Down on results but not on enthusiasm was the way Chiefs assistant coach Tabai Matson summed up his side's approach as they prepare for their Super Rugby Aotearoa game against the Hurricanes in Hamilton on Sunday.
It has been a tough start to the campaign for the Chiefs who are winless after three rounds in Hamilton.
But the side was undeterred in their quest for a winning sequence.
Matson said one of the measures of success was going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm, and he felt there was enthusiasm among the Chiefs as they prepared each week. Their best performance was in their last outing against the Crusaders.
"To be pipped and beaten is always demoralising," he said.
But five games remained that had been the focus for the side when returning to training this week.
"We're creating opportunities and not taking them all, and often the opposition have, so it becomes a difficult one to review," he said.
The side was still wanting to 'push the envelope' in their game plan but they knew it was about taking the opportunities when created.
While there were disappointments with results, there were still some encouraging features of the campaign.
Matson said younger forwards were making an impact with the side and he believed they would be at the core of the Chiefs for the next decade.
"[With] Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Tupou Vaa'i and Bradley Slater, we've got an amazing group coming through that will be the future here for a decade.
"Naitoa has done phenomenally well for a guy playing his first year of Super Rugby, calling the lineouts, in the engine room, that side of the scrum. He's got a tough day every day and to think he's only played a handful of Super games. He gets a pat on the back every Monday and then a little bit of stick," he said.
The physical demands of a New Zealand-only competition with none of the 'easier', less demanding games, against weaker sides in the regular Super Rugby structure, were apparent each week.
"It is brutal and you will see that a little in the attrition rate. You will see early on in the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you don't have full group training and that's just the nature of the derbies.
"Every time you roll into a New Zealand team you know that the following Monday, Tuesday will be low level but to do that for us four weeks in a row is awesome," he said.
Matson said it was good having to play New Zealand team after New Zealand team.