Mooney said Canterbury was setting a standard to which Otago had to aspire as the visiting side won 35-20 to go to the top of the table.
Otago's loss left it bottom of the 14-team competition after Manawatu beat Tasman 20-8 yesterday.
Mooney said there were key moments in the game that proved the difference in the end.
"We had them under the pump there at one stage but we then would turn the ball over. These are the moments we need to be better at. We did really well to get back to 20-all, but then it got to 27-20 with four minutes to go.
"Then they kicked a penalty and scored a try at the end to seal it for them. They are a great side and that is the benchmark we need to aim to get for."
Otago played better than in previous weeks and if it had been playing a less talented side might have won.
But it was not to be, as Canterbury pulled away in the end, with class players such as first five-eighth Colin Slade and fullback Sean Maitland stamping their mark on the game.
Mooney said Canterbury had bucketloads of talent and it shone through.
"One thing about rugby, when you have good, big, fast footballers, whatever level you play at, they are a pretty good commodity to have in your team. Their backs are big and fast."
The Canterbury backline looked dangerous throughout but was hampered by too many cumbersome forwards getting in the way.
Mooney praised the scrambling defence from Otago, although he said a few soft one-on-one tackles were missed.
A couple of missed penalty kicks for the line were costly for Otago in the first half, and the lineout was inaccurate at times, although Canterbury had tall timber right throughout its front eight.
The scrum held up reasonably well, although it was not helped by veteran prop Kees Meeuws being forced off the field with a knee injury in the opening 10 minutes.
Sam Hibbard got through plenty of work replacing Meeuws.
Fullback Chris Small also limped off near the end because of an ankle injury.
Mooney said to fight back from a 20-6 deficit in the second half showed some character.
"That was good guts and showed the spirits are still good in the camp. The boys never gave up and kept on trying."
Canterbury halfback Andy Ellis, who took on the captain's role when starting skipper George Whitelock was forced off with an ankle injury early on, said it was an enjoyable game to play in but there were far too many errors from his side.
"It is quite exciting playing a game like that. Lots of offloads and the ball is going wide but at the same time it was extremely frustrating," Ellis said.
"There were injuries, a lot of scrum resets, lineouts not going in right. Sure we did some good things but from our perspective we need to get our error rate down. We just made far too many mistakes."
Ellis said Canterbury scored some good tries and moved the ball wide well, but there was much to work on for later this week when Canterbury challenges Southland for the Ranfurly Shield.
Otago faces a tough trip to Hamilton to take on Waikato on Friday night.
The injuries are mounting and Mooney admitted it would not be an easy game.
Waikato had a convincing win over Northland on Saturday, and will welcome back All Black fullback Mils Muliania on Friday night.
