St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor refused to use the gruelling State of Origin period as an excuse for their first NRL losing streak of the season.
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Despite all five of their Origin contingent backing up from game three, the Dragons slumped to third spot for the first time this year after being upset 20-16 by Wests Tigers on Sunday.
McGregor denied the Origin factor played a role in their drop in form, saying NSW front-rower Paul Vaughan was their best player against the Tigers.
"Paul Vaughan for argument's sake, played all three Origins and was probably the best on the field (today). It's not an excuse," McGregor said.
"We can certainly manage their workloads through the GPS system and what we do at training."
However McGregor did admit his side would benefit by having the likes of Ben Hunt, Tyson Frizell and Jack de Belin back training with the side following the disruptive period.
With seven matches to go until the finals, the priority is timing their run to perfection.
"There's always three phases of the season - the first third, the middle third, and the back end. We'll get everyone back now for the final seven games of the competition," he said.
"And your timing is important to make sure you're going at the right time, which is semi-finals.
"We've just got to make sure that we look at our vision, what we had and own up to a bit of it and move forward going into next week."
The Dragons face a nervous wait over scans for winger Nene Macdonald, who exited midway through the first half with a foot injury and failed to return.
"He's got a Lisfranc (injury). What that means I'm not sure," McGregor said.
"Go for a scan and could be a week, or a month, or the season depending on how serious it is, whether it needs an operation or just needs rest."
Australian Associated Press