NRL 2021: Off the ball mentality driving Dragons push

Anthony Griffin's side is riding high on a four-game winning streak after handing the the highly fancied Eels their first loss of the season on Sunday. They shot to an 18-0 lead at halftime, but it was stoic defence in the face of relentless pressure in the second half that really out the 75-minute ethos on show.

It's been a mantra since preseason, the logic being that any player, regardless of position, will only have the ball in his hands for a maximum of five total minutes.

The rest of the game takes place off the ball. It's that part of the game stand-in skipper Andrew McCullough says his team is priding itself on.

"You've only got the ball for a split-second moment so you need to do whatever you can do to benefit the team without the ball," McCullough said.

"There's little moments throughout the game that can really change it. There's no small efforts that go unnoticed inside this group. They might in the crowd outside or on social media, but those little effort areas certainly get brought up in meetings.

"Different blokes go through parts of the game where they're a bit flat or fatigued and certain blokes create a bit of energy when things are a bit low and we call get on the back of it.

"If you can get off the line with speed, use your shoulders, you work hard for your teammates... it's not complicated, it doesn't need to be.

"It just comes back a bit of passion, desire and a bit of effort. If you can do that, a lot of times, you can keep yourself in the game."

McCullough insists those standards and expectations are all the playing group is concerned with, not silencing pre-season knockers that were confidently tipping them for the spoon.

"I think, within the group, [it's about] your own set of standards, what you think you need to do week in week out," McCullough said.

"You're not worried about outside influences or ideas or what you think people should think of you. It's about being accountable each week about your own performance and preparation, and Hook's doing that.

"I look back on my game [on Sunday] and I wasn't really happy with it and a couple of things I did. I made a few blunders but the boys just backed me up there and vice versa.

"There's always going to be critics, I'm my own harshest critic, and I think a lot of boys have got their own thoughts on their own performance and what they want to do rather than trying to please other people."

While McCullough touches the ball more than any other player at dummy-half, fullback Matt Dufty covers more ground without the ball than any of his teammates.

Read more: Dragons bolster pack with McGuire signing

He grabbed two tries and laid on two others against the Eels but, like the rest of his team, he says off the ball efforts are what he's priding himself on.

"We're 75 minutes without the ball so it's about doing your job for your teammates," Dufty said.

"Hook's been driving it since day one of pre-season. Even when we're doing laps around the oval, just ridiculous kilometers, he's is saying 'find that extra metre that extra second in the time for your teammate, don't worry about yourself'.

"If you're thinking about yourself, then you let your teammates down. I think everyone really bought into it and I think you can tell, out there by our scramble. Maybe last year we wouldn't have done it. This year, there's a real focus on that if someone gets beaten it's not their fault, it's the other people's fault that they weren't there to help them out.

"Having a real focus on team first is something that's been a really big stepping stone for me as well. I think it's been a real good platform for the boys to build off you know you're playing for someone more than yourself, you're playing for the other 16 people out there."