A wry smile from West Belconnen centre Tevita Aroha was all you needed to know the Warriors were well in control against the Yass Magpies on Saturday.
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Aroha scored two tries in West Belconnen's 44-6 defeat of Yass as the Magpies' return to the Canberra Raiders Cup ended in agony at Raiders Belconnen.
Yass marked their return to local rugby league's top flight competition with a seventh-placed finish after spending three years in the George Tooke Shield.
Magpies coach Steve Naughton believes his side will be better for the run after finishing the season with four wins, saying 2016 laid the platform for a "consistent" future.
"I think the players are ready for the season to be over," Naughton said.
"It's been a long year, the first one back. We tired out today. It would have been nice to go out on a win but they gave it all and they can hold their heads up for the year."
In the story of their season, the Magpies were strong in patches but struggled to mount any real pressure against Troy Thompson's finals-bound Warriors outfit.
"I thought we competed most weeks for parts of the game," Naughton said.
"We struggled to play 80 minutes consistently, but we'll be better for this year next year. It's always a long process coming back.
"There's a good core group there that are going to drive that for the next couple of years so we're in a good place overall."
The swirling rain made conditions tough for both sides in the early going, with five errors coming in the opening five minutes of the contest.
The Warriors soon found their feet as Andrew McDonald crossed in the corner before taking a 16-0 lead into the break.
It was all one-way traffic in the second stanza as the Warriors ran in five tries to one, but "some really stupid errors" left Thompson with a sour taste in his mouth.
"The problem is just some silly errors – the first six sets I think we completed probably two of them," Thompson said.
"It's just building pressure, that's all. We've just got to complete our sets and get to our kicks. Unforced errors [hurt us] but I thought the boys played pretty well."
Meanwhile, the Queanbeyan Kangaroos toppled premiership hopefuls Gungahlin 24-4 on Friday night. Goulburn narrowly escaped the wooden spoon despite a 46-6 loss to the Blues after Tuggeranong toppled last-placed Belconnen 38-18.
AT A GLANCE
Canberra Raiders Cup: WEST BELCONNEN WARRIORS 44 (T Aroha 2, A McDonald, L Saipani, B Loughhead, R Thomas, B Roberts, R McQueen tries; Roberts 6 goals) bt YASS MAGPIES 6 (M Lawrence try; P Sparnon goal)
QUEANBEYAN KANGAROOS 24 (J Miller 2, J Ayers, S Meke, J Pearce tries; L Cooper 2 goals) bt GUNGAHLIN BULLS 4 (M Sollis try)
TUGGERANONG BUSHRANGERS 38 (A Tupou 2, Z Mitchell 2, J Pouono, B Henson, S Fetuani tries; S Fetuani 2, Z Mitchell 2, W Bullock goals) bt BELCONNEN SHARKS 18 (T Sione 2, BJ Sione, M Butz tries; A Pelasio goal)
QUEANBEYAN BLUES 46 (A Tulolo 2, L Branighan, M Cullen, J Martin, A Misios, J Nchouki, T Stevens, J Ulrick tries; J Baker 3, L Berkrey 2 goals) bt GOULBURN BULLDOGS 6 (J Picker try; C Hart goal)
