It was hard to escape the feeling that, for the Ospreys, winning the Welsh Shield last year was a bit of an empty triumph.
Granted, finishing as the highest-placed Welsh side is something to enjoy, but when all of the Welsh sides end up in the bottom half of the table, that Shield ultimately doesn't amount to a lot more than bragging rights. It's tinged with the sense that they missed out in the bigger picture - the play-offs.
However, the late-season form that brought them the Shield did at least provide some hope that they could make the next step this season. For Toby Booth and his squad, the play-offs was that next step.
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In terms of affecting improvements to achieve that, increasing bonus points was one. But more crucial than that is the depth required to be a consistent force week-in, week-out.
The feeling is that when the Ospreys have their first-string side out, they are a match for anyone. But when they are shorn of their stars, it's a different matter.
That's likely the case for every team to an extent, but some deal with it better than others. Granted, many of those are better-resourced, but in the United Rugby Championship the ability to offer some semblance of competitiveness amid huge changes is a necessity.
In that sense, the Ospreys' trip to Ulster on Saturday night - slap bang between the opening three rounds and some upcoming Welsh derbies - was the acid test of where their squad currently is in terms of that depth. You can question whether, on the back of a first win of the season against Glasgow, whether this was the right time to make changes, but the reality is those changes have to happen at some point.
Stripped of seven Lions, this was a chance for some of those on the fringes to show what they can do against an powerful Ulster side who had also, it must be noted, made a lot of changes. The 47-17 hammering alone tells you it wasn't a roaring success, but were there some positives that Booth could take from the trip to Belfast?
Regardless of the changes, the start wouldn't have been acceptable for Booth. Ulster's opening try stemmed from the Ospreys trying to run it from deep rather than immediately clearing Ulster's kick-off. That invited pressure on the Ospreys, with Reuben Morgan-Williams' pass to Jack Walsh hardly relieving that. The fly-half got a kick away, but not out of the 22.
From there, Ulster scored 98 seconds into the match. You can question whether the score should have stood, given Wales prop Gareth Thomas had taken contact to the head that left him on the floor, but either way, it handed the Ospreys an immediate uphill climb.
In many ways, it set the tone for the night. There were harsh lessons for some, but ultimately this defeat didn't come down to a lack of effort, but just being second-best to Ulster's power game.
There were flashes of promise. Walsh continues to look an attacking threat and seems capable of running the Ospreys' offence regardless of whoever they face, providing there's a platform in front of him. One early pass put Morgan Morris through a gap, while another perfect flat ball sent Owen Watkin through a hole.
Along with his running threat, he continues to look a decent piece of business. Max Nagy enjoyed a similar game in terms of flashes.
There were some decent moments under the high ball and challenging the defence in possession, while one kick was agonisingly close to a 50:22. However, you couldn't shake the feeling that, on a couple of occasions, he tried to do a little too much with the ball.
One second-half counter-attack saw him try to bisect two defenders in a two-on-two, presumably with the intention of getting his hands free and releasing Keelan Giles. The end result was that Ulster's defence could double up, leaving Giles to try his best to clean up the breakdown.
Such is the confidence of Giles, sometimes you're best just giving the pass early and handing him a chance of trying to beat his man - particularly as the man marking up Nagy has held his feet well and is perfectly positioned to commit to Nagy going at his outside shoulder.
Unfortunately, those were opportunities that Giles got precious seldom of throughout the 80 minutes.
Early on, the in-form winger was popping up everywhere when the Ospreys had possession. Stepping in at fly-half, following the play across field and racing into gaps anytime there was a chance of an offload.
However, the ball, by and large, tended to elude him as he cut an increasingly frustrated figure. The first time he was given what the ball in space beyond a kick return was in the 70th minute.
As the Ospreys reached the edge, Harri Deaves drew his man before feeding Giles, who cut inside the onrushing Aaron Sexton before stepping inside Dave Shanahan. Unfortunately, the offload back inside to Morgan-Williams didn't find the scrum-half.
That was his final action, with Rhys Webb replacing him and Morgan-Williams moving to the wing. In those final minutes, it frustratingly felt as though Morgan-Williams got more touches on the wing in 10 minutes than Giles did in the 70 minutes beforehand.
There were other moments of learning for this much-changed Ospreys side. Morgan-Williams had a brutal hit after spending a little too long asking for a penalty after one scrum.
Replacement prop Rhys Henry will also likely have a couple of work-ons when it comes to Monday's review session. Getting lower when it comes to goal-line defence might have made a difference to two of Ulster's tries.
Or perhaps it might not have, but such tiny margins are what coaches will be instilling into their players when it comes to getting players up to this standard of playing. For the 24-year-old prop, who has little more than a handful of appearances in the URC, it's a valuable lesson.
Were the Ospreys unaware of the challenge facing them when it comes to having the depth, they would certainly be aware of it now. Much like the other Welsh sides, they simply don't have the resources to build the depth in the manner of the Irish sides, nor do we as a nation produce the sheer number of man mountains like the South African system.
The reality is that the Ospreys understand they need to build depth, but build it from within. That's been accepted since Mike Ruddock arrived at Llandarcy, with the academy pathway and Swansea University - which has provided the likes of Nagy - helping on that front. Exposure to the URC is a vital part of that, so heavy defeats to Ulster are, in some ways, a necessary evil.
There were some nice touches amid the one-sided score that suggest that the Ospreys, first-string or not, are still best-placed to retain the Welsh Shield - particularly if you happened to see events at Parc y Scarlets. But their inability to match Ulster's power game means it's likely that a play-off bid is going to be reliant on getting their stars out on the park.
Perhaps that's hardly a shocking revelation, but the hope is, that sooner rather than later, that won't have to be the case. It's been five years since we've seen a Welsh team truly capable of mixing it without their stars as much as they do with them. Although, it should be noted that the Scarlets have struggled to find that balance since.
The Ospreys will be hopeful of finally doing that. It remains to be seen whether it is a pipe dream or not.
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