He is happy, however, to express some satisfaction that his team is making solid progress, having won two straight to follow the rough start to the season.
The Highlanders’ 57-24 win over the Fijian Drua on Saturday followed victory over the Force in Invercargill, and with Moana Pasifika — smoked 59-0 by the Hurricanes on Saturday — to come in Auckland on Saturday night, this is now a team that could officially be on a roll.
"I don’t know if it’s a turning point," Dermody said after the demolition of the Drua.
"It’s around trying to get some momentum into our season after our start.
"We know Moana Pasifika are a dangerous team. They’re back home, so we’re expecting a hard challenge when we get up there.
"We’ll get in the sheds and see who is available and then just back our squad to go and do a job."
Indeed, seeing who is available is becoming a weekly game of Guess Who? for Dermody and his staff.
They already had a bulging injury list when no fewer than four players were game-day scratches.
In-form No 8 Hugh Renton made it to the warm-up but succumbed to a back complaint; Josh Timu was crook; danger man Thomas Umaga-Jensen potentially could have played but it was decided his minor hip niggle was not worth risking; and Josh Dickson missed a second straight game.
Will Tucker did some good aerial work in place of Dickson; Fetuli Paea had arguably his best game for the Highlanders in the midfield; rookie second five Jake Te Hiwi unfortunately lasted just 20 minutes before appearing to suffer an ankle injury; and Nikora Broughton, not expecting to play, was something of a revelation at No 8.
The other big story was fullback cum first five Sam Gilbert excelling when forced into the midfield to replace Te Hiwi.
"He’s just really accurate, whether he’s at 15, or in a role he wasn’t meant to be covering," Dermody said.
"To be able to go in and do the job he did ... he’s really grown into a key player for us."
The Highlanders also got a big night out of props Ethan de Groot and Jermaine Ainsley.
Behind the big boys, master halfback Aaron Smith delivered one of his sublime nights as he ticks off his last few games under the roof before heading to Japan.
"He’s just hugely controlled for us," Dermody said.
"You can hear him through the ref’s mic really demanding the boys ... just the detail in how we’re playing, and he holds them to that.
"And we were also able to bring Folau [Fakatava] on to get decent minutes, from where he’s come from. He did a great job."
The Highlanders’ handling was vastly improved from the opening few rounds, Dermody indicating they had put a lot of work into being more accurate with the ball, especially when trying to play at pace with a lot of offloads.
One plus of all the injuries had been the opportunity to get fringe and younger players a chance for game time against quality opposition.
"I feel like our squad, in that first three weeks, was pretty battle-hardened against some pretty good teams, which is helping us now because our whole squad has had plenty of minutes.
"Guys have really stepped in and done an awesome job."
