NSW Waratahs skipper Dave Dennis says it’s crucial his team show their home fans what they are about against the Melbourne Rebels at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.

The Waratahs No.6 insists his side have the ability to play the expansive style of running rugby new coach Michael Cheika is drilling into them and says belief is the key to executing it.

Dennis admits the Waratahs lost their way in last Saturday’s season-opening 25-17 defeat to Queensland.

“You could probably argue we were a bit short on match fitness in the first game but we felt, as a group, that it just came back to believing what we’ve trained for and sticking to it and that’s been our focus this week,” he said.

“… We must keep playing how we want to play and how we want to be known as a team.

“It’s really important being our first home game as well. We’ve got to show our fans what we’re about.

“We just have to back ourselves tomorrow night and keep playing how we want to play.”

The defeat to the Reds meant the Waratahs have lost nine consecutive Super Rugby games and the pressure is on to deliver a win in front of the NSW faithful.

“We saw in patches last Saturday night what we can do as a team. I thought there was some good rugby there,” Dennis said.

“But there was 40 minutes of rugby that probably wasn’t what we talked about. It was just belief – it’s not that we haven’t got the skill there.”

The last time the Waratahs won a Super Rugby match was, incidentally, against the Rebels at Allianz Stadium last April when they triumphed 30-21.