St George Illawarra star James Graham has urged Dragons fans to get behind their side as they attempt to get their NRL campaign back on track.
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The Dragons face New Zealand on Saturday afternoon in their final game at WIN Stadium for the season and Graham said he is expecting a supportive crowd.
“Fans, when they get behind us, it’s great, it can really spur us on,” Graham said. “They really can be the difference.
“I really hope the fans do keep supporting us. It’s easy to ride when things are going well, we’ve had a couple of losses, so we need them more than ever behind us and cheering us on to a victory, hopefully, on Saturday.”
The comments come as the side attempts to bounce back from Sunday’s convincing defeat to the Roosters.
The Dragons have now lost three of their last four matches and many pundits have written the team off as having peaked too soon.
Graham, however, said belief within the squad remains high and knows they won’t be distracted by any outside noise.
“Naturally we’re disappointed, the result went against us on the weekend. The performance probably wasn't at the standards of where we’re at.
“Are we looking at it thinking we’ve got no hope? Absolutely not. Is the coach looking at it and thinking he needs a roster overhaul? Definitely not.
“We know we’ve got it within us to improve a couple of areas here and there, in defence and attack, I think he’s got full confidence that we can go out there and do that.”
A veteran of almost 400 first grade games across Australia and England, Graham has experienced the highs and lows that come with a rugby league season on numerous occasions.
After starting the year on fire, the Dragons, he believes, are simply going through one of those tough periods on the field.
“Sometimes after a couple of defeats, externally, people overreact a little bit, look for reasons and excuses about why a team isn’t winning.
“I’ve been around long enough to know things aren’t going to go perfectly ever. No matter what, the football season is full of ups and downs.
“Just like earlier in the year when we weren’t getting carried away with ourselves, maybe externally people were, we know it’s not as bad as what those people who were saying how good we were going who are now saying how bad we’re going.”
Saturday’s clash marks the start of a crucial five-week run to the finals for St George Illawarra.
The side comes up against five teams beneath them on the ladder, New Zealand being the only team currently sitting inside the eight. The Warriors clash is followed by dates with the Eels, Tigers, Bulldogs and Knights.
It’s a five-week period that could set the team up for a top two finish and finals success, or see the side limp into the finals, however Graham is confident the team will use this period to return to the form that saw them labelled the competition benchmark earlier in the season.
“I know we’ve got a good team here, I know what we’re capable of. I don’t think there’s any need to panic. We’re still five weeks away from finals, it looks like we will be there, although it’s not guaranteed yet.
“We want to improve, but I don’t think we need to stress and ride the wave of what’s going on externally.”