South Sydney conceded 26 points last weekend against the Roosters, but centre Dylan Walker is adamant the reigning premiers aren't worried about their defence ahead of their game against the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
Coming up against the undefeated Tigers, Walker believes the Rabbitohs have zero concerns about their defence considering their barnstorming start to the season and dominant pre-season.
Walker, who was on the receiving end of a Daniel Tupou and Michael Jennings onslaught where they scored three tries in the space of seven minutes, was under the belief it was the Rabbitohs' mistakes in attack which contributed to them conceding so many points.
"We have been working on our defence a lot. The Roosters scored those three tries pretty quickly so we definitely need to keep working on it, but they came off the back of our mistakes and errors – they were the things that cost us with both of Jennings' tries – so we just need to make sure we keep on top of that," Walker told NRL.com.
"Jenko and Tupou are such lethal players so you can't give them any sort of opening because you'll get tries scored against you as seen on the weekend. Though we aren't specifically concerned with the minor areas we slipped up in over the weekend."
Considering he will oppose the rich try-scoring form of Wests Tigers winger Pat Richards and the ever-improving Tim Simona and James Tedesco this weekend, Walker will need to be on red alert once again.
In their game against the Dragons last Monday, the Tigers scored a barrage of tries on their left edge, including Richards' second consecutive brace of tries. But young Walker remained unconcerned.
"I love getting stuck in. I'm not the biggest bloke but I love defending," he said.
"I don't want to be one of those one-trick players where I don't concentrate on one facet and be really good at the other. Everybody knows defence wins games so we just have to play a little bit simpler.
"We did leak a couple of points last week but if we defend like we have previously we should be sweet. Credit to the likes of Simona and Tedesco though – they are playing really well and they're on fire at the moment. They are a dangerous, young and lethal side."
Another bloke Walker is wary of is halfback Luke Brooks – who he previously played Australian Schoolboys and more recently the NRL All Stars with – and his combination with fullback Tedesco.
"I've known Luke Brooks for a while though. He and I get along pretty well. With Tedesco and Brooksy, they are very dangerous players and we'll have to be on our toes for that," Walker said.
"I'm going to back our defence 100 per cent all the way though."
