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Restoration phase

Father Ted

Father Ted

First Grade
Messages
5,531
Read this By coincidence today it's in RLW August 21 1996 .

In swimming they call it the restoration phase , swimmers tapering off a heavy program and heading into the mental and physical challenge of high level competition often hit the wall for a short time - Before reclimbing the mountain to peak performance .

According to St.George legend Ian Walsh slumps at this time of the season add up to no more than a blessing in desguise .

Walsh recalled that such dips in form four or so weeks out from the semis were a regular feature of St.George football in the 11 straight years the Saints won the premiership .

It got to the stage that if it did'nt happen , we'd be worried said the former Saints and Australian captain . Those seasonal low spots were a springboard for us . From them we'd build the momentum that would carry us through to a premiership .

Ex Australian swim team captain Terry Buck says .
Mentally the players are looking ahead to the big games . If they go into a game against a team for whom they have scant regard they can get caught unawares .
They might cruise a little and suddenly when the other mob has gone past
them find it hard to change gear quickly enough to get back into it.
 
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Divine

Divine

Bench
Messages
3,105
11 straight!! When did that happen? Seriously Father Ted you've restored my faith!
 
Minh

Minh

First Grade
Messages
8,858
I remember us peaking too early in 2009 so in a weird kind of way I'm not too worried, the only concern is that we look like missing out on a top 2 or 3 position which would be ideal but not the end of the world.

If we were run down from behind like the way we have been two weeks out from the finals then I would be very concerned, and if we don't come good and get beat like that in the semis then we don't deserve to win anyway. We're still right in this never fear Dragons fans.
 
Father Ted

Father Ted

First Grade
Messages
5,531
Nightingale fears third loss on the trot but Tigers are still cagey Michael
Chammas, Daniel Lane
August 2, 2011
.
"We think it's going to come easy, but it's not" ... Jason Nightingale.

JASON NIGHTINGALE has echoed Wayne Bennett's sentiment surrounding the Dragons'
fading desire for premiership glory, declaring the team's past two performances
a ''sign of a side that's not having a proper go''.

Nightingale was at a loss to pinpoint a reason for his team's second-half
capitulation against Souths at the weekend, just six days after similar events
unfolded against the Raiders. Nightingale fears a repeat of his team's recent
efforts could culminate in a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Wests Tigers
on Friday. ''If we give up 10-20 minute lapses, the game's over,'' Nightingale
said. ''If we play the way we have the last couple of weeks, we'll get
towelled.''

However the resurgent Wests Tigers are now fearful that Bennett's scathing
remarks will have the desired effect. "We can take a few things out of the way
Souths put holes in the Dragons [line], but I think we'll be up against a
different St George Illawarra; two losses in a row … they won't want three …
and I think Wayne Bennett will have fired them up," said Wests Tigers centre
Chris Lawrence. "They'll come out firing and if we're to win this one we'll have
to really earn it."

Nightingale, though, insists his desire to win a premiership is as strong as it
ever has been, but the feelings aren't transpiring on the field. ''I feel that I
personally drift in and out of games,'' he said. ''It's easy to play well when
it's going well for us. I want it just as bad as I always have. We're probably
not [showing] it as much as we were last year.''

Blossoming prop Trent Merrin, who played just eight minutes in last year's grand
final triumph against the Roosters, is another of the Dragons players who
believes the team hasn't lost the passion to go back-to-back. The 22-year-old is
in just his third year of his NRL career and is adamant he has no difficulty
psyching himself up for another finals campaign.

Merrin believes the team's recent poor run of form is the result of complacency
rather than an unwillingness to succeed. ''I don't think that we're not
hungry,'' he said. ''I think that we think it's going to come easy, but it's
not.''

In their past two matches, the Dragons have conceded 45 second-half points and
scored just five. But it's not just the amount of points they have conceded that
has raised alarm bells, it's the ease with which both the Raiders and Rabbitohs
managed to break the defence.

''You can't have those sort of lapses if you want it bad enough,'' Nightingale
said. ''We're having those defensive and attacking lapses at different times in
the game … we're fading in and out and that's not what we're about. We built
our game around defence and we're not defending the way we have [in the past].''

Tigers forward Gareth Ellis was bracing for a more committed Dragons than the
side Bennett lambasted.

"His players are going to spark up, that's what Wayne is trying to get out of
[them] by talking that way," Ellis said. "They're a great side and I'm certain
they'll respond. After all, they've been the benchmark for the competition over
the past few years.

"The key for us is our completion rates while [also] throwing a bit at them.
We'll hang in and give ourselves a chance … They're going to be 'up' for the
game too.''

Lawrence said the credibility his team gained by fighting hard to overhaul the
Sea Eagles would ring hollow if they failed to perform against St George
Illawarra.

"It won't mean anything if we don't turn up and put in a good performance," he
said.

 
Minh

Minh

First Grade
Messages
8,858
If we win 4 or 5 of our remaining games I still think we can finish top 3 and above still.
 
Father Ted

Father Ted

First Grade
Messages
5,531
I agree and I think we will because I haven't been all that impressed with the Broncos or Cowboys . We have proved we can take Manly. Frankly I like to believe we have a date with Destiny playing Melbourne to show the word that cheaters don't prosper . Steps of the soap box.
 
big pat

big pat

Coach
Messages
10,452
i thought this was about father ted, restoring himself back to his former glory.
 
Firey_Dragon

Firey_Dragon

Coach
Messages
12,099
Minh said:
I remember us peaking too early in 2009 so in a weird kind of way I'm not too worried, the only concern is that we look like missing out on a top 2 or 3 position which would be ideal but not the end of the world.

If we were run down from behind like the way we have been two weeks out from the finals then I would be very concerned, and if we don't come good and get beat like that in the semis then we don't deserve to win anyway. We're still right in this never fear Dragons fans.
Click to expand...

Top 2 is probably gone IMO. But 3rd certainly isn't... Broncos play NZ, NQLD, NEW, South Sydney and Manly... That's no easy run home...

NQLD play Bulldogs, BRIS, South Sydney, CRO and NZ... Easier, but their last 4 games are still headache worthy.

The fact that bris and nqld play each other means we have a great opportunity to leapfrog one of them and their draws mean they'll like drop some other games too. Making the top 3 is within our own hands, making the top 2 would take some luck but certainly not impossible.
 
Minh

Minh

First Grade
Messages
8,858
Firey_Dragon said:
Top 2 is probably gone IMO. But 3rd certainly isn't... Broncos play NZ, NQLD, NEW, South Sydney and Manly... That's no easy run home...

NQLD play Bulldogs, BRIS, South Sydney, CRO and NZ... Easier, but their last 4 games are still headache worthy.

The fact that bris and nqld play each other means we have a great opportunity to leapfrog one of them and their draws mean they'll like drop some other games too. Making the top 3 is within our own hands, making the top 2 would take some luck but certainly not impossible.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

If we make say 3rd and win our first final there is always a good chance one of the top 2 will lose their first game, if not we still have the firepower to do it on our own bat. We need to win five in a row to have any realistic chance to jag a top 2 which we are capable of doing. I feel our recent failures are going to set us up for the finals assault it's part of the tapering off procedure although I dont think we were contemplating getting run down the way we have been. Minor hiccup IMO, just bad for our top 2 aspirations.
 
Cagey Mac

Cagey Mac

Bench
Messages
4,005
Manly still have to play Melbourne (h) Cowboys (a) and Broncos (a) so 2nd is definitely doable
 
Bingerz

Bingerz

Juniors
Messages
44
Yes there are cycles in a strength and conditioning faze as well, recovery weeks etc. They will be right, starting tomorrow night i reckon
 
dangerousdave

dangerousdave

Bench
Messages
4,204
We've upd the ante on strength and conditioning at the expense of regular training sessions in the last few weeks

Straight from the horses mouth
 
bottle

bottle

Coach
Messages
14,126
I'm in a restoration phase. Trying to restore my eyesight after reading the Father's f**king red text!
 
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