Wests Tigers co-captain Elijah Taylor says the key for his team this Sunday is finding the "selfless" attitude that led them to their stellar start to 2018.
Coming in to Sunday's game three wins outside the top eight despite a promising 5-1 start to the season, the former Kiwi international said there weren't wholesale changes needed to the team as they look to keep their finals hopes alive — rather just adjustments in attitude and a willingness to work for each other.
"We've definitely been disappointed, and especially with our last two performances," Taylor said.
"We all feel that.
"But we genuinely know we can get there because we've shown this year that we can. We just need to adjust our attitude and defence and the way we play, and need to be more selfless for each other."
After having two of the past three weeks off with the stand-alone Representative Round and the bye, Taylor said being able to refocus on the final third of the year was needed for Ivan Cleary's side.
"It's the first time since I came in to first-grade that we've played 15 games straight before a bye," he said.
"Our fans will certainly have noticed that we looked fatigued in our last two games, and a bit tired.
"With a bit of a younger side in that regard, it hasn't been the easiest but the boys look really good after having the week off and coming in here pumped up and refreshed to rip in on Sunday.
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"It has been frustrating to drop off from where we started the year at, especially when we've been position to win a lot of those close games," he added. "We've lost a couple by two points and led at half-time in a lot of those losses, so it's definitely frustrating, but that just means there's a lot for us to work on."
Halfback Luke Brooks also didn't shy away from Taylor's frustrations about the drop off, but also assured that there was going to be no dropping off in mentality over the final eight weeks of the regular season.
"It's frustrating that we didn't capitalise on that great start, but we can't change that now," Brooks said.
"Our main focus is on playing some good footy and not as much about the wins.
"We're pretty confident that when we focus on that, the result will take care of itself."
See what co-captain Elijah Taylor had to say in full about this week's game in the video above!
Press Conference: Luke Brooks
