of specifics, Pearson had a few key areas in mind for his team. 

“We certainly know that we need to be aggressive and accurate around our ruck,” he said. 

“Cooma are always very hard at the ball. First of all, we’ve gotta get good ball from our set pieces. 

“If we can’t get good possession from our rucks, it’ll just cut the rest of the game out of it.”

The game between the Dirty Reds and the Cooma Red Devils will take place from 3pm on the Rotary Oval in Cooma.