By MARK CASHMAN

What’s that saying about Rome not being built in a day, well it takes some time for a winning rugby team to find its mojo, to find its identity and that is the case at Manly Oval.

Manly head coach Matt McGoldrick, along with many others, has gone about a bit of a reset at the club and as he prepared his side for the game against Northern Suburbs on Saturday he spoke about the narrow focus adopted by the Marlins in the early weeks of the Shute Shield.

“We’ve just focused heavily on our defence and set piece work,” McGoldrick said.

“That’s the sort of stuff that is going to win you games at the back end of the year and we have looked closely at those two things in the early stages of this season.

“Not to say that attack isn’t important, but that will come and you will win more than you lose if your defence, scrum and lineout are going okay.

“Set piece will be important against Norths but it’s like that every week. We are still a work in progress and we will get better with every game.”