Paul McGregor woke up on Wednesday morning, turned over a new leaf in his calendar and waved goodbye to July.
Come Saturday against the Warriors, he expects his St George Illawarra players to do likewise.
The competition front-runners for the opening 16 rounds of the competition had a July to forget after they began the month first and ended it fourth.
They dropped three of four games, including last week's 36-18 loss to the Sydney Roosters that has left some questioning if the slide is set to continue.
According to McGregor though, there shouldn't be any doubts.
No team has maintained a winning record through every month of the season and while he's not interested in their draw, the Warriors clash is their last against a top-eight team.
"I think every team at different stages go through a month where they could be better. We've been through that, that's July," McGregor said.
"We had a really good debrief after the Roosters on our performance as a team and I feel that there were three key work-ons from the game, one in attack, one in defence and our mindset.
"All systems are underpinned by an excellence of attitude and we're working towards that.
"We certainly dominated in that facet in the first 10 weeks - we had the best attitude of any team and collectively that's why we won eight out of 10 games."
The Dragons' consistency through the early season has seen them rewarded on the ladder - even through this tough patch.
They're the only team to have remained in the top four from the opening round until today - something McGregor has taken great pride in.
But that run could go close to ending if they are beaten by the Warriors in Wollongong on Saturday, where they'll need to overcome a fellow top-eight team for the first time since round nine.
"This competition is ruthless," McGregor said.
"From round one to now round 21 we are the only side that's still in the top four. So it's really important we stay there.
"And that's what our attitude is towards. Our vision at the start of the year was about having the team first and our purpose was about making the top four.
"Nothing has changed and we've got a real focus around that tomorrow."
Meanwhile McGregor is happy with the fitness of Origin stars Tyson Frizell and Jack de Belin, while winger Nene Macdonald could still be another fortnight away as he continues to battle a foot injury.
STATS THAT MATTER:
* The Dragons have their best record against the Warriors, winning 21 of 27 games.
* The Dragons average the most points in the 20 minutes after halftime (6.6), while the Warriors score the equal-second least (3.3).
* The Warriors average the most offloads in the NRL (12.9), while the Dragons rank second (12.4).
*Stats: Fox Sports Stats
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