Ian Whitten believes Exeter Chiefs will be stronger next season having learned some valuable lessons this campaign.
The Chiefs secured an eighth-place finish with a 23-13 victory at Newcastle Falcons last Saturday –, but it is their lowest final league placing in three years.
They won nine of their 22 matches, but seven of their defeats were by only one score, and if they had turned just a handful of those into victories, it could have been a very different story in the league, to add to their fabulous triumph in the LV= Cup final.
"We have got to be pleased with the LV= Cup success and that was fantastic for the club and a step in the right direction, but our league form has been a wee bit up and down," admitted the 26-year-old Irishman.
"If we are honest with ourselves, we dropped off the intensity we needed in a few games, and maybe didn't display the level of fight in some matches that we would usually expect of ourselves.
"Hopefully we have fixed that wee thing and will always have the right attitude now going forward into whatever game we play."
Whitten added: "We have lost seven games by only one score, and I think that is a learning curve for us.
"We are getting ourselves into the right positions. We have a young team, and a lot of those young fellas have just come up for their first year in the first team after the England Under-20s, and you have to learn in professional rugby that games can be very tight.
"It is about having that bit of nous at the end of games to knuckle down and get the result, and maybe at times we have let them slip away this year, but we will be better for the experience of it, and we have got a lot to look forward to next year."
Exeter have seen three experienced players retire during the season – Tommy Hayes, Chris Whitehead and James Hanks – after they suffered career-ending injuries, and Whitten said he believed that had taken its toll on the team on occasions.
"We have lost some pretty influential guys," he said. "We have missed them at times maybe, with their experience and their know-how in the tight situations, but there are plenty of good fellas coming up behind them and I think the club is in good hands.
"We will be better for the learning experiences we have had this year."
Whitten, who joined the Chiefs from Ulster two seasons ago, has enjoyed an excellent personal campaign, making 20 Premiership appearances and scoring four tries.
"It has been a great year for me," said the former Ireland international. "I have played in a lot of games and played well at times.
"It is nice to be able to make a contribution to the team and to help the fellas out, but it has been an absolute pleasure playing with all the lads this year, especially all of those that are leaving, and I wish them all the best of luck for the future."
After losing four of their previous five games, Whitten was delighted to end the campaign with victory at Newcastle – the Chiefs' fifth on the road in the league this season.
"We played quite well in difficult conditions. We played territory well and were generally quite smart about how we did things," he said.
"It was very pleasing after what has been a difficult year, especially in the league, to finish with a win, and hopefully we can go forward after this.
"There was nothing on the game, so we basically had to motivate ourselves. Thankfully, all of the boys have got pride in the shirt, and I thought the attitude was great.
"It was difficult out there at times, the rain was coming down heavily, but we played smart and won the game.
"Finishing with a win was very important because you don't want to be sitting down over the summer off the back of three or four defeats at the end of the season."
