But coach Dave Reedy was less than convinced by the defensive effort during the 58-28 win over the Aoraki Eels at the North Ground on Saturday.
Winger Kiardyn Hatch grabbed three tries and made the most of his opportunities.
But the game was evenly balanced at halftime. The home team led 26-16, but now the Whalers were into the breeze and had the sun in their eyes.
However, the visitors let themselves down with some poor discipline. They had three players sent to the bin in the second spell and played the best part of the last 10 minutes with 11 men on the field.
There was flurry of late tries as the Whalers exploited the gaps out wide.
It was the Whalers’ second consecutive win in the South Island Championship.
The West Coast Chargers, who were edged 15-14 by the Whalers last week, trailed Southland 30-6 at halftime in their game in Invercargill on Saturday before staging a stunning comeback.
The Rams held on to win 30-28.
That means it will be a clash of the unbeaten teams when Otago hosts Southland this weekend, and the Whalers would need to be better on defence, Reedy said.
"I’m not entirely pleased with how we played, especially defensively," he said.
"I think we let them off the hook a wee bit too easily and they scored some pretty soft tries in the end. That is probably the most disappointing part.
"But the best part is we scored 58 points and scored some good tries."
Reedy had some sympathy for the Eels, who battled on despite being outnumbered.
Eels fullback Desmond Dillon was a handful. He scored two nice tries and made several other telling breaks.
Back-rower Sione Fa carried strongly and was the best
of the visitors.
For Otago, Hatch produced a strong performance out wide.
In the halves, Jordan McEntee and Mackenzie Haugh had solid games and debutant Champ Betham powered his way over the line to score on debut.
The Whalers did not play with as much width as they would have liked. A couple of planned moves went wrong and the team seemed to lose confidence.
But it is a good sign when you win by 30 points and there is a lot more you can do to improve.
"We have to be way better [against Southland] than what we were today . They run some good shape and they do run hard. They’ve got some smart players in their team."
Southern zone
The scores
Otago Whalers 58
Kiardyn Hatch 3, Troy Anstiss, Tofatuimoana Solia, Lawrence Ualesi, Jordan McEntee, Michael Strydom, Champ Betham, Mika Mafi, Hagen Free tries; Mackenzie Haugh 5 con, pen, McEntee con
Aoraki Eels 28
Desmond Dillon 2, Peala Matakaiongo, Ofisa Taelega, Sione Fa tries; Fa 4 con
Halftime: Whalers 26-16.
